Periodico 26

The memories of slavery in Cuba are distant in time, but alive in historical memory. The conquerors came to take possession of something more than the land: human beings. This event constituted the first and greatest expression of human trafficking on the Island.

She prefers not to talk to me. With the promise of changing names, avoiding details and using an intermediary, she is finally encouraged.

The Cuban Government recently launched a State Plan for the Confrontation of Violence and Trafficking in Persons. This topic transcended in the master lecture offered by the Cuban jurist Lidia Guevara Ramírez, Secretary of Women of the Latin American Association of Labor Lawyers.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Guevara Ramírez who is a member of the board of directors of the Cuban Society of Labor Law, was invited to the Seventh National Conference of Legal Advice, which was held for three days in Las Tunas. The meeting was attended by 250 advisers and legal consultants from all sectors of more than 12 provinces of the Island.

The lecture of the Master of Science, sparked an interesting debate on this problem, increasingly growing worldwide. According to data from the United Nations, more than 89 million people in the world are victims of exploitation, of them, more than 24 million are subjected to forced labor and the most vulnerable groups are children and women.

The researcher said that "trafficking of this type does not refer to a single fact, there are several phenomena that are made by coercion, kidnapping or deception. It is the movement of human beings inside or outside the country for the purpose of sexual or labor exploitation, of debt bondage and, above all, with the use of children, their favorite victims are women, because in most cases it leads to forced prostitution ".

She added that "the issue is alerted in our nation with the aim of analyzing it and applying tools from education." Among the issues that concern are the hiring of minors in jobs, which has occurred in the non-state sector, and others facts also prohibited by Cuban laws. "

The lawyer José Sarmiento Paizán, of the Consulting and Legal Advice Company of Santiago de Cuba, made a warning call about nationally-made videoclips circulating in the "weekly package", in which there is a large exhibition of young girls. He commented that "behind many of these materials, the purpose is to exhibit them as objects of commercialization".

Likewise, Emilio Castillo, legal advisor of the State Reserve in Camagüey, emphasized that "these facts are latent in our neighborhoods and we can not face it only from the Law. We must also address it from the role of the family and with the accompaniment of the schools and the media".

The meeting was dedicated to the outstanding Cuban revolutionary and constitutionalist Juan Marinello. More than 20 papers were presented on topics such as economic update, hiring, security and protection at work and manifestations of crime and corruption in companies.

Yordanis Álvarez, president of the Union of Jurists of Cuba in the territory, told 26 Digital that this event has been consolidated as a space for updating and exchange of experiences, in order to build a right guarantor of the ethical and moral principles of the Cuban social system. He explained that legal advice should be a map and compass in decision making in any sector in which it is deployed.

Promises of a better life and good pay were so tempting that she didn't see the trap. All her hopes suddenly came crashing down when she found herself in a web of prostitution, alone, in a strange country and completely defenseless. She had fallen into a network of which she had only vague references.

Rome.-In its efforts to stop human trafficking from Libya, the Italian government has focused its attention on forging alliances with different forces of the country, plunged into a state of chaos and ungovernability.

Panama.- The dismantling of 14 organizations dedicated to human trafficking this year has allowed to rescue about 150 victims in the country, the Ministry of Security (MINSEG) of Panama informed.

Trafficking in persons, considered to be a "21st century form of slavery," is a phenomenon that transcends borders and demonstrates that in many parts of the world, human rights are still not guaranteed.

However, many countries have made progress toward combating this scourge by implementing preventative measures. These efforts are supported by United Nations programs, which work alongside governments to try to put an end to people trafficking.

Among its objectives, the UN's 2030 Agenda aims to combat trafficking in persons, toward achieving sustainable development worldwide.

In its most recent report presented at the end of last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that "Trafficking for sexual exploitation and for forced labor remain the most prominently detected forms, but victims are also being trafficked to be used as beggars, for forced or sham marriages, benefit fraud, or production of pornography."

The same document noted that the most likely victims of people trafficking are those fleeing war and persecution in their countries of origin.

What is people trafficking?

"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

According to the latest UNODC report:

- 71% of victims are women and girls.

- Women and girls tend to be trafficked for marriages and sexual slavery.

- Men and boys are typically exploited for forced labor in the mining sector, as porters, soldiers and slaves.

- Almost one third of all human trafficking victims worldwide are children.

- More than 500 different trafficking flows were detected between 2012 and 2014.

International instruments to combat human trafficking:

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (one of the Palermo protocols), which came into force on December 25, 2003. Cuba has been a signatory of the Protocol since June 20, 2013.

International responses to human trafficking:

Multilateral (The United Nations): The situation is monitored through the Palermo Protocol and Convention, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Human Rights Council, among other bodies.

Bilateral: Cooperation efforts with other countries.

Unilateral: Measures adopted within each country.

People are trafficked for a variety of exploitative purposes:

- Child soldiers

- Forced begging

- Sexual exploitation

- Forced marriage

- Selling children

- Forced labor

- Removal of organs

In addition to the different examples of human trafficking listed, there also exist locally acute forms, which are less internationally widespread.

Cuba: "Zero Tolerance" on human trafficking

The island maintains a "Zero Tolerance" policy with regard to trafficking in persons and other related activities, and has increased international collaboration to combat this crime by adopting global legal instruments designed to tackle human trafficking. Meanwhile, Cuban institutions continually carry out actions and activities geared toward preventing trafficking in persons.

Legal framework:

Cuba has various legal instruments to combat trafficking in persons and other related activities.

1. Procuring and trafficking in persons (Offense established in Article 302.1 of the Criminal Code)

Punishes anyone who uses prostitution for their benefit, including anyone who incites and cooperates with prostitution or the sex trade, as well as anyone who manages or has a facility or locale dedicated to this activity.

2. Corruption of Minors (Offense established under Article 310.1 of the Criminal Code)

Punishes anyone who uses a person under the age of 16, either male or female, in the practice of prostitution or the practice of acts of corruption, heterosexual or homosexual pornography, or any other such conduct.

3. Sale of and Trafficking in Minors (Offense established in Article 316 of the Criminal Code)

Punishes anyone who sells or transfers in adoption to another person any minor under the age of sixteen in exchange for recompense, monetary payment or otherwise. (Granma)