Costa Rica: Reports of police involvement in the organization of child prostitution, particularly the police department in the San Jose area of Desamparados (1998-2002)

No references to police involvement in organizing child prostitution in Costa Rica could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The only reference found to possible police involvement in child prostitution organizations is in a 1999 report on Central America from Casa Alianza, an international non-governmental organization based in San Jose, which assists disadvantaged children (21 Oct. 1999). The report refers to Casa Alianza activities in Costa Rica, and includes the following:

Nevertheless, external factors have made our task difficult. Some months ago after a long investigation, we were going to make an arrest in a well-known nightclub in the capital where we were sure that there would be minors present. The respective authorities had everything ready, nevertheless the judge who had to sign the authorisation never arrived and the arrest did not happen.

The Police corruption which has made itself present has filtered information to the owners of centres of sexual exploitation of minors, and obviously we have not been able to find the guilty ones. Information has filtered down through judicial agents to the press which has hindered our investigations and has slowed down our actions (ibid.).

However, Casa Alianza also reports on police and official cooperation in fighting child prostitution:

In Costa Rica we work closely with the Attorney General's Office for Sex Crimes, with the agents of the Centre for Information of the Police. We are members of the National Commission of Work against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.

Our work consists of receiving reports e.g. people call our office and we receive their reports anonymously. This allows us to obtain information that usually we would not be able to receive due to the fear that the citizens have of these powerful child abusers. Once we have received the information we proceed to carry out an intricate investigation of the facts in order to bring a formal, judicial report immediately before the Attorney General's Office for Sex Crimes, who proceed legally against those who exploit minors (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Casa Alianza Internacional, San Jose. 21 October 1999. Rocio Rodriguez Garcia. "The Sexual Exploitation of Minors in Latin America and the Caribbean." [Accessed 11 July 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1998-2002.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1998-2001. 1999-2002.

IRB databases.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1998-2002.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 1998-2002.

Internet search engines and sites, including:

Casa Alianza, San Jose. Press and report archives.

La Nación [San Jose]. Searchable archives, 1997-2002.

The Tico Times [San Jose]. Searchable archives, 1997-2002.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Country and region-specific publications available in the Resource Centre are not included.