ICE Expects Shortage of Cellular Lines Starting December
As expected, the cancellation of the Ericsson contract and the problems with Alcatel, Pablo Cob, president of Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) confirmed yesterday that come December there will be a shortage of cellular telephone lines.

Today's Stories: ICE Expects Shortage of Cellular Lines Starting December Anti Corruption Law Passed This Year to Date 14 Arrested on Sexual Abuse of Minors Costa Rican National Forum on Shark Finning Presidential Scandal Ericsson Asks Costa Rica Court To Restore $130M Contract

More protests coming. The Movimiento Nacional which groups public sector employees and universities, say that a day of protest is being planned for next Tuesday, October 12. The protest was to be held on Monday, but was moved to Tuesday to include protestors against government corruption and the current scandals that are engulfing the country.

Jean Philp Gallup, wife of former ICE director, José Antonio Lobo, accompanied by her lawyer, Ewald Acuña, presented herself before Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos del Primer Circuito Judicial de San José, to give her statement. She had been expected to arrive in the afternoon, however, was received in the early hours of the morning, to avoid the rush of reporters. Gallup left the building without any charges or restrictions on her movement. The Fiscalía is reserving the right to call her again to give further declarations. Her testimony will be key to the whole ICE-Alcatel scandal.

Pablo Cob, president of ICE, said yesterday that there are approximately 65.000 TDMA lines and some 15.000 GSM lines (lines that customers did not pay their bills) on hand that will be used up by the end of the year.

And that will mean, that come next year, Costa Rica will be back to the old of having to wait for cellular service.

In the past, customers wanting to connect to the cellular network waited up to one year until the French telecommunications firm completed it's multimillion dollar contract to install 400.000 GSM cellular lines.

The reason for the pending shortage is the cancellation of the Ericsson contract that was supposed to install a new GSM network with 600.000 cellular lines and be ready for use early next year.

The Contaloría General de la Republica (the Comptroller's office) cancelled the contract amidst allegations that several high ranking ICE executives attended a meeting with the president of Ericsson Costa Rica in Prague, Czech Republic, earlier this year and Ericsson paid the bill.

The Contaloría cited altogether 38 points of contention in the ICE-Ericsson contract that was worth us$130.000.000 dollars and finally on September 22 nixed it completely.

The other option ICE had was to expand the existing contract with Alcatel. However, due to the recent revelations of pay offs by Alcatel to ICE board members, that is reaching all the way to former president Rafael Angel Rodriguéz, ICE is left to start the search for a new supplier.

ICE has already started the tender process that will take at least a year and a half before it can award the contract and then install the service.

Cob also announced that ICE has started legal action against Ericsson to recover damages, both financial and the reputation of the Institute, as well as damages suffered by current subscribers of the GSM cellular service.

Anti Corruption Law Passed
President Abel Pacheco yesterday signed the "Law Against Illicit Enrichment and Corruption,” which had been approved in second debate by the Legislative Assembly last month.

The initiative is to put a stop to the common practice of influence peddling, especially at the time of awarding multi million dollar contracts for public services.

The new law provides for two to five years in prison for influence trafficking. It gives the Contraloría General de la Repubica (comptroller's office) greater powers to probe suspicious bank accounts and requires public servants to declare their wealth at the start and finish of their terms.

The new law also provides the removal from public office, and barring of up to 10 years, anyone who is found to receive or participate in commissions or other incorrect or immoral acts.

The law was approved by the Legislative Assembly on September 14, and will come into force in a few days when it is published in the official newspaper "La Gaceta" following yesterday's signature by the Pacheco.
The President called the law a “tiger with sharpened teeth and claws.”

This Year to Date 14 Arrested on Sexual Abuse of Minors
Rogelio Ramos, Ministro de Seguridad Publica, confirmed that police have in custody a mathematics professor and systems engineer are accused of abusing at least 45 minors between the ages of 12 and 16.

The engineer was identified as a 42 year old man by the last name of Rodriguéz, residing in Goicoechea and the professor, 40 yeas old, with the last name Velásquez, a resident of Costa de Pájaros, Puntarenas.

A 19 year old street vendor was also arrested as being the procurer of the minors, on the pretext of teaching them how to download music from the internet. The men would then offer the minors ¢10.000 colones for sexual favoursm according to the police report.

The Contra la Explotación Sexual (UCES) of Ministerio de Seguridad along with the Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) handled the investigation and the ensuing arrests.

Both men will spend time in jail in preventive detention while authorities continue their investigations. For the engineer, the courts dictated two months detention, while the professor will spend the next six months behind bars.

With the latest arrests, in the past five years, Costa Rica's special police force against sexual exploitation and the Sex-Crimes Prosecutor have arrested 74 suspects, according to a Ministerio de Seguridad Publica report released.

Of those, 56 are Costa Rican and 18 are foreigners.

Of the Costa Ricans, thirty have been sentenced, while nine await trial. Another 16 are in preventive detention and one is at large.

Of the eighteen foreigners, nine have been sentenced, three await trial and two are in preventive detention. Four remain at large.

Authorities are still investigating another sixty complaints in San José, most of which are related to pimping, sex with minors and the production of child pornography.

The report indicates that this year alone there have been 14 arrests of people suspected of crimes such as pimping, sex with minors and production of child pornography. Of those arrests, two are Nicaraguan, two are Americans and ten are Costa Ricans.

Some of their professions include a baker, an engineer, a businessman, a taxi driver, a street vendor, a professor and a retired man. Twelve of the 14 are in preventive detention and two have been placed under cautionary measures such as prohibition to leave the country and signing in with authorities every 15 days.

Costa Rican National Forum on Shark Finning
For the first time ever, members of Costa Rica’s government, Costa Rican fishermen, marine biologists, and concerned citizens are coming together to publicly discuss the controversial issue of shark finning and the landing of shark fins at private docks in Puntarenas, Costa Rica's largest Pacific port.

The event is a national forum titled: “Foreign Vessels Landing Shark Fins at Private Docks” which will be held at the Economic Sciences Auditorium at University of Costa Rica, Thursday, October 7 at 10am.

At the forum roundtable will be the Chief Customs Lawyer, the Technical Director of Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuacultura (INCOPESCA), Congressman Rodrigo Alberto Carazo, the Minister of the Environment, a national fisherman, biologist Randall Arauz and ideally a representative from the Ministry of the President.

Asking questions of the roundtable will be congress members, the National Ombudsman, concerned citizens, fishermen, scientists, and students from grade school to university level.

The issue of shark finning has been controversial in Costa Rica since 2001 when INCOPESCA passed a ban on shark finning and the landing of shark fins at Costa Rican ports. Costa Rica was applauded for this ban; however, political will did not exist to enforce the regulation. After multiple cases of foreign (Taiwanese, Indonesian and Malaysian) vessels illegally landing shark fins at private docks, law suits and official complaints have followed one after the other.

Then in 2003, INCOPESCA nullified the ban and replaced it with a regulation that permits shark finning and landing of shark fins. The new regulation was based on an incomplete report that contradicts the most comprehensive international shark research. Prestigious shark experts worldwide, 60 top Costa Rican biologists, and 50,000 Costa Rican citizens have denounced Costa Rican policy and called on the President of Costa Rica, Abel Pacheco to resolve the lack of controls and halt the practice of shark finning.

At the heart of the issue is the National Customs Law which states private docks must be officially declared in the public interest in order to receive landings by foreign vessels. No private docks have obtained such authorization, yet all foreign shark fishing vessels are landing at private docks where dock owners turn away government officials. The National Ombudsman was recently refused access to inspect foreign vessel landings at the three largest private docks in Puntarenas.

“It is clear that controls on foreign shark fishing vessels have been ineffective for many years,” says Randall Arauz, President of PRETOMA and Member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. “PRETOMA has filed multiple lawsuits and official complaints pointing out the manipulation of science, regulations that fail to address the evasion of controls and permit illegal use of private docks. Unfortunately, neither Customs nor INCOPESCA have shown a willingness to use the best scientific information available, protect the public interest and enforce existing Customs laws. The solution is simple, enforce the existing laws. This forum will be an opportunity to publicly hear from the government entities that are responsible for regulating the foreign vessels that are overfishing and wiping out sharks and landing hundreds of tons of shark fins at private docks each year.”


PRETOMA is a Costa Rican non-profit, non-governmental, marine conservation organization that works to promote responsible fisheries and protect sea turtles, sharks and marine biodiversity. Contact [email protected].