For International Amnestyviolations of human rights that involve the death of the young David of the Saints are not isolated events, on the contrary, it is a recurring practice among members of the Policeman National.
The agency expressed its solidarity with the family of De los Santos, who died on May 1 last due to the blows he received while he was detained in the Ensanche Naco police station, a fact for which a proposal was presented to Congress yesterday of interpellation to the director of the Policeman.
“It is painful for some people to admit, but in the Dominican Republic there is a regular practice of National Police officers participating in acts that violate human rights and it is something that we have documented for at least the last decade and a half.”, says Elina Castillo, campaign manager for the Caribbean at Amnesty International.
These violations, which have been documented since 2011, include arbitrary arrests, unlawful deaths that are later considered as homicides, torture, inhumane treatment, and other mistreatment while in detention. Faced with this “painful” reality, there is also the fact that, as a rule, those responsible hardly ever go to justice, giving the idea that violations are given carte blanche, since they go unpunished.
“The control of the Policeman Nacional is inadequate, it has been inadequate for decades and, although police reforms have been made, the reality is that they have not been effective, as the unfortunate case of David de los Santos demonstrates,” says Castillo.
In addition to the case of De los Santos, he refers to others that have been recorded in his reports and cites the one published in 2019 on the ill-treatment and torture of sex workers or the more than 85,000 irregular arrests since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
understand that within the policeman there is the idea that they are an arm of social control, but why exercise that control is what usually leads to violations of human rights.
They seek to question
Considering that the rights to human dignity and integrity are enshrined in the Constitution and, after the confusing circumstances in which three young people died after being arrested by police agents, a deputy presented yesterday in the Lower House a draft resolution seeking that the director of the Policeman National is questioned.
The initiative of Jose Horacio Rodriguezseconded by deputies Braulio Peralta and Juan Dionicio Rodríguez Restituyo, is based on the fact that Major General Eduardo Alberto Then did not attend a meeting organized by the Permanent Commission of the Interior and Policeman of the Lower House for the officer to explain police reform and recent police excesses. In his place came the Minister of the Interior and PolicemanJesús (Chú) Vásquez and the Executive Commissioner for Police Transformation, José Vila del Castillo.
The Alianza País legislator expressed that the high official should give explanations about the crimes that have dismayed the country. He referred to the deaths in unclarified circumstances of De los Santos, José Gregorio Custodio in Ocoa and Richard Báez (El Peluquero) in Santiago
The deputy hopes that this initiative will be placed on the agenda this Wednesday due to the urgency that the issue deserves.
Yesterday, deputies Rafael Augusto Castillo, from the People’s Force, and José Henríquez Beato, from the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), favored the director of the Policeman be questioned.
For Elina Castillo, the key to controlling the cases that tarnish police work depends on an effective reform of that organization. She knows that from 2011 to date they have tried to take some steps, but she continues the need for a much stronger political will. Given the current process of police reform that is underway, he considers that, although it is hailed as a good first step, the reality is that it can remain empty and will not guarantee human rights if effective and independent supervision mechanisms are not created. police action. Also the one that clearly exists in the laws the responsibility of the superior commands in the Police.
