Some citizens consulted by Free Daily have expressed their support for the National Police on the actions taken in recent months against the alleged criminals who have been killed in the alleged exchanges of fire in the Dominican Republic.
Given this, the National Commission for Human Rights He fears that some of these cases involve young people who have decided to expose a criminal link with agents of the police. National Police.
The commission holder Manuel Maria Mercedesexpressed that the action to combat crime is a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic, and international pacts and conventions. He said that it is striking that in the “exchange of shots” no agent was injured.
The fight against crime left 20 police officers and 60 citizens dead in “clashes” in 2022.
The Human Rights Commission produced a report on the situation last year. He points out that behind these actions there are cases of “abuses, mistakes, the search for promotions and a questionable policy of a strong hand against crime” that has among its main targets young people from poor social strata.
“Witness testimony and images captured on video contradict the official versions of many deaths that occurred in alleged exchanges of fire with agents, a type of action reported recurrently by the Police National for decades”, says the Human Rights report.
According to the document, from time to time plans with high-sounding names are created to reduce crime and theft. He adds that despite this, the population is at the mercy of criminal groups that dictate the law in the streets.
It also points out that the inhabitants of the country’s popular neighborhoods complain about the inefficiency of the measures implemented by the authorities and, as they explain, “they denounce that there is a high degree of involvement of criminality in the ranks of the uniformed”.
“The exchanges of shots are truly extrajudicial executions, this is confirmed by the eyewitnesses of the cases, who offer different versions to those of the police and narrate situations that involve executions on request,” the document adds.
He assures that in the midst of these alleged exchanges of fire “innocent civilians who were not linked to any crime have fallen.”
3,545 deaths between the period 2018 and 2022
The Human Rights report records that during the period 2018 and 2022, law enforcement officers have killed approximately 3,545 citizens in the midst of “confrontations.”
As he explains, the victims were people between the ages of 18 and 35, who lived in marginalized sectors and belonged to families from the poorest social stratum in the country.
The commission indicates that 99% of dead citizens were men. He adds that 5% of the cases did not have any police accusation and 1% were shot for not stopping.
The analysis adds that the people who were killed in the alleged exchanges of shots were hit in the head, thorax, and side.
“Agents act impulsively”
Manuel María Mercedes indicated that these actions show a “zero attitude and psychological preparation” of the agents who work on the streets of the country.
He points out that the agents of the Police Nacional must face situations firmly and react impulsively, instinctively and without mediating the consequences.
Neighborhood council leaders approve measures of the Police
Leaders of neighborhood associations of neighborhoods considered “hot” in the capital showed full support for the actions of the Police National against the alleged criminals in the Dominican Republic.
In Los Guandules, in the National District, antisocials are getting stronger every day, however, according to the members of the neighborhood council, criminal actions have decreased in the last 20 days.
Luis Batista, from Los Guandules, said that the presumed criminals in the area have calmed down in recent days for fear that the Police Nacional includes them in the “exchanges of shots” and they end up dead as has happened in other cases.
The same is true in the Los Guaricanos sector, Santo Domingo Norte, where supposedly there has also been an improvement due to the actions of the Police against those who keep the community in anguish, as explained by Néstor Cruz, leader of the area.
