U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit and meeting with Dominican President Luis Abinader was the proper moment for the United States government to directly raise the Dominican Public Ministry’s violations and abuses of human rights.

Sadly, Blinken’s visit missed the mark on human rights and many other critical issues in dire need of attention.

This visit followed a series of mixed messages from U.S. Department of State officials, who, despite reaffirming the need to support human rights in the Dominican Republic, continue to supply millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to known human rights violators in the country.

Shortly after the Dominican election in May, Blinken reaffirmed the importance of the Dominican government’s commitment to human rights during a call with President Abinader. Just last month, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel echoed similar sentiments in a press release, reinforcing the State Department’s commitment to strong bilateral collaboration between the two nations to “champion human rights.”

Last month Samantha Power, Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced an additional $45 million in funding for the Dominican Republic during her own trip to the DR. This funding is intended for initiatives that promote “human rights, health, climate change mitigation, disaster preparedness, and economic growth.”

Despite these statements, the U.S. Department of State reported concerns that the Dominican government “did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses” in the Department’s recently issued 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Dominican Republic.

As new and damning reports of pervasive human rights abuses within the Dominican Republic continue to surface almost daily, the Biden administration must clarify its stance and take action against an internationally condemned Dominican justice system and government that have shown no regard for human rights or any efforts to address these widely reported concerns.

Disregard of Dominican Law from Public Ministry

Calls from the National Public Defense Office (ONDP) Director Rodolfo Valentín to remove the Public Ministry from the penitentiary system were swiftly rejected by officials. They argued that, although the Public Ministry is aware of the ongoing crisis, a “clear, precise, and comprehensive law on the execution of sentences, which guarantees the rights of convicted persons,” would be a better solution.

Yet, there is a clear, precise, and comprehensive law that the Public Ministry has repeatedly ignored during judicial proceedings. Dominican criminal procedural law states that preventive detention should be applied only in limited and extreme circumstances. However, in the first four months of 2024, the Public Ministry ordered preventive detention in 98% of all proposed coercive measures, demonstrating that preventive detention is the rule rather than what is supposed to be the “exception.”

Judicial actions like these have directly contributed to the severe overcrowding in the Dominican penitentiary system. Currently, 80% of prisoners in the Dominican Republic are held under preventive detention, according to the Dominican National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH-DR). The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has identified preventive detention as the primary driver behind ongoing human rights violations in the DR’s penitentiary system.

ONDP Report Echoes International & Domestic Concerns

The recent release of the ONDP 2023 Prison and Detention Report offers a damning glimpse into a penitentiary system “far from improving” under the Public Ministry’s oversight.

Through an extensive collection of photographic evidence, the ONDP report highlights the “deplorable confinement conditions” that inmates in the Dominican penitentiary system endure daily. It showcases inmates packed into “small, schooner-like” cells that often lack basic amenities such as windows, adequate ventilation, and proper bedding.

The ONDP report also cites widespread issues, including severe sewage accumulation, rampant disease, a shortage of medical supplies and care, and recurring reports of inmate physical abuse.

Despite the evidence presented in the report, which echoes concerns raised by numerous international and domestic human rights monitors, the Public Ministry has chosen to continue its whitewashing campaign.

Human Trafficking and Forced Labor/Child Labor Ignored Once Again

The Office of Forced Labor, Child Labor, and Human Trafficking of the U.S. Department of Labor recently released its Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor 2023 report, which cites that the Dominican Republic made “minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.” Similarly, the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Dominican Republic reported that the Dominican government did not “adequately or equitably investigate labor trafficking cases or identify labor trafficking victims.” As a result, the DR remains on the Tier Two Watch List for human trafficking.

Blinken’s visit should have served as a turning point against the Dominican government and Public Ministry’s continued disregard for well-documented human rights abuses. Instead, it represents yet another missed opportunity for the Biden administration to uphold internationally agreed-upon human rights standards in the Western Hemisphere.

In November 2025, the Dominican Republic will host the 10th Summit of the Americas, where heads of state from the Western Hemisphere will convene in Punta Cana to address current regional issues and set a proactive path for the future. Until then, it is imperative that international pressure on the Dominican Republic continues if there is any hope for the government to cease perpetuating human rights violations.