Over the past two weeks, the world has watched as the Dominican government has added insult to injury in the tragic death of Sudiksha Konanki. The bungling of the investigation, the hurt of the family, and the mistreatment of Joshua Riibe — the last person to see Konanki alive — exposed the systemic issues within…
In a new letter to the Trump administration, the Hispanic Leadership Fund (HLA) urges Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s team to shut down the Biden administration’s global lawfare school funded by U.S. taxpayers. The Judicial Studies Institute (JSI) – run by the DOJ and bankrolled by the State Department – trains foreign prosecutors and judges…
Recently, the Associated Press released an expose documenting ongoing human rights abuses at the hands of the Dominican government led by President Abinader. The AP exposed the inhumane conditions within the Dominican Republic’s prison system, where thousands are imprisoned without charges or trials. According to the report: U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents are among…
In a letter to Director Peter Marocco of the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance, HLF President Mario H. Lopez urged the Trump Administration to end wasteful foreign aid that enables human rights violations, mass incarceration without due process, and lawfare against political opponents by the Dominican government. “For years, millions of taxpayer dollars have gone…
Last month, the Dominican Republic was officially labeled by the United States as a “major drug transit or major illicit drug-producing” country in a memorandum released by the Biden Administration. Although the inclusion of the DR in the “Memorandum on the Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal…
Does the Dominican government have the capacity to achieve meaningful reforms? The attendance of the Dominican Public Ministry at a recent meeting between the Dominican National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is a positive sign by the United States for promoting…
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…
British media reports that U.K. citizen Shaun Magee is being held under preventive detention in the Dominican Republic without formal charges. In addition, a Dominican judge has stated that there is no evidence to support his confinement. Shaun now joins tens of thousands of people fighting for their lives within a Dominican justice system that…
As the debate in the Dominican Republic over legal reforms and the selection of a new Attorney General continues, the independence of the Public Ministry – which is tasked with upholding human rights – has to be non-negotiable and real. Despite Miriam Germán Brito announcing that August 16th would be her last day as Attorney…
Last week, the Dominican Republic’s National Public Defense Office (ONDP) released its 2023 Prison and Detention Report, which further revealed the dire conditions inmates face while in the country’s penitentiary system. The report underscored a deteriorating situation that is “far from improving” at the hands of the government, according to Rodolfo Valentín, Director of the…
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