As the proposed FY 2025 Department of State and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Budget Request allocations come under scrutiny, it’s imperative to assess their potential impact on human rights in the Dominican Republic. In response, Mario H. Lopez, leader of the Dominican Justice Initiative and president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, expressed…
Last week, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat attempted to whitewash the Dominican Republic’s horrendous human rights record when he attacked the State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Dominican Republic stating it was “highly distorted from reality” and “excessive and aggressive.” It is clear this is an intentional effort by the Congressman to protect…
Abinader Government Attacks Report as “Aggressive” and “Unfounded” This week, the U.S. State Department issued its 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in the Dominican Republic, detailing a serious deterioration of human rights over the past year in which the government of President Luis Abinader “did not take credible steps to identify and punish…
Last week, civil society leaders continued to expose more horrific human rights abuses and brutality at the hands of authorities of the Dominican Republic. In response to the worsening situation, a former director of prisons in the country pointed the finger at “corruption, sabotage and conspiracy” happening inside the Public Ministry with the knowledge of…
Overcrowded conditions at Higüey Prison before Tuesday’s fire (source: Panorama) On Tuesday night, another fire broke out at an overcrowded prison in the Dominican Republic. A blaze tore through the preventive detention section of Higüey Prison in the latest tragic episode in the Dominican Republic’s preventive detention crisis. The fire at Higüey comes only weeks…
Governing party loyalists in the Dominican Republic have escalated fierce public attacks on dissidents and human rights advocates, calling for their expulsion from the country. The attacks come amidst rising concern among international human rights monitors about worsening abuses at the hands of Dominican authorities throughout the country’s justice system. Adopting language common in Cuba…
Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, & Global Women’s Issues Subcommittee will hear testimony from Mark Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA), as well as the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement’s (INL) Global Anti-Corruption Coordinator Richard Nephew…
Crisis in Haiti calls attention to litany of abuses by Dominican government This week, a coalition of domestic and international organizations led by Amnesty International sent a letter to the Dominican government critical of its ongoing human rights crises, particularly against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent. The crisis in Haiti also highlights the Dominican…
In a March 31 opinion article in The Hill, Mario H. Lopez, President of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, criticized the Biden Administration for conducting a “policy of selective outrage” regarding “governments that routinely violate human rights” and said it is time to “break the silence on the Dominican Republic’s human rights record.” Lopez expressed his…
The whitewashing of the Dominican Republic’s human rights abuses is now collapsing. Last Thursday, following the tragic fire at the La Victoria National Penitentiary which killed at least 13, Deputy Eugenio Cedeño of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) of President Luis Abinader joined the rising chorus of voices demanding that administration of the prison system…
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