New “Preventive” Prison Means Human Rights Violations on a Bigger Scale
Dominican President Luis Abinader announced last week the construction of a new prison specifically for those arrested, often without being charged, under preventive detention orders. In so doing the Dominican government sent a clear signal to its people: the preventive detention crisis will continue full steam along with all the human rights violations growing from it.
The announced building of the Anamuya Preventive Correctional Center adds to a prison system that has been widely condemned by human rights organizations and international entities. Currently 80% of detainees in the DR are under preventive detention orders, many of whom are never charged, not allowed to mount a defense, denied basic medical care and face inhuman conditions.
The U.S. Department of State and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have identified preventive detention as the primary cause of the illegal overcrowding in Dominican Republic prison facilities. The latest report from the National Commission for Human Rights in the Dominican Republic (CNDH-DR) states that DR’s prisons, designed to hold approximately 12,000 inmates, currently accommodate over 26,000 prisoners, the vast majority of whom are under preventive detention. This situation constitutes a direct violation of both Dominican and international law.
Though framed as an effort to alleviate the prison population at Higüey prison, the new Anamuya project would continue – and likely expand – the Public Ministry’s unabated abuse of preventive detention.
Last week, the government stated the construction of this new facility aims to address “overpopulation, overcrowding, and prison insecurity in Higüey.” This announcement comes in response to a recent riot and fire in the preventive detention section of Higüey Prison, which occurred as inmates fought over mattresses.
So far in 2024 there have been several deadly prison tragedies. In addition to Higüey, riots and fires have taken place in La Victoria, Samaná, Barahona, all as a result of severe overcrowding and inhumane living conditions within the prison system.
Public Ministry Abuses Face No Intervention or Accountability
In her departure announcement on June 27, Dominican Attorney General Miriam Germán Brito reiterated her disapproval of the Public Ministry’s use of preventive detention, stating it should be an “exception” rather than the rule within the justice system. However, there has been no evidence that Germán ever took action to curb these human rights abuses carried out by prosecutors in her agency.
When asked about the stark deterioration of conditions within the DR’s prison system, Germán refused to take accountability, stating they were an “inherited evil.”
Last month, the Public Ministry issued a public threat of retaliation against critics of its human rights abuses in the justice system. The government has actively attempted to whitewash poor prison conditions and attacked the legitimacy of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) after it condemned the Public Ministry for arbitrary arrest and denial of due process. At the same time, loyalists of the governing party made public threats against dissidents and human rights advocates, including calls for their expulsion from the country.
With all of this as a backdrop, the announced construction of a “preventive” prison means more of the same human rights abuses, just on a bigger scale.