Debate in Congress: Lawmakers question deaths in exchange of gunfire
The recent wave of deaths of alleged criminals during confrontations with National Police officers has sparked an intense debate in the legislative sphere. Opposition deputies have raised their voices to warn that the fight against crime cannot become a practice that replaces the judicial processes established by the Constitution and Dominican laws.
Deputy Alcibiades Tavárez was one of the most critical, pointing out that the authorities have overstepped their functions. According to the legislator, the rule of law requires that every person accused of committing crimes be brought to justice, instead of being eliminated in police operations.
I believe that the National Police and the Government have overstepped, and it is an excess to seize dozens of citizens, execute them without taking them to trial, to justice. We live under a rule of law here.
Alcibiades Tavárez, Deputy
Due process under the microscope
Along the same lines, Congressman Charlie Mariotti Paz expressed his support for a strategy of a firm hand and crime prevention, but emphasized that any action must be strictly framed within respect for due process. Mariotti Paz questioned the idea that the police institution should determine, de facto, who should live or die, displacing the authority of the courts.
- The Police should not decide who goes to court and who does not.
- Any proposal regarding the death penalty must be formally debated in the National Congress.
- The rule of law is the social pact that must prevail in the Dominican Republic.
Defense of police work
On the other hand, deputy Carlos Sánchez, a member of the Permanent Commission on Interior and Police, came to the defense of the agents’ actions. Sánchez dismissed the criticisms from human rights organizations, arguing that the deceased individuals have been identified as persons linked to criminal activities.
The legislator stressed that there is significant citizen support for the measures taken by the Police to combat crime. Likewise, he clarified that, although no precedent authorizes an officer to take a life, it is exclusively up to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to carry out the necessary investigations to clarify whether there were irregularities in the procedures.
A matter of national concern
This exchange of opinions comes after a month of September marked by multiple deaths in police interventions. While deputies debate the limits of the use of force, civil society organizations have announced that they will file complaints before international bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN, demanding independent investigations that shed light on these events.
