The director of the National Police, Major General Edward Sanchez Gonzalez, expressed his solidarity with the relatives of the married couple that died in a confusing clash with the Police in Villa Altagracia on Tuesday, 30 March 2021 in the evening.
The Major General said that immediately after learning the incident, he ordered the Office of Internal Affairs and the Inspector General’s Office to investigate and shed the truth of what happened.
As reported, 33-year old Elisa Muñoz and her husband, 37-year old Joel Díaz were returning home from an evangelical activity in the community of Los Ganchos de Pino Herrado in Villa Altagracia. The couple had married two months ago. They were traveling in a white Kia K5.
“Our institution deeply regrets the incident and expresses its solidarity with the family and with the evangelical community to which they belonged,” said Police director Edward Sanchez Gonzalez. What is known is that the couple were mistaken for criminals.
Two other persons were in the car and survived the shootout. These were identified as Claudio Alberto Rodriguez, who said he is “alive by miracle” and Carlos Perez. Both were questioned by the Central Criminal Investigations Agency (Dicrim) of the National Police. The bodies of the diseased were sent to the Inacif for their autopsies.
Police spokesman, Colonel Miguel Balbuena, said that colonel Cesar Martínez Lora, commander of the Villa Altagracia police operation, second lieutenant Victorino Reyes Navarro, sergeant Domingo Perdomo Reyes, corporals Norkys Rodríguez Jiménez and Ángel de los Santos, as well as privates Anthony Castro Perez and Juan Manuel Ogando Solis, are suspended. The police are under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Inspector General’s Office and Internal Affairs of the National Police. The Attorney General Office said they would ask a year preventive custody in the case.
On Wednesday, 31 March 2021 in the afternoon, President Luis Abinader stated: “We can’t undo the damage, but I assure you that justice will be done.” He said he spoke with the families and offered all the support from the government. He called for urgent “comprehensive reform” of the Police force.
The killings coincide with the recent release of the US State Department’s Human Rights Reports 2020. The report states that extrajudicial killings of civilians by officers of the National Police are a problem. According to government data, more than 3,000 individuals have died during confrontations with police or security forces between 2007 and March 2019.
Media reports indicate that two of the now-suspended policemen – Cesar Martínez Lora and Victorino Reyes Navarro – had been accused of serious crimes and nevertheless, instead of being tried in justice, were rotated to other areas of law enforcement.
Legal advisor to the President, Antoliano Peralta says that a purge and reform of the Police is necessary.
Radio talk host doubts police reform as contemplated will result. She says raising wages and improving the working conditions of the Police will not result. She remarks that corruption is a way of being in the Police.
Read more:
El Nuevo Diario
El Caribe
CDN
El Dia
Altagracia Salazar
Acento
El Nuevo Diario
N Digital
2020 US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices in the DR
1 April 2021