The Senate-Chamber of Deputies bilateral committee is studying the different bills presented for the approval of the Dominican version of the Extinction of Domain Law. The law is in effect in many countries around the world as a key instrument to combat drug trafficking and corruption in government.
The bill in general establishes that a person who owns assets that cannot be tracked or proven to have come from a legitimate origin, or assets that are a product of illicit activities such as organized crime, kidnapping, human trafficking, corruption, vehicle theft and extortion, can be deprived of the rights of holding or ownership.
The Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) held a workshop with the committee members to analyze the different proposals. The bill presented Antonio Taveras (PRM-Santo Domingo) establishes the retroactivity of the bill, the bill presented by Felix Bautista (People’s Force-San Juan de la Maguana) calls for applying the forfeitures to future cases. Today, in the Dominican Republic, known drug traffickers and former government officers can boast billions in questionable fortunes. The retroactivity would enable these fortunes to be seized.
Another difference in the bill is that the bill presented by senator Bautista would make it an organic law, thus requiring the vote in favor of two-thirds of the legislators present. The bill by senator Taveras makes it a simple law that can be passed with 50% + 1 of the vote.
The executive director of Finjus says these issues will need to be decided upon by the legislators.
As part of the workshop, extinction of domain law expert Marko Magdic spoke on how the law has become an effective instrument to combat corruption and organized crime abroad. “The correct application of the law puts an end to the party of drug trafficking,” said Magdic when speaking during the workshop. Magdic is director of STePconsulting and an international specialist on corporate risk, public security and organized Crime.
Participating in the meeting for the Chamber of Deputies were deputies Elias Báez, Luis Enriquez, Jesus Ogando, Dionicio Rodriguez, Ramon Rogelio Genao, Mercedes Rodriguez, Miguel Bogaert, Rafael Casado, Hector Feliz, Victor Fadul, Addy Montas, Tobias Crespo, Soraya Suarez, Alexis Jimenez and Pedro Tineo. For the Senate, the participants were Pedro Catrain, Felix Bautista, Faride Raful, Antonio Taveras, Dioni Sanchez and Franklin Rodriguez.
Senator Felix Bautista is known for having handled billions as head of the Office of Supervision Engineers of Public Works (OISOE) from 2004 to 2010 during the Leonel Fernandez administration. Transparency International has regarded him as one of the most corrupt government officers in the world. Transparency International years ago explained that the Public Prosecutors Office had presented a well-documented corruption case, showing a complete mismatch between what Senator Bautista reported in his asset declaration and what his bank accounts reveal. Transparency International asid the case was dismissed on technical grounds by a Supreme Court judge who was known to be a member of the same political party of which Senator Bautista was a high-ranking official.
“To prevent this case from being an illustration for how corruption and impunity prevail over democratic values in the Dominican Republic, it needs to be reviewed properly following due process. The autonomy of those reviewing it must be guaranteed. The people of the Dominican Republic are rightly tired with the widespread impunity for the corrupt and powerful in their country and this is why they are rallying the streets”, said Alejandro Salas, Transparency International’s Regional Director for the Americas back in 2015.
The generalized discontent with widespread impunity for corruption and crime resulted in the majority vote against the then ruling party and in favor of today President Luis Abinader who promised independence in prosecution.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nuevo Diario
Central America Data
Oxford Business Group
Transparency International
Fox News
2 September 2021