Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso has appointed Roberto Santana Sánchez, former rector of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), as the new head of the newly created Penitentiary and Correctional Services Agency (DGSPC).
The move aims to leverage the prison management expertise of the also former university leader to advance the country’s institutional path toward establishing a new Ministry of Justice, which will be tasked with administering the entire prison system.
Santana Sánchez, a widely recognized consultant and current director of the National Office for the Support of Penitentiary Reform (Onaprep), will replace Police Colonel and attorney Roberto Hernández Basilio, who has been reassigned to the police reform leadership team.
Santana Sanchez is the Dominican Repubic’s expert in prison management and is a leading consultant on the matter in Latin America. He led the Dominican prison system to be an example in the Americas, until he was removed in 2016 and the program dwindled.
Santana Sanchez has denounced major corruption in the prisons not under the new prison model. In recent years, he returned to government as an advisor to President Luis Abinader.
According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office, the appointment seeks to capitalize on Santana Sánchez’s long-standing experience and socio-educational approach to inmate treatment, a focus he has maintained for decades while prioritizing citizen security.
This strategic designation is also intended to facilitate a smooth, consensual transition toward the Ministry of Justice, a model for correctional administration already adopted by many countries worldwide and throughout the region.
Santana Sánchez spearheaded the implementation of the “New Penitentiary Management Model,” a pilot program that operated from 2003 to 2016 before paving the way for a unified prison system. He also played a key role in founding the School of Penitentiary Studies, now the Higher Specialized Institute of Penitentiary and Correctional Studies (ISEEPC).
A political scientist and professor emeritus at UASD, Santana Sánchez has a profound professional background. He has served as a consultant on public policy and criminal justice for international bodies, including the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). His international work includes designing penitentiary schools in Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Paraguay, as well as formulating public penitentiary policies across several nations.
His expertise led to his designation as the first regional director of the UN Center of Excellence for Penitentiary Reform. He has also served as a specialized consultant for technical evaluations of prison projects in Ecuador and Paraguay, and as a correctional management advisor for Mexico, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Santana Sánchez is an accomplished author and collaborator on numerous penitentiary publications, covering topics such as criminal policy, management manuals, and social reinsertion.
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Attorney General Office
Hoy
El Dia
2 October 2025