DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: CERTIFICATION REPORT CARD, 2004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003548

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL EFIN DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: CERTIFICATION REPORT CARD, 2004

REF: A. (A) MCISAAC-KUBISKE E-MAIL 6/16/04

B. (B) 03 SANTO DOMINGO 3140


1. Following is the narcotics certification report card 2004
for the Dominican Republic, requested Ref A (the 2003 report
card is in Ref B).


2. The United States Government (USG) worked with the
Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR) to continue
progress on establishing a regular and predictable process of
extradition, including extradition of Dominican nationals.

-- The GODR has in place a regular process that has worked
most of the time and has resulted in 57 extraditions since
President Mejia took office in 2000 and 75 since the program
became active in 1998. In each case, the Embassy receives a
cable with a full extradition package requesting extradition
of a subject. The Embassy sends a diplomatic note to the
Foreign Ministry, which in turn notifies the Attorney
General, who issues a provisional arrest warrant for
extradition. The subject is then arrested and questioned, in
accordance with provisions of Dominican law. The Attorney
General makes a recommendation to the President, who makes a
final decision after consulting with his legal adviser. The
extradition warrant is signed and the fugitive is returned to
the United States accompanied by a U.S. Marshal.


3. There have been a few questionable cases within the past
year. One fugitive was released from custody, subsequently
re-arrested, and extradited. Four fugitives were arrested
and released without any notice to the Embassy. We continue
to follow up on these cases with the expectation that
extraditions are still possible.


4. The USG continued to urge the GODR to investigate and
prosecute violators of the enhanced anti-money laundering law
that expanded the crime of money laundering to beyond drugs
to include other "serious crimes" as defined in the OAS model
anti-money laundering law.

-- The GODR's multi-agency money laundering investigation
unit, established last year under the National Drugs Council
and headed by Lic. David Perez under the supervision of drug
czar Bonaparte Gautreaux, has been slow to get organized and
is still not fully functioning. The National Anti-Drug
Department (DNCD),the National Police, and the Banking
Superintendency each have their own money laundering
investigation units.


5. The USG has continued to press the GODR to take steps to
address money laundering through remittance businesses and
the smuggling of bulk cash shipments across borders.

-- Drug czar Gautreaux last year planned to assign
investigators to money laundering by remittance and through
the Dominican Republic's many casinos, but has done little in
either area.


6. The USG continues to work with the GODR to implement
training programs and reforms to ensure that asset forfeiture
becomes an effective and regular part of criminaal
prosecutions; substantial assets remain to be forfeited owing
to significant delays in the processing of properties through
the criminal justice system.

-- The GODR continues to take full advantage of law
enforcement training and seminars offered by the USG,
including current training at the National Police Academy.
The USAID programs on Rule of Law/Human Rights and on
Anti-Corruption have substantial training components directed
to the justice system. NAS has offered training in asset
forfeiture during FY 2004, for example a visit in March by
GODR bank supervisors and money laundering investigators to
the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in
Washington and a June visit by bank regulators from the
Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Analysis Unit
to the annual Egmont meeting.


7. The USG has proposed that the GODR enact legislative
reforms to streamline asset forfeiture procedures, to permit
forfeiture of property held by fugitives or deceased
criminals, and to clarify authority for enforcement of
foreign forfeiture orders.

-- Embassy representatives have discussed this proposal with
legislators.


8. The USG has worked with the GODR to continue to engage
with the governments of the United States and Haiti in a
regional strategy for combating drug trafficking and criminal
activity across the island of Hispaniola. Many GODR offers
of cooperation and joint training to the Government of Haiti,
reinforced by the Embassy, brought minimal results, and
Haiti's political crisis, widespread violence, and change of
government this year have suspended these efforts.
Cross-border law enforcement cooperation has been limited to
small, localized operations.


9. The USG asked the GODR to continue to implement the 1995
Dominican-U.S. bilateral maritime interdiction agreement and
to implement related bilateral agreements.

-- The GODR continues to cooperate fully under the 1995
agreement concerning maritime counter-drug operations.

-- Under the 2003 protocol to the 1995 agreement, the GODR
continues to permit U.S. overflight of the Dominican Republic
and law enforcement operations by U.S. Coast Guard
detachments embarked on ships of third-country governments.

-- The GODR has implemented a 2003 agreement concerning
cooperation in maritime migration law enforcement to combat
migrant smuggling.


10. The USG requested continued GODR cooperation in
international and multinational interdiction operations.

-- The GODR continues to cooperate fully in interdiction
operations. The DNCD has implemented a DEA plan to establish
additional specialized units covering ports and airports.


11. The USG asked the GODR to enact comprehensive
anti-corruption legislation to promote and strengthen
mechanisms to prevent, punish, and erradicate corruption
among public officials.

-- USAID continues to work with both houses of Congress and
the judiciary to develop anti-corruption legislation.
Legislative proposals pending before Congress include laws on
government procurement, freedom of information, an
independent prosecutor against corruption, public defenders,
and a strengthened controller general. A law mandating an
integrated financial management system has been passed and is
being implemented. These laws will demonstrate progress
toward compliance with the Inter-American Convention against
Corruption, which the Dominican Republic has signed and
ratified.


12. The USG pressed the GODR to take actions, such as
vigorous prosecutions, against instances of public corruption
to promote the effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity of
Dominican public institutions.

-- The GODR has prosecuted some officials, but there have
been no convictions. The collapse of three banks including
Baninter in 2003 has led to ongoing prosecution of several
former bank executives, in what has become a test of the
GODR's ability to fight corruption. The GODR removed two
officials from senior positions in which they were almost
certainly engaged in corrupt practices.


13. The USG asked the GODR to create mechanisms to enforce
standards of conduct and to continue to establish systems for
disclosing income, asets, and liabilities by public
officials, such as the publication on the internet of judges'
financial disclosure statements.

-- Congress is considering a proposed law requiring a sworn
declaration of assets by non-judicial public officials.


14. The USG asked the GODR to increase cooperation among
Dominican military, customs, migration, and law enforcement
agencies to tighten border and port security.

-- Over a dozen agencies collaborated and cooperated closely
with U.S. law enforcement agencies to improve security at
international airports and seaports in the Dominican
Republic. In particular, CESA, the airport security agency,
are working directly with on-site U.S. experts to improve the
performance of airport security personnel. Indeed, the
security plans for the Dominican Republic's main airport, in
Santo Domingo, were entirely revamped in 2004. The National
Police, military intelligence, and DNCD information systems
units worked to create a network for sharing of information
in their data bases.


15. The USG asked the GODR to increase the interdiction of
drugs and illegal weapons.

-- Law enforcement agencies of the GODR continue to cooperate
fully with U.S. counterparts. Official DNCD reports indicate
a slight decrease in drugs seized this year. However,
Dominican authorities apprehended leaders of a major
trafficking organization in December and since then have
arrested 1,489 narco-traffickers including the head of a
multi-national criminal organization operating from the
Dominican Republic and a fugitive wanted by DEA, and have
seized 33 weapons and 376 kilos of cocaine.


16. The USG asked the GODR to increase the number of arrests
and prosecutions of major traffickers.

-- The GODR has continued to concentrate law enforcement
efforts on high-level trafficking organizations, with
increasing results in arrests of traffickers of particular
interest to the USG. Five principal subjects are currently
under investigation, with the assistance of a DNCD-run wire
intercept unit, which has continued to accumulate evidence
useful in investigation of major organizations.
HERTELL