Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05SANTODOMINGO1293
2005-03-07 18:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:  

DOMINICAN CONGRESSMAN RAMOS GARCIA SENTENCED TO 18

Tags:  PGOV KJUS PHUM DR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 001293 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC),G/TIP (OWEN),WHA/PPC
(PUCCETTI); DOJ FOR OPDAT (LIPMAN); NSC (SHANNON AND
MADISON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CONGRESSMAN RAMOS GARCIA SENTENCED TO 18
MONTHS FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING

REF: SANTO DOMINGO 0370

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 001293

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC),G/TIP (OWEN),WHA/PPC
(PUCCETTI); DOJ FOR OPDAT (LIPMAN); NSC (SHANNON AND
MADISON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CONGRESSMAN RAMOS GARCIA SENTENCED TO 18
MONTHS FOR ALIEN SMUGGLING

REF: SANTO DOMINGO 0370


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On March 2, 2005, the Dominican Supreme
Court found Congressman Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia
guilty of smuggling 16 Asian migrants across the Dominican
border in 2002 while he was serving as Dominican consul in
Cap Haitien, Haiti. Ramos Garcia was convicted under the
1998 alien smuggling law and sentenced to 18 months in
prison. Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito ordered
Ramos Garcia to be transported to the Najayo penitentiary
just minutes after his sentence was read. As Ramos boarded
the police transport, he referred to himself as a "political
prisoner," asserting that the Constitution prohibits his
imprisonment while he is a member of the legislature. There
are indications Congress may revoke his legislative immunity.
END SUMMARY.

--------------
Background of the Case
--------------


2. (U) The Dominican Supreme Court convicted Congressman
Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia of alien smuggling on March
2, 2005, after a lengthy and often difficult trial. Ramos
Garcia came under suspicion of alien smuggling in June 2002
when, while serving as Dominican consul in Cap Haitien,
Haiti, he crossed the Dominican/Haitian border in a bus with
16 Asian migrants, mostly from the Peoples' Republic of
China. Ramos Garcia crossed the border after the immigration
office closed for the evening. He told immigration officials
that he and the Asians would stay nearby and clear
immigration in the morning and left the passports behind.
Instead, he took the migrants nearly 100 miles to Santiago,
where he paid the hotel bill, and returned alone to the
border the next day to pick up the passports. He was
arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by migration
officials at the border crossing of Dajabon. Charges were
also filed against two Asian co-defendants (from Singapore
and Malaysia) and a Dominican migration official. Ramos
Garcia was charged under the then-existing alien smuggling
law of 1998, which has since been replaced by a comprehensive
anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling law promulgated in 2003
that carries harsher penalties.


3. (U) Ramos Garcia of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano

of President Hipolito Mejia had been elected to a seat in the
House of Representatives just one month before his arrest.
Because of his status as a legislator, the case was moved
from Dajabon to the Supreme Court, which is dominated by
PRD-affiliated judges. Article 32 of the Consitution
provides that members of Congress cannot be deprived of their
liberty while Congress is in session without the consent of
the chamber to which they belong.

--------------
A Verdict, At Last
--------------


4. (U) The case before the Supreme Court moved in fits and
starts, but picked up momentum when Francisco Dominguez Brito
became Attorney General following the inaugration of Leonel
Fernandez as President last August. Dominguez Brito jailed
Ramos Garcia when Congress recessed in January, but released
him when Congress was called into emergency session on an
unrelated matter. The hearings were repeatedly beset with
procedural problems, such as when the Chinese language
translator failed to appear. All of the witnesses had given
their testimony by March 1. The next day, the court heard
final arguments from the prosecution and the four defense
teams in a session that lasted for nearly eight hours.
Judges deliberated for several more hours and announced the
verdict shortly after 10:00 p.m. The prosecutor had asked
for a 10-year sentence and a fine, but the court sentenced
Ramos Garcia to 18 months in prison on the basis of only the
alien smuggling charge. He was almost immediately taken to a
police van that carried him to Najayo prison on the direct
orders of the Attorney General, who phoned in after the
verdict while on a trip to Washington.


5. (SBU) The prosecution had told us they were hoping for a
3-year jail term. Assistant Attorney General for Trafficking
in Persons Frank Soto was "happy, but not very happy" about
the result: "The most important thing is that he was
convicted." Ramos Garcia will be required to serve at least
half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Parole would require the consent of the Attorney General and
a judge. The Asian co-defendants were found guilty and
sentenced to time served, and the migration official was
acquitted.

--------------
Outstanding Legal Issues
--------------


6. (SBU) Ramos Garcia claims he is being imprisoned in
violation of Article 32 and in an outburst in court referred
to himself as a "political prisoner." The issue of jailing
after conviction has not yet been tested. Article 32 would
seem to prohibit imprisoning Ramos Garcia while he is a
congressman, but other articles indicate that such
imprisonment may be appropriate after a conviction is handed
down and once all appeals have been exhausted. Because the
verdict was handed down by a full session of the Supreme
Court, the verdict is not subject to appeal. Ramos Garcia's
arguments for release rest entirely on procedural grounds.


7. (SBU) The Dominican Constitution has contradictory
provisions. The Attorney General apparently issued the
detention order in reliance on Article 15, which provides in
part, "The rights of citizenship are suspended in cases where
there has been (a) an irrevocable conviction in a criminal
court, until such time of rehabilitation; (b) a legally
pronounced judicial intervention, for as long as the
intervention lasts...." Article 22, which applies to the
House of Representatives pursuant to Article 25, also
requires that in order to be qualified for legislative
office, a person must be "in full compliance with all civil
and political laws." Because Ramos Garcia was already
accused of the crime of alien smuggling when he took office,
although he had not yet been found guilty, the Attorney
General may argue that based on the guity verdict, it can now
be concluded that Ramos Garcia became a Deputy in violation
of the Constitution. Even if Ramos Garcia is released
pursuant to Article 32, Article 22 may be interpreted to
prohibit his re-election as a Deputy at the next
Congressional elections in May 2006.

--------------
What Will Happen Now?
--------------


8. (SBU) Ramos Garcia's attorneys reportedly have indicated
they will file a habeas corpus petition for his release on
the basis of Article 32. The Attorney General's office is
preparing its rebuttal, and the decision will probably rest
on the Court's interpretation of the conflicting provisions
of the Constitution. In addition, the House Justice
Committee chair Abel Martinez (PLD) has presented a
resolution intended to revoke Ramos Garcia's immunity, which
if accepted would make moot Ramos Garcia's legal challenge.
If Ramos Garcia wins the challenge, revocation of his
immunity may be the only way to put him in jail for the time
being, except for the intervals when Congress is out of
session.


9. (SBU) Previous congressional proposals to revoke Ramos
Garcia's immunity have failed, but now that he has been found
guilty the Chamber of Deputies may consider the issue in a
different light. Two influential opposition PRSC congressmen
acknowledged Ramos Garcia's guilt in conversations with
poloff, but expressed concern that Dominguez Brito is being
too aggressive concerning congressional immunities. Members
of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and minor
parties seem generally to favor revoking Ramos Garcia's
immunity. Reaction from the PRD been mixed. Vice-president
of the House Manuel Alberto Sanchez (PRD) told poloff that
the House must not set a precedent of opposing a Supreme
Court decision -- no matter how personally distasteful it
would be to vote against a PRD colleague. He confirmed that
the proposal to revoke Ramos Garcia's immunity will be placed
on the agenda for Tuesday, March 8. Sanchez is confident it
will pass.

--------------
Comment
--------------


10. (SBU) The successful prosecution of Ramos Garcia is a
landmark in the fight against alien smuggling; by extension,
in that against trafficking in persons; and in the fight
against corruption. His struggle to stay out of jail
demonstrates the extent to which influential Dominicans still
believe they are above the law. This conviction, coming on
the heels of the high-profile extradition to the United
States of an Quirino Paulino for drug smuggling, gives
additional credence to the Fernandez administration's
commitment to fight high-level corruption. The Attorney
General's order to put Ramos Garcia in chains immediately
sent a powerful message.


11. (SBU) Bringing Ramos Garcia to justice has required
effort both by officials of the ruling PLD and by opposition
PRD-affiliated officials. The case was originally brought
the PRD administration of Hipolito Mejia, even though Ramos
Garcia was one of its own. Although PLD prosecutors pursued
the case to resolution, the Supreme Court that handed down
the verdict was heavily pro-PRD. This is the most important
conviction to date of an alien smuggler. Dominican
authorities acknowledge to us the historical lack of
convictions, a point underscored by the Department's annual
Trafficking in Persons Report as a serious shortcoming.

HERTELL