MANPADS CONTROL AND SECURITY GUIDELINES -

S E C R E T SANTO DOMINGO 003898 SIPDIS NOFORN DEPT FOR WHA (SNIDLE),WHA/CAR (NICHOLS, SEARBY),PM; SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2015 TAGS: PARM MASS EAIR ETTC PREL DR SUBJECT: MANPADS CONTROL AND SECURITY GUIDELINES - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REF: STATE 113041 Classified By: Economic and Political Counselor Michael Meigs for Reaso ns 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: There are no MANPADS in the weapons inventories of the armed forces of the Dominican Republic, nor are any known to exist within the country. The Dominican Government does have import)export controls on arms purchases, but high levels of corruption call into question the effectiveness of these controls. Corruption also results in poor control of stockpiles of other types of weapons. End summary. ¶2. (C) There are no Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS),nor any components, spare parts, training systems, or simulators, in the weapons inventories of any of the three services of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic. There are no known MANPADS or associated components present within the Dominican Republic. ¶3. (C) Representatives of the Dominican Armed Forces state that they have not ever made any effort to obtain MANPADS or associated systems and that neither the military services nor any criminal or terrorist groups in the country have obtained such weapons. A database search of past reporting for MANPADS in the Dominican Republic within the last four years yielded nothing. There are no known MANPADS present in the Dominican Republic to control, inventory, destroy, or transfer. ¶4. (C) Authority to import or export arms, explosives, ammunition, or designated hazardous cargo requires authorization from the Office of the Secretary of State of the Armed Forces. The existence of this requirement does not guarantee that all such items receive the required authorization. The Armed Forces and police in the Dominican Republic are known for corrupt practices, and there have been many suspected and confirmed cases of involvement in the illegal smuggling of arms, ammunition, narcotics, persons, and contraband. However, Embassy is unaware of any cases in which MANPADS were smuggled into or through the Dominican Republic. ¶5. (S/NF) Embassy believes that the Dominican Republic's export and import controls on arms and munitions comply with the OAS MANPADS Guidelines. However, should anyone attempt to transfer MANPADS into or out of the Dominican Republic, the controls could be circumvented because of inefficiency or incompetence on the part of the officials responsible; and if the items were detected, there is a high probability that the inspecting official might be induced by corrupt payoffs to let them proceed. KUBISKE