Biden ignores human rights crisis at America’s doorstep

By Mario H. Lopez 
Real Clear Wire

As a candidate, President Joe Biden promised that he would “revitalize our national commitment to advancing human rights and democracy around the world.” That, of course, is a noble goal, but in practice, his administration has had an inconsistent approach in our own hemisphere. 

Across Latin America, human rights are under assault. And in the case of the Dominican Republic, the Biden administration is seemingly enabling a crisis perpetrated by President Luis Abinader.

The Dominican government’s judicial system is keeping thousands of people locked behind bars for years at a time and often without charge. 

Prosecutors are utilizing a long-condemned practice called preventive detention, which holds individuals indefinitely in prison before trial – and often before being charged with a specific crime – on the presumption that their release would not be in the best interest of society. There is certainly a strong chance that those incarcerated without due process include American citizens and legal permanent residents. 

Clearly, the arbitrary use of preventive detention is a tactic of failed justice systems that are rife with politicization and corruption. Yet preventive detention has become the go-to tool for many prosecutors in the Dominican Republic, so liberally used that as many as 70% of people in Dominican prisons are being held on a preventive basis, often without seeing the inside of a courtroom. The rate of pretrial detention is among the highest in the Americas, behind only Haiti. Under Dominican law, they are legally allowed to hold anyone for as long as 18 months before even being charged with a crime. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has inexplicably chosen to pick and choose which nations will be called out for their criminal justice policies. When El Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele launched a crackdown on violent street gangs, which included using preventive detention, the Biden administration immediately denounced the country for human rights violations and authoritarianism. 

Ironically, the percentage of individuals held on a preventive basis is lower in El Salvador than it is in the Dominican Republic. To date, neither Secretary Blinken nor President Biden has condemned the deteriorating state of the rule of law. 

In fact, the Biden administration is doing the opposite. Senior State Department officials recently had the audacity to crown the Dominican Republic a “bright spot country” when it comes to defending human rights.

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations have opposed the use of preventive detention. In a recent report, OAS noted, “the arbitrary and illegal use of pretrial detention is a chronic problem in the [Americas] region” and deprives individuals of their individual liberty. Career staff at the State Department have also identified preventive detention as an issue in the country in the annual Dominican Republic Country Report.

The organization I lead, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, has launched the Dominican Justice Initiative, which will shine a light on the country’s slide toward authoritarianism and human rights violations. If the Biden administration refuses to call out these human rights violations, we will. It is up to anyone who wants to see stability, democracy, and basic rights in our hemisphere to urge the Biden administration to lead – and urge them to take swift action to defend human rights abroad. 

Holding the Dominican government to account and making the decline in the rule of law a key issue should be part of our bilateral relationship with the island nation. Continuing to ignore this emergency – and giving it tacit approval – only lends legitimacy to the crumbling rule of law in our hemisphere. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, we urge you to follow through on your promise to defend human rights everywhere in the Americas. 

Mario H. Lopez is the president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, a public policy advocacy organization that promotes liberty, opportunity, and prosperity for all Americans.