US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO1293

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law of 1998, which has since been replaced by a comprehensive 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. 
 
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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