US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO1570

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 001570 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR-MCISAAC, WHA/PPC-PUCCETTI, G/TIP-OWEN 
USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, KJUS, KCOR, PGOV, SNAR, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CONGRESS AND SUPREME COURT PUNISH 
CORRUPT OFFICIALS 
 
REF: STATE 1293 (NOTAL) 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The ongoing battle against corruption in 
the Dominican Republic saw two important victories as 
Congress stripped the Constitutional immunity of convicted 
alien smuggler Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia and the 
Supreme Court rid the judiciary of two discredited judges, 
one of whom is known to have been involved with 
narco-traffickers.  These cases are evidence of a more 
serious approach to corruption in the Dominican Republic, 
with all three branches of government playing a role.  The 
certainty that Ramos Garcia will serve his jail term sends an 
especially powerful message that corrupt officials will be 
prosecuted and punished.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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RAMOS GARCIA STRIPPED OF IMMUNITY 
--------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) On March 16, the Dominican House of Representatives 
(Chamber of Deputies) voted to strip the immunity of 
convicted alien smuggler Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia, a 
Congressman since August 2002.  Following Ramos Garcia,s 
conviction (reftel), Attorney General Francisco Domnguez 
Brito ordered him taken straight to jail to serve his 18 
month sentence, despite a Constitutional provision that 
prohibits the imprisonment of a sitting member of Congress 
without the permission of the house to which the member 
belongs.  This order prompted a quick challenge from Ramos 
Garcia,s lawyers. 
 
3. (U) The vote to strip Ramos Garcia of immunity was 
overwhelming, supported by 100 of 102 members present. 
Following a delay of nearly two weeks due to an unrelated 
disagreement by the two major parties, the House action came 
just in the nick of time.  While Congress was stripping Ramos 
Garcia's immunity, the Supreme Court was ordering his 
release, finding that only the House of Representatives had 
power to authorize his imprisonment.  No sooner had the 
Supreme Court ordered the release than Dominguez Brito -- 
based on the Congressional vote -- announced that Ramos 
Garcia would be returned to prison. 
 
4. (U) Although there was never any real doubt that Ramos 
Garcia's immunity would be taken away, some members of his 
political party (PRD) accused the Attorney General of having 
taken liberties with the Constitution in jailing him, and 
expressed concern about the administration,s handling of 
other corruption investigations.  Domnguez Brito for his 
part seized the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to 
fighting corruption, despite "serious obstacles." 
 
5. (U) The revocation of Congressional immunity, combined 
with the guilty verdict from the Supreme Court, appears to 
leave Ramos Garcia with no further grounds for appeal.  He 
will continue to receive his salary as a sitting legislator 
-- firing him would require an infeasible legislative 
impeachment process -- but he will be unable to participate 
in Congressional debates or votes or to run for re-election 
in 2006.  An editorial in the national newspaper "El Caribe" 
spoke favorably about the decision to revoke immunity, 
acknowledging "it took longer than it should have," but 
commenting that it serves as a lesson that "nobody is beyond 
the reach of the law." 
 
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SUPREME COURT FIRES TWO JUDGES 
------------------------------ 
6. (U) On the same day that Congress rid itself of one 
corrupt member, the judiciary did it one better by getting 
rid of two.  The Supreme Court fired Judge Aniksa Serra de la 
Mota for abandoning her duties and Judge Juan Evangelista 
Rodriguez for a "grave deficiency in the exercise of his 
functions."  It is not clear whether Rodriguez -- of the 
border province of Pedernales -- was dismissed because of 
corruption or sheer incompetence, but the Supreme Court found 
that he had "committed inexcusable errors." 
 
7. (SBU) Serra was nominally fired for dereliction of duty; 
however, she was well known to be corrupt, and Embassy has 
multiple-source reports that she accepted bribes from 
narco-traffickers.  Embassy expressed its concerns about 
Serra to Dominican authorities when she repeatedly mishandled 
the Bancredito and Banco Mercantil bank fraud cases, 
resulting in long delays.  In response to Embassy concerns 
and evidence of misconduct, in July 2004 she was transfered 
from Santo Domingo to Elias Pina (on the border with Haiti), 
the Dominican equivalent of Siberia.  Serra never went to her 
new post and was fired for failing to accept her reassignment. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8. (U)  In the Ramos Garcia case, all three branches of 
government did their parts to advance the cause of justice. 
The executive branch prosecuted the case, the Supreme Court 
found Ramos Garcia guilty, and the House of Representatives 
stripped him of immunity.  The Supreme Court order to release 
Ramos Garcia on Constitutional grounds was correct; a reading 
of the Constitution supports Ramos Garcia's claim that his 
imprisonment had exceeded the Attorney General's authority. 
But the certainty that he will serve his jail term sends a 
powerful message that corrupt officials will be prosecuted 
and punished.  The firing of the two judges is additional 
evidence that the Supreme Court, along with the rest of the 
government, is moving in the right direction in the fight 
against corruption. 
HERTELL