The disappearances in the Dominican Republic are definitely alarming; In fact, it is so frightening that reporters have counted at least 628 active cases of disappearance from 2019 until today (De Jesus Ortiz, 2022). The exact reason of this problematic situation remains uncertain; this is mainly due to a huge gap in the process of the responsible authorities, who must be the ones dealing with this situation. In order to make a possible hypothesis of reasons for the massive amount of people disappearing in the Dominican Republic, we must take a look to the different flaws in the negligent, bureaucratic and careless procedures of our national investigation department.
First and foremost, it is important to mention that the accountable department
works alongside with the Central Direction of Delinquent Intelligence (DICRIM). The
National Investigation Department for Disappearing People is a subdivision that must
manage the inconsistencies with this subject; having mentioned that, this department
work with extreme negligence and irresponsibility. Consequently, they mistreat the
families of the victims at the moment of reporting; it traduces to families being forced to
hold insane amounts of time for them to start an investigation, from 48 to 73 hours, all
of this based under the impression that people are extremely volatile and they might
disappear voluntarily and then reappear at any time after the mentioned time frame. This
illustrates one of many examples that could be used to expose their headless behavior.
This fact alone encourages the culture of disappearing.
As humans, we are powerfully moved by our fellow brothers and sisters
disappearing. Our sense of empathy encourages us to be uncomfortable when these
situations knock our doors. For this reason, it is disheartening to see a responsible
department ignore their liabilities just to satisfy a personal need. Our investigation team
works accompanied by bureaucratic statements, that obligate the families of the victims
to pay for inconsistent materials that in most of the times would not even help to
conclude an investigation. Not only that, but some families have complaint about agents
requesting money to speed out their processes, since they know it could take ages to get
something started. One clear example of bureaucracy is the clear issue of demanding a
brand new terabyte hard-drive to recompile the info of surveillance cameras around the disappearing person's last areas; despite all the money we are forced to pay for taxes,
these families get zero resources and are required to over-spend in these materials.
Our authorities, as equal as our government, do not care at all. Moreover, they
are not paying attention to things that are way more than obvious. Therefore, ignorance
and lack of importance are making them sin for omission. For instance, the size of the
team is another clear image of how low the commitment floats; this team counts with 12
agents in total, for the whole country. In my view, this number alone represents a clear
lack of respect for all Dominicans, and it should be alarming yet disappointing for my
patriots. In other words, our investigation team becomes so careless and absent-minded,
they even forget the names of the victims, so impetuously and recklessly, they would
not even recognize anymore who is who and this is just a result of a dysfunctional group
of authorities.
To conclude, it is more than evident that our Investigation Department needs a
restructure, as soon as possible if you ask me. Additionally, I would personally add a
wake-up call for all of them and the president of our country. Disappearances are clearly
a result of an incompetent group of people that are clearly not functioning as they
should be. No one deserves to be disappeared, because of any reason; nonetheless, every
Dominican deserves to be helped and secured in their own land. I truly believe the
future is still featured as an uncertain sightseen for this particular field, nonetheless, my
hopes and thoughts are in full trust of a better outcome for this hard-to-deal-with issue,
whereas my heart beats prayers so everyone can return safe home.
Jeremy Anfeerne Roa Rosa
Disappearances in the Dominican Republic:
The Permanece of a Flawful Process, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, 2022
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