Spanish
SANTO DOMINGO. – Opposition party deputies expressed serious concerns about possible restrictions on fundamental rights, excessive discretion by the Executive Branch, and the absence of democratic oversight mechanisms in the organic law project that creates the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI), approved this Wednesday in second reading by the Chamber of Deputies.
The initiative, which will now be sent to the Senate of the Republic, was mostly supported by the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) bloc, while legislators from the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and Fuerza del Pueblo (FP) warned that the content of the project grants broad and poorly defined powers to the Government in matters of intelligence.
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PLD deputy, Danilo Díaz, stated that several articles of the bill, drafted by the Senate president, Ricardo de los Santos, present “open and subjective” formulations that could affect rights such as freedom of expression, free transit, privacy, and due process. Díaz specifically questioned one of the attributions that would allow the DNI to investigate any activity that could be considered contrary to national interests, without the text precisely defining the scope of that faculty. In his opinion, this ambiguity could open the door to abuses and violations of citizens' rights. Furthermore, he maintained that the project lacks an effective institutional counterbalance, which is why he proposed the creation of a permanent legislative commission to oversee the actions of intelligence agencies. "There must be real democratic oversight to prevent excesses," he stated. The legislator also rejected that the DNI assume operational functions related to the control of foreigners in airports, ports and the border, considering that those attributions correspond to the General Directorate of Migration. From Fuerza del Pueblo, the deputy Carlos de Pérez criticized that the protection of professional secrecy is limited only to journalists, leaving out other actors such as priests, lawyers, and accountants. For this reason, he indicated that his bench decided to abstain from voting in favor of the piece. In defense of the project, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, acknowledged the concerns raised, but emphasized the need to provide the country with a modern legal framework that clearly regulates intelligence and national security tasks, areas that currently, according to him, lack adequate regulation. Finally, the project was approved with 112 votes in favor, thanks to the support of the PRM and allied parties, while the opposition mostly opted for abstention.
