Paris, Santo Domingo, 20 March 2024. On 12 March 2024, the Fourth Collegiate Court of the National District opened the trial of five people involved in the Los Tres Brazos corruption case. These people are being prosecuted on charges of embezzlement and defrauding the Nation, related to the sale by the state-owned Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Estatales (CORDE) of land in the Los Tres Brazos sector to the private company Infepa-Titulatec.
According to the findings of the Commission the presidency created to examine the case, the transfer of the land was made for a price eight times less than the official valuation. Furthermore, it affected the well-being of the Los Tres Brazos residents, who were forced by Infepa-Titulatec to buy the land they had lived on for decades for excessive sums to regularise their land tenure and not be subject to eviction.
In the 12 March hearing, the defence of the accused persons requested the Court to rule on the dismissal of the criminal proceedings, a matter that had already been resolved and denied by the First Chamber of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal of the National District on 27 December 2023. This request is yet another example of the multiple manoeuvres that the defence has used throughout the trial to delay its advancement.
The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH-RD), a member organisation of FIDH, represents 122 Los Tres Brazos residents. Since 2017, when the investigations began, they have faced multiple obstacles in accessing justice. In 2022, the 11 people named in the case were acquitted by the Sixth Judge of Instruction of the National District of the Dominican Republic, who was later dismissed for receiving money in different cases, including that of Los Tres Brazos. On 27 December 2023, the Court of Appeal of the National District decided to cease all investigation in relation to six of the 11 persons involved in the case. This decision was the object of a cassation appeal, which is still pending.
FIDH recalls the authorities’ duty to ensure victims have access to a prompt and effective remedy that not only allows them to denounce corruption, but also obtain reparation for the damages suffered. In this case, it is urgent that the proceedings move forward given the impact on the rights to an adequate standard of living and housing caused by the acts of corruption and the vulnerability of the inhabitants of Los Tres Brazos, many of whom are elderly. FIDH will continue to monitor and track the effective progress of the judicial process.