Senator Taveras demands Senate summon Interior Minister Raful and police chief over operative deaths
Independent Senator Antonio Taveras proposes that Interior Minister Faride Raful and the Police director explain the protocols for lethal force. He cites cases such as the evangelical couple shot dead in 2021.
Independent senator demands accountability for deaths in police interventions
According to elnacional.com.do, independent senator for Santo Domingo province Antonio Taveras Guzmán presented an initiative before the Senate for Interior and Police Minister Faride Raful and Police National Director Major General Ernesto Rafael Rodríguez García to be summoned to explain the circumstances in which deaths occur during police operations.
The proposal requests that both authorities provide information on the protocols for use of lethal force, the available investigation mechanisms and the procedures applied to verify the accounts of agents involved in each case.
Taveras Guzmán also demands information on investigations carried out by the Internal Affairs Directorate and coordination with the Public Prosecutor's Office to determine the circumstances of each death.
"Saying there was an 'exchange of gunfire' cannot replace an investigation nor automatically justify a death," the legislator stated, warning that police actions must respect the principles of the rule of law.
The senator maintained that the fight against crime must be conducted within the legal framework and that lethal force can only be used when strictly necessary to protect life in the face of an imminent threat.
As background, Taveras Guzmán mentioned the death of spouses Joel Eusebio Díaz Ferrer and Elisa Muñoz Marte, shot dead by police officers on 30 March 2021 in Villa Altagracia as they were returning from a religious activity. He also recalled the case of La Barranquita, in Santiago, where five men died during a police intervention in September 2025.
The resolution establishes that having a criminal record, being under investigation or being the subject of an arrest warrant does not constitute, in itself, justification for using lethal force.
With the initiative, the senator seeks to have the authorities explain the procedures applied in arrest and detention operations, as well as the measures adopted to prevent these from resulting in deaths that could have been prevented.
Source: Google News DO — Santo Domingo