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World Report - Dominican Republic

• Area: 48,730 sq. km.
• Population: 9,600,000
• Language: Spanish
• Head of state: Leonel Fernandez, since May 2004

A constitutional amendment approved by the national assembly would guarantee complete protection for the confidentiality of journalists' sources but decriminalisation of press offences is still awaiting approval. Although the violence of recent years has abated, it still continues, especially when drug trafficking is involved.

Physical attacks against the media declined a little in 2009 but they are still frequent. Although a major tourism destination, the Dominican Republic continues to be prey to persistent corruption while its geographical location means it is much used as a drug-trafficking way station. It is dangerous for news media to look too closely at these issues, especially as the reprisals are often carried out by municipal officials or police officers.

The especially menacing threat to journalists from the drug cartels can come from just about anywhere. Manuel Vega, a reporter and producer for the privately-owned Canal 10-Varo Visión TV station and radio 95.5 FM in Hato Mayor province, received "warnings" from two imprisoned drug traffickers at the start of 2009.

Freedom of expression continues to be fragile. The privately-owned TV station Canal 53 Cibao TV Club was controversially closed on the orders of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) on 25 March 2010, shortly after presenter Ernesto Fadul criticised President Leonel Fernández and other government officials. The grounds given were "illegal broadcasting." Closure is the worst possible way to punish a TV station for comments that could be considered defamatory or for the illegal use of frequencies.

The arrest on 12 January 2010 of the alleged mastermind of the August 2008 fatal shooting of Normando García, a cameraman and producer with regional privately-owned TV station Teleunión, was nonetheless a significant step forward for a country where impunity for this kind of murder is often the rule.

A national assembly vote on 4 May 2009 approving a constitutional amendment guaranteeing total protection for the confidentiality of journalists' sources was a major advance. Set against that is the continuing delay in adopting a bill decriminalising press offences that was submitted to the national assembly in September 2007. Legislators still have not begun to examine the bill despite repeated appeals from journalists.

Updated : May 2010

Topics: Freedom of information, Freedom of expression,