The president is both head of state and chief of government and is elected to up to two four-year terms. In 2020, Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) was elected president over the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) candidate Gonzalo Castillo, ending the PLD’s 16-year tenure. Organization of American States (OAS) observers reiterated issues with electronic voting, and repeated calls for compliance with parity requirements for women candidates and better supervision of parties’ and candidates’ finances under existing regulations.

The Dominican Republic’s bicameral National Congress consists of the 32-member Senate and the 190-member Chamber of Deputies, with members of both chambers directly elected to four-year terms. The PRM gained majorities in both chambers in the 2020 legislative elections, which were held alongside the presidential election.

Despite its shortcomings, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) operates with some transparency and cooperates with election monitors, opposition parties, and other relevant groups. The 2020 elections exposed gaps in the implementation of campaign finance laws, demonstrated by a lack of transparency in public fund allocations.

Political parties are generally free to form and operate. However, newer and smaller parties struggle to access public financing and secure equal media coverage. In April 2021, the Constitutional Court allowed parties to maintain legal status if they achieve congressional or municipal representation. Previously, parties were required to dissolve if they failed to gain at least 1 percent of the vote.

Opposition parties and candidates generally do not face selective restrictions during election periods but are disadvantaged by elements of the electoral framework. In July 2020, the main opposition party, the PRM, ended the PLD’s 16-year tenure and won a majority in the National Congress.

People are generally free to exercise their political choices. A history of violent police responses to social and political demonstrations may deter political participation by some, and economic oligarchies and organized crime groups have some influence over the political sphere. The Specialized Directorate for Financial Control was established in December 2020 to monitor public and private financing for political parties and electoral candidates.

A 2013 Constitutional Tribunal decision stripped hundreds of thousands of Dominican-born descendants of Haitian migrants of their citizenship, and thus their right to vote. Black individuals, notably Haitian migrants, experience discrimination. Black Dominicans are commonly presumed to be Haitian, resulting in difficulty obtaining official documents allowing for formal participation in political life, among other problems.

While the vice president is a woman, no key ministerial posts in the president’s cabinet are currently held by women, despite the government’s stated commitment to promoting gender equality.

Government and legislative representatives are generally able to determine national policies in a free and unhindered manner.

Corruption remains a serious, systemic problem at all levels of the government, judiciary, and security forces, as well as in the private sector. In March 2023, Dominican authorities arrested 19 people as part of an investigation into members of former president Danilo Medina’s administration. They included Gonzalo Castillo, a former public works minister who ran for president in 2020. The case reportedly involved claims of illegal campaign financing and the embezzlement of some $350 million. Medina, of the PLD, was not charged with a crime. PLD supporters have since criticized investigators for failing to investigate allegations of corruption against the Abinader administration.

The government does not always operate with transparency. State agencies often provide inaccurate or incomplete responses to information requests. Public officials are required to publicly disclose assets, but NGOs have cast doubt upon the accuracy of these disclosures.

Dominican law guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. However, ownership of private outlets is highly concentrated and public funding of media lacks transparency. Journalists risk intimidation and violence when investigating sensitive political issues.

Amnesty International reported in May 2023 that a mobile phone belonging to Dominican journalist Nuria Piera had been targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware three times between 2020 and 2021. Piera had been investigating a high-profile corruption case involving government officials around the time she was targeted.

Religious freedom is generally upheld. However, the Roman Catholic Church receives special privileges from the state, including funding for construction and exemptions from customs duties.

Constitutional guarantees regarding academic freedom are generally observed.

People are generally free to express personal views in public and private without fear of retribution or surveillance.

Freedom of assembly is guaranteed by the constitution, and demonstrations are common, but sometimes subject to violent dispersal by police.

In March 2023, hundreds of supporters of Gonzalo Castillo rallied outside the Palace of Justice following his arrest on corruption charges. Police dispersed the crowd using tear gas, though no injuries were reported.

Freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, and the government respects the right to form civic groups.

Workers other than military and police personnel may form and join unions, though over 50 percent of workers at a workplace must be union members to engage in collective bargaining. Workers must exhaust mediation measures and meet other criteria for a strike to be considered legal. In practice, union membership is discouraged, and workers risk dismissal for joining.

Judicial independence is hampered by corruption and the judiciary is susceptible to political pressure. Reports of selective prosecution and the improper dismissal of cases continue.

Corruption and politicization of the justice system have significant impact on due process, and strongly limit access to justice for people without resources or political connections. Corruption within law enforcement agencies remains a serious challenge.

According to data from the World Prison Brief, a project of the University of London, around 60 percent of people being held in Dominican prisons are in pretrial detention, and prison occupancy levels far exceed prison capacity. The group reported an occupancy level of more than 162 percent.

The Dominican Republic is free from outright conflict and insurgency. However, the crime rate is considered high, and violent crime against people of Haitian descent and against LGBT+ people are significant human rights issues. Rights advocates say that race and economic status are often a factor in cases of illegitimate use of force by Dominican authorities. A training program has been in place since 2022, aimed at ensuring that the police force is educated on human rights, ethics, conflict management, and appropriate use of force.

Dominicans with European features or lighter skin color enjoy systemic advantages. Dominican Haitians and Haitian migrants continue to face persistent discrimination. They face obstacles in securing legal documents and difficulty registering their children as Dominican citizens, and without identification, they are ineligible for any social assistance. In 2022, discriminatory practices against Black people (perceived to be Haitian) prompted the United States to issue a travel warning for its Black citizens, citing the arbitrary detaining of those believed to be undocumented migrants.

Dominican authorities deported tens of thousands of people to Haiti in 2022 and 2023 despite unrest and dangerous conditions there. There were more than 120,000 removals between November 2022 and August 2023, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

LGBT+ people experience occasional violence, as well as discrimination in employment, education, and health services. They are barred from working in certain public sectors, such as the police and armed forces.

Asylum seekers and refugees must pay a fee to gain travel documents. People of Haitian descent without identification cards cannot attend university or obtain formal jobs.

Tensions over the Dajabón River, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, erupted in 2023, prompting the Dominican Republic in September to close its border with Haiti. (The dispute was related to water access and the construction of a canal on the Haitian side.) More than 61,000 Haitians then voluntarily left the Dominican Republic in the two weeks following. While the border reopened for trade in October, it remained closed to Haitian migrants. In early November, Dominican army members were stationed on the Haitian side of the shared border, prompting concern from human rights groups.

Private business activity remains susceptible to undue influence by organized crime and corrupt officials.

Violence and discrimination against women remain pervasive, and the country has a relatively high maternal mortality rate. A total ban on abortion has been in place since 2015. In February 2023, the Senate approved a draft penal code stating that women who consent to an abortion will be punished with up to two years in prison, though it requires approval from the Chamber of Deputies and the president to become law.

Many workers in the country are employed informally, leaving them without legal protections. Haitians who lack documentation and clear legal status are particularly susceptible to forced labor but are often overlooked by antitrafficking initiatives. The US Department of Labor, in a 2022 report, documented poor working conditions and abuses of labor rights in the Dominican Republic’s sugar industry, which primarily employs Haitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent.

The Dominican Republic remains a source, transit, and destination country for the trafficking of men, women, and children for sexual exploitation and forced labor. The US State Department’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons report downgraded the country from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch List, grouping it with countries whose governments do not fully meet minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, are making efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, but have not demonstrated overall increasing efforts over the previous reporting period.