In September, the US Justice Department issued a report documenting a “pattern and
practice” of abuses by the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD), including excessive
force and unjustified shootings resulting in numerous injuries and deaths, and illegal
searches and seizures. It found, among other things, that the police were responsible
for the indiscriminate use of chemical agents, batons and other force against student
demonstrators at the Sheraton Hotel, San Juan, in May 2010.
The report also noted “troubling evidence” that the PRPD failed to adequately police
incidents of sexual assault and domestic violence, and routinely discriminated against
people of Dominican descent.
The findings were the result of a three-year investigation by the Justice Department’s
Civil Rights Division and included 133 recommendations for reform, including better
training, policies and supervision. These were under review at the end of the year.
The Justice Department report documented a pattern of police attacks on non-violent
protesters and journalists in a manner “designed to suppress” the right to freedom
of speech, guaranteed under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
In May, Amnesty International Puerto Rico discovered that access to its website had
been blocked to students using the Department of Education’s computers. Although the
block was subsequently lifted following protests by Amnesty International, the search
term “advocacy” remained blocked by the Department at the end of the year.
