By The Star Staff
At-large Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera asked the majority Popular Democratic Party delegation in the upper chamber to approve, as a matter of urgency, Senate Bill 1445, which would include in the Registry of Persons Convicted of Violations of the Law on Prevention of and Intervention with Domestic Violence (Law 54-1989) all persons who violate a protection order, as well as those who have been convicted under the law and are in a diversion program.
“We are going through a difficult situation around domestic violence cases,” Riquelme said. “This past weekend a woman was vilely murdered in a municipal police station in Morovis. The ruthless murderer had been in a diversion program for violation of Law 54; however, he is not in the registry because at this time the law does not allow it. Our bill fills that gap. I call on the leadership of the Popular Party in the Senate to approve the measure as a matter of urgency.”
The bill was filed on March 21 and has been under evaluation by the Women’s Affairs Committee since April 2.
The measure also creates a rapid response code (QR Code), which will be displayed on signs posted on the campuses of public and private universities, as well as other institutions of higher education, so that students can access the registry quickly.
“The Registry of Law 54 Violators is a cornerstone of prevention, which is why we are eliminating certain loopholes that it had, such as, for example, at this time it does not include people who violate a protection order under the protection of Law 54,” the New Progressive Party senator said. “Likewise, it does not have those convicts who go to a diversion program; this legislation includes all of them.”
The registry was created by Law 59-2019 and currently lists the names of 1,769 convicted individuals. The most common crime, with 610 instances, is the violation of Article 3.1 (Ill-treatment) in the form of a serious attempt.
As of this time, the registry is only available on an internet portal (https:// registroviolenciadomestica.pr.gov/).