The Dominican Republic announced yesterday that it will recognize the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The announcement was made at a Washington, D.C. meeting of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, a subsidiary body of the Organization of American States (OAS), by Dominican Ambassador to the OAS Flavio Dar?o Espinal. Although the DR was one of the original signatories of the 1969 treaty creating the Inter-American Court and ratified it in 1978, it has never before recognized the applicability of its decisions to the DR. Ambassador Espinal said the decision by President Fern?ndez to formally recognize the Court’s jurisdiction was proof of this Administration’s commitment to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
