A group of 14 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) has filed a formal petition with the JCE asking it to take action to stop discrimination against children born in the DR whose father or mother is Haitian. The groups allege that JCE offices are refusing to give these children cedulas, even when presented with an official Dominican birth certificate. Sometimes, Solange Pierre of the Dominican-Haitian Women’s Movement (MUDHA) told reporters, this has occurred even when the mother is second or third-generation Dominican. Pierre alleged that the situation is due to a purposeful policy adopted by the JCE. Without the cedula, the children cannot attend public schools or receive public health services, among other citizen’s rights. The NGOs say some 60-70% of these children are not attending school now for this reason. One famous case cited was 16-year Claubian Yan Yaque, who shortly after being nationally recognized as one of the DR’s best students was forced to leave school because he cannot get his cedula. The situation recently has gotten worse, say the NGOs, because Dominican hospitals have started denying a hospital birth certificate for children born in the DR of a Haitian parent. Without the hospital certificate, an official state certificate cannot be obtained, and without that, no cedula. The NGOs say that the JCE actions, as well as that of other state institutions, violates Article 11 of the Dominican Constitution (all those born in the DR have a right to Dominican citizenship), Law 659 on the issuance of birth certificates, and Article 1 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
