The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Roberto Rosario, is asking the government to “rise up in protest against the constant lack of consideration” by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC). Rosario said that the hearing scheduled for 2 November is a “reckless act that only seeks to damage the image of the Dominican Republic.”
During a press conference, Rosario told reporters from El Nuevo Diario that he has asked the Ministry of Foreign Relations to protest against the IAHRC’s actions. He criticized the speed with which the hearing was set and the way in which the Commission on Human Rights is treating the issue generally.
A group of pro-Haitian activists accused the head of the JCE of being a racist because he refuses to provide birth certificates to the descendants of Haitians born in this country.
The JCE had informed the Human Rights Commission that it would not appear at the hearings set to look into “the right to Dominican nationality of persons of Haitian ascendency in the Dominican Republic.” The Dominican Constitution grants nationality to everyone born in the DR to parents who are in the country legally. Undocumented aliens from any country are not covered by this article of the Constitution.