The visiting Organization of American States Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) delegation issued its opinion on Friday, 6 December after hearing around 3,000 cases of people who say they are affected by Constitutional Court ruling 168-13. NGOs coordinated attendance at the hearings with the 13-member OAS Commission that had already rejected the decision on 8 October to confirm the Supreme Court of Justice 2005 judgment that defines who is eligible for automatic Dominican citizenship in the country.
The Dominican Republic Ministry of Foreign Relations described the conclusions on the Constitutional Court ruling 168-13 as “subjective, partial and unilateral on the reality of the Dominican Republic”. The Ministry regretted that the Commission gave scant recognition and relevance to the work being done by the government to find a fair and legal solution to the situation covered in the ruling. It establishes that implementing the Legalization Plan is a way to recognize and guarantee the rights of the entire population resident in the Dominican Republic. As part of the new drive to regularize immigration chaos, the government recently announced it would fast-track both residency papers and naturalization for all who qualify. The Ministry says all this falls within the central pillar of the government programs aimed at fighting poverty, inequality and exclusion, a program that benefits all inhabitants in the country, regardless of their origin.
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