Yesterday, Monday 24 March, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) criticized the measures taken by the Dominican Republic maintaining its position that there have been violations of human rights with regards to naturalization matters.
In a public hearing, the IACHR asked for an ‘immediate’ response from the Dominican state to the observations made by the Organization of American States (OAS) and issued following its visit to the Dominican Republic last December.
The IAHCR observations included that the problem in the Dominican Republic had been aggravated by the sentence issued by the Constitutional court which denied citizenship to those children of illegal foreigners in the country and that they considered this to be ‘discriminatory’. One of the seven members of the IACHR, Felipe Gonzalez, lamented the fact that the Medina government had not yet responded to these observations and said that people with a right to Dominican nationality should not have to register as foreigners in order to gain their rights. The Dominican government has established that anyone who does not meet the rules that have been in effect since 1929 needs to go through a fast-tracked procedure to demonstrate strong ties to the country and gain Dominican citizenship.
IACHR Commissioner Rosa Maria Ortiz, whilst recognizing that the State was making a big effort, said that it was not going in the right direction, as it was not going in the direction that the United Nations Commission had set out over the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, the Dominican representative at the hearing, ambassador Radhys Abreu maintained the position that the Constitutional Court Ruling 168-13 was not acting retroactively in the requirement that to automatically acquire Dominican citizenship at birth a person must be the offspring of a Dominican or a legal resident of the country. The lawyer expressed her concern that the matter had been extensively debated and the country had established its position and legal right to determine who receives Dominican citizenship. She said that the Central Electoral Board (JCE) that is responsible for civil registry has already established the number of foreigners resident in the country.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/3/25/315649/CIDH-emplaza-a-Danilo-sobre-caso-nacionalidad