| DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Dominican Republic Republica Dominicana Joined United Nations: 24 October 1945 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Click here Updated 10/21/10 |
| CAPITAL |
| POPULATION |
| CHIEF OF STATE |
| SELECTION PROCESS |
Santo Domingo
9,650,054 (July 2010 est.)
President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular
vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive term);
election last held 16 May 2008
Next scheduled election: May 2012
vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive term);
election last held 16 May 2008
Next scheduled election: May 2012
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
SELECTION PROCESS
According to the Dominican Republic constitution, the President
is both the Chief of State and Head of Government
is both the Chief of State and Head of Government
| DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS |
| ETHNIC GROUPS |
Mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%
| RELIGIONS |
Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%
| GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE |
Democratic republic with 31 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district (distrito); Legal system is based on French civil
codes; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive
term); election last held 16 May 2008 (next to be held in May 2012)
Legislative: Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members are elected
by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (178 seats; members are
elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held on 16 May 2010 (next to be held in May 2014); House of Representatives - last held on 16 May 2010
(next to be held in May 2014)
Judicial: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the
leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional
representative)
codes; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive
term); election last held 16 May 2008 (next to be held in May 2012)
Legislative: Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members are elected
by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (178 seats; members are
elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held on 16 May 2010 (next to be held in May 2014); House of Representatives - last held on 16 May 2010
(next to be held in May 2014)
Judicial: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the
leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional
representative)
| LANGUAGES |
Spanish
| BRIEF HISTORY |
The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. Successive waves of Arawak migrants, moving
northward from the Orinoco delta, settled the islands of the Caribbean. Around 600 AD, the Taínos, a late Stone Age culture,
arrived on the island, displacing the previous inhabitants. They were organized into cacicazgos, which where led by a "cacique" .
The final Arawak migrants, the Caribs, began moving up the Lesser Antilles in the 1100s, and were raiding Taíno villages on the
island's eastern coast by the time the Spanish arrived. Christopher Columbus reached the island on his first voyage, on December 5,
1492, naming it La Española. Believing that the Europeans were in someway supernatural, the Taínos welcomed them with all the
honors available. This was a totally different society from the one the Europeans came from. One of the things that piqued the
curiosity was the amount of clothing worn by the Europeans. Therefore they came to call them "guamikena" (the covered ones). In
1493, Christopher Columbus came back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony in the New
World, the city of Isabella. In 1496, his brother Bartholomew Columbus established the settlement of Santo Domingo de Guzmán
on the southern coast, which became the new capital. An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work
in gold mines. As a consequence of oppression, forced labor, hunger, disease, and mass killings, it is estimated that by 1508 that
number had been reduced to around 500,000. By 1535, only 60,000 were still alive. In 1501, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand I
and Isabella, first granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African slaves, which began arriving to the island in
1503. The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo during 1522, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof
nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgents
managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities. They descended from tainos mix with
runaway Africans,who reach the cacique. While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain's earnings on the island, large numbers of
the newly imported slaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain ranges in the island's interior, joining the growing communities of
cimarrónes-literally, 'wild animals'. By the 1530s, cimarron bands had become so numerous that in rural areas the Spaniards could
only safely travel outside their plantations in large armed groups. By the 1540s, the Caribbean Sea had become overrun with
English, French and Dutch pirates. With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined. Most Spanish
colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. In 1605, Spain,
unhappy that Santo Domingo was facilitating trade between its other colonies and other European powers, attacked vast parts of
the colony's northern and western regions, forcibly resettling their inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo. The Bourbon
dynasty replaced the Habsburgs in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo
Domingo. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island,
while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an
opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the British and the rebellious
slaves. They were defeated by the forces of the black Jacobin General Toussaint L'Ouverture, and in 1795, France gained control
of the whole island under the Treaties of Basel. The French held on in the eastern part of the island, until defeated by the Spanish
inhabitants at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808 and the final capitulation of the besieged Santo Domingo on July 9,
1809, with help from the Royal Navy. The twenty two year Haitian occupation that followed is recalled by Dominicans as a period
of brutal military rule, though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force
production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional customs such
as cockfighting. It reinforced Dominican's perceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in "language, race, religion and
domestic customs." In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti,
backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his
estates. The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. Offering the deepwater harbor of Samaná
bay as bait, over the next two decades, negotiations were made with Britain, France, the United States and Spain to declare a
protectorate over the country. It adopted a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by
Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the
war of independence was over. Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on the brink of collapse. Having failed in his initial
bids to secure annexation by the U.S. or France, Santana initiated negotiations with Queen Isabel II and the Captain-General of
Cuba to have the island reconverted into a Spanish colony. In March 1865, Queen Isabel II annulled the annexation and
independence was restored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July. Allying with the emerging sugar interests, the dictatorship
of General Ulises Heureaux, popularly known as Lilís, brought unprecedented stability to the island through iron-fisted rule that
lasted almost two decades. Lilís borrowed heavily from European and American banks-to enrich himself, stabilize the existing debt,
strengthen the bribe system, pay for the army, finance infrastructural development and help set up sugar mills. The six years after
Lilís death witnessed four revolutions and five different presidents. The United States occupied Haiti in July 1915, with the implicit
threat that the Dominican Republic might be next. United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May 15, 1916. The
occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected Dominican government under president Horacio Vasquez. Rafael
Leonidas Trujillo established absolute political control, while promoting economic development--from which mainly he and his
supporters benefitted--and severe repression of domestic human rights. In November 1961, the Trujillo family was forced into exile,
fleeing to France, and vice-president Joaquín Balaguer assumed power. On November 28 of 1966 a constitution was created,
signed, and put into use. The constitution stated that a president was elected to a four year term. Elections in 1990 were marked by
violence and suspected electoral fraud. The 1994 election too saw widespread pre-election violence, often aimed at intimidating
members of the opposition. Balaguer won in 1994 but most observers felt the election had been stolen. Under pressure from the
United States, Balaguer agreed to hold new elections in 1996. He himself would not run. In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández
Reyna of the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party) secured more than 51% of the vote through an
alliance with Balaguer. The first item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned enterprises. Fernández was
praised for ending decades of isolationism and improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fighting
corruption or alleviating the poverty that affects 60% of the population. In 1997, a new law took effect, allowing Dominicans living
abroad to retain their citizenship and vote in Presidential elections. Leonel Fernández Reyna, who grew up in New York, was the
principal beneficiary of this law. The Dominican Republic was involved in the US-led coalition in Iraq, as part of the Spain-led
Latin-American Plus Ultra Brigade, but in 2004, the nation pulled its 300 or so troops out of Iraq.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Dominican Republic
northward from the Orinoco delta, settled the islands of the Caribbean. Around 600 AD, the Taínos, a late Stone Age culture,
arrived on the island, displacing the previous inhabitants. They were organized into cacicazgos, which where led by a "cacique" .
The final Arawak migrants, the Caribs, began moving up the Lesser Antilles in the 1100s, and were raiding Taíno villages on the
island's eastern coast by the time the Spanish arrived. Christopher Columbus reached the island on his first voyage, on December 5,
1492, naming it La Española. Believing that the Europeans were in someway supernatural, the Taínos welcomed them with all the
honors available. This was a totally different society from the one the Europeans came from. One of the things that piqued the
curiosity was the amount of clothing worn by the Europeans. Therefore they came to call them "guamikena" (the covered ones). In
1493, Christopher Columbus came back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony in the New
World, the city of Isabella. In 1496, his brother Bartholomew Columbus established the settlement of Santo Domingo de Guzmán
on the southern coast, which became the new capital. An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work
in gold mines. As a consequence of oppression, forced labor, hunger, disease, and mass killings, it is estimated that by 1508 that
number had been reduced to around 500,000. By 1535, only 60,000 were still alive. In 1501, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand I
and Isabella, first granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African slaves, which began arriving to the island in
1503. The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo during 1522, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof
nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgents
managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities. They descended from tainos mix with
runaway Africans,who reach the cacique. While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain's earnings on the island, large numbers of
the newly imported slaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain ranges in the island's interior, joining the growing communities of
cimarrónes-literally, 'wild animals'. By the 1530s, cimarron bands had become so numerous that in rural areas the Spaniards could
only safely travel outside their plantations in large armed groups. By the 1540s, the Caribbean Sea had become overrun with
English, French and Dutch pirates. With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined. Most Spanish
colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. In 1605, Spain,
unhappy that Santo Domingo was facilitating trade between its other colonies and other European powers, attacked vast parts of
the colony's northern and western regions, forcibly resettling their inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo. The Bourbon
dynasty replaced the Habsburgs in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo
Domingo. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island,
while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an
opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the British and the rebellious
slaves. They were defeated by the forces of the black Jacobin General Toussaint L'Ouverture, and in 1795, France gained control
of the whole island under the Treaties of Basel. The French held on in the eastern part of the island, until defeated by the Spanish
inhabitants at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808 and the final capitulation of the besieged Santo Domingo on July 9,
1809, with help from the Royal Navy. The twenty two year Haitian occupation that followed is recalled by Dominicans as a period
of brutal military rule, though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force
production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional customs such
as cockfighting. It reinforced Dominican's perceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in "language, race, religion and
domestic customs." In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti,
backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his
estates. The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. Offering the deepwater harbor of Samaná
bay as bait, over the next two decades, negotiations were made with Britain, France, the United States and Spain to declare a
protectorate over the country. It adopted a presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by
Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the
war of independence was over. Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on the brink of collapse. Having failed in his initial
bids to secure annexation by the U.S. or France, Santana initiated negotiations with Queen Isabel II and the Captain-General of
Cuba to have the island reconverted into a Spanish colony. In March 1865, Queen Isabel II annulled the annexation and
independence was restored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July. Allying with the emerging sugar interests, the dictatorship
of General Ulises Heureaux, popularly known as Lilís, brought unprecedented stability to the island through iron-fisted rule that
lasted almost two decades. Lilís borrowed heavily from European and American banks-to enrich himself, stabilize the existing debt,
strengthen the bribe system, pay for the army, finance infrastructural development and help set up sugar mills. The six years after
Lilís death witnessed four revolutions and five different presidents. The United States occupied Haiti in July 1915, with the implicit
threat that the Dominican Republic might be next. United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May 15, 1916. The
occupation ended in 1924, with a democratically elected Dominican government under president Horacio Vasquez. Rafael
Leonidas Trujillo established absolute political control, while promoting economic development--from which mainly he and his
supporters benefitted--and severe repression of domestic human rights. In November 1961, the Trujillo family was forced into exile,
fleeing to France, and vice-president Joaquín Balaguer assumed power. On November 28 of 1966 a constitution was created,
signed, and put into use. The constitution stated that a president was elected to a four year term. Elections in 1990 were marked by
violence and suspected electoral fraud. The 1994 election too saw widespread pre-election violence, often aimed at intimidating
members of the opposition. Balaguer won in 1994 but most observers felt the election had been stolen. Under pressure from the
United States, Balaguer agreed to hold new elections in 1996. He himself would not run. In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández
Reyna of the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party) secured more than 51% of the vote through an
alliance with Balaguer. The first item on the president's agenda was the partial sale of some state-owned enterprises. Fernández was
praised for ending decades of isolationism and improving ties with other Caribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fighting
corruption or alleviating the poverty that affects 60% of the population. In 1997, a new law took effect, allowing Dominicans living
abroad to retain their citizenship and vote in Presidential elections. Leonel Fernández Reyna, who grew up in New York, was the
principal beneficiary of this law. The Dominican Republic was involved in the US-led coalition in Iraq, as part of the Spain-led
Latin-American Plus Ultra Brigade, but in 2004, the nation pulled its 300 or so troops out of Iraq.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Dominican Republic
| ECONOMIC OVERVIEW |
The Dominican Republic has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, but in recent years the
service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The
economy is highly dependent upon the US, the destination for nearly 60% of exports. Remittances from the US amount to about a
tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. The country suffers from marked income
inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP.
High unemployment and underemployment remains an important long-term challenge. The Central America-Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, boosting investment and exports and reducing losses to the
Asian garment industry. In the middle of 2008, however, the Dominican Republic's economy started slowing after several years of
strong GDP growth, as the global recession had a significant negative impact on tourism and remittances. The financial crisis and the
US recession caused GDP to dip in 2009, but a rebound is expected in 2010.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Dominican Republic)
service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The
economy is highly dependent upon the US, the destination for nearly 60% of exports. Remittances from the US amount to about a
tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. The country suffers from marked income
inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP.
High unemployment and underemployment remains an important long-term challenge. The Central America-Dominican Republic
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, boosting investment and exports and reducing losses to the
Asian garment industry. In the middle of 2008, however, the Dominican Republic's economy started slowing after several years of
strong GDP growth, as the global recession had a significant negative impact on tourism and remittances. The financial crisis and the
US recession caused GDP to dip in 2009, but a rebound is expected in 2010.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Dominican Republic)
| POLITICAL CLIMATE |
The Dominican Republic's long history of political instability had included many revolutions, coups d'état, barracks revolts, and
pronunciamientos (insurrections accompanied by declarations of disagreement with the existing government), as well as social and
political breakdowns. Coups and revolutions are among the easiest political phenomena to measure systematically. When a country
has had so many, one must conclude that they are a regular, normal part of the political process. Therefore, it is not the case that
Dominican politics are unsystematic.
Politics in the Dominican Republic functions on a smaller and less formal scale than politics in the United States. Sometimes it seems
that everyone in the Dominican Republic who counts politically knows everyone else who counts; many in this group are also
interrelated by blood or marriage. It is a small country, with only one main city. Politics is therefore more like old-fashioned United
States county politics. In this context, family and clan networks, patronage systems, close friendships, the bonds of kinship, personal
ties, and extended family, ethnic, or other personal connections are as important as the more formal and impersonal institutions of a
larger political system. The Dominican Republic has large-scale organizations, such as political parties, interest groups, professional
associations, and bureacratic organizations, but often the informal networks are at least as important. They are, in addition, the
features that are the most difficult for outsiders to penetrate and to understand.
To comprehend Dominican politics, therefore, one must understand first of all the family networks: who is related to whom, and
how and what (if anything) these family ties mean. One must also understand the social and the racial hierarchies, who speaks to
whom and in what tone of voice, who sees whom socially, and what these social ties imply politically. One must know about past
business deals and associations, whether they were clean or "dirty," and what each family or individual knows or thinks about
associates. One must understand where the different families "fit" in the Dominican system, whether they are old rich or new rich,
their bloodlines, what they share politically, and what pulls them apart. Many of these family and clan associations and rivalries go
back for generations.
Source: Country Studies: Dominican Republic
pronunciamientos (insurrections accompanied by declarations of disagreement with the existing government), as well as social and
political breakdowns. Coups and revolutions are among the easiest political phenomena to measure systematically. When a country
has had so many, one must conclude that they are a regular, normal part of the political process. Therefore, it is not the case that
Dominican politics are unsystematic.
Politics in the Dominican Republic functions on a smaller and less formal scale than politics in the United States. Sometimes it seems
that everyone in the Dominican Republic who counts politically knows everyone else who counts; many in this group are also
interrelated by blood or marriage. It is a small country, with only one main city. Politics is therefore more like old-fashioned United
States county politics. In this context, family and clan networks, patronage systems, close friendships, the bonds of kinship, personal
ties, and extended family, ethnic, or other personal connections are as important as the more formal and impersonal institutions of a
larger political system. The Dominican Republic has large-scale organizations, such as political parties, interest groups, professional
associations, and bureacratic organizations, but often the informal networks are at least as important. They are, in addition, the
features that are the most difficult for outsiders to penetrate and to understand.
To comprehend Dominican politics, therefore, one must understand first of all the family networks: who is related to whom, and
how and what (if anything) these family ties mean. One must also understand the social and the racial hierarchies, who speaks to
whom and in what tone of voice, who sees whom socially, and what these social ties imply politically. One must know about past
business deals and associations, whether they were clean or "dirty," and what each family or individual knows or thinks about
associates. One must understand where the different families "fit" in the Dominican system, whether they are old rich or new rich,
their bloodlines, what they share politically, and what pulls them apart. Many of these family and clan associations and rivalries go
back for generations.
Source: Country Studies: Dominican Republic
| INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES |
Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic
cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
| REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) |
None reported.
| ILLICIT DRUGS |
Transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy
from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity in particular by Colombian
narcotics traffickers; significant amphetamine consumption (2008)
from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity in particular by Colombian
narcotics traffickers; significant amphetamine consumption (2008)
| HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENTS, ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUES |
2009 Human Rights Report: Dominican Republic
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
The Dominican Republic is a representative constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 9.7 million, plus an estimated
900,000 to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants, mostly Haitians or their descendants. In May 2008 voters elected President Leonel
Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) for a third term, and in 2006 elections the PLD won majorities in both chambers of
Congress. Impartial outside observers assessed both elections as generally free and fair. While civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently.
Although the government's human rights record continued to improve, serious problems remained:
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
The Dominican Republic is a representative constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 9.7 million, plus an estimated
900,000 to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants, mostly Haitians or their descendants. In May 2008 voters elected President Leonel
Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) for a third term, and in 2006 elections the PLD won majorities in both chambers of
Congress. Impartial outside observers assessed both elections as generally free and fair. While civilian authorities generally maintained
effective control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently.
Although the government's human rights record continued to improve, serious problems remained:
- unlawful killings;
- beatings and other abuse of suspects, detainees, and prisoners;
- poor to harsh prison conditions;
- arbitrary arrest and detention of suspects;
- a large number of functionally stateless persons;
- widespread corruption;
- harassment of certain human rights groups;
- violence and discrimination against women;
- child prostitution and other abuses of children;
- trafficking in persons;
- severe discrimination against Haitian migrants and their descendants;
- violence and discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation;
- ineffective enforcement of labor laws;
- and child labor.
16 May 2008
COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Seventy-second session
18 February-7 March 2008
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION
Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the ninth to twelfth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic and the fact that the State party was
represented by a high-ranking, multisectoral delegation. The Committee expresses appreciation to the Dominican Republic for its written
replies to the list of issues and for the detailed answers provided by the delegation to the many questions put to it. Furthermore, the
Committee appreciates the will of the State party to engage in a constructive dialogue on the progress made and challenges encountered
in implementing the Convention.
B. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention
3. The Committee acknowledges the serious impact that the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has had on the State party, and which has
resulted in an elevated number of migrants on its territory.
Positive aspects
4. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has ratified the Convention without any reservation.
5. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has ratified, in addition to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, four United Nations human rights treaties, namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, and its Optional Protocol, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
8. The Committee notes with concern that, in paragraph 67 of its report, the State party, when describing the composition of the
population of the Dominican Republic, uses the expressions “racial purity” and “genetic characteristics” of different ethnic groups,
which could lead to an erroneous interpretation of the State party’s policies. The Committee also notes the statement by the delegation
that, although incidents of racial discrimination may occur, there is no racial discrimination on the part of public authorities, an assertion
which the Committee rejects, bearing in mind that no Government is capable of knowing how each public official performs his or her
functions (arts. 1, 2 and 5).
The Committee reminds the State party that it is an obligation under article 2 (d) of the Convention to prohibit and bring to an end, by all
appropriate means, including legislation, racial discrimination by any persons, group or organizations.
Click here to read more »
COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Seventy-second session
18 February-7 March 2008
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION
Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the ninth to twelfth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic and the fact that the State party was
represented by a high-ranking, multisectoral delegation. The Committee expresses appreciation to the Dominican Republic for its written
replies to the list of issues and for the detailed answers provided by the delegation to the many questions put to it. Furthermore, the
Committee appreciates the will of the State party to engage in a constructive dialogue on the progress made and challenges encountered
in implementing the Convention.
B. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention
3. The Committee acknowledges the serious impact that the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has had on the State party, and which has
resulted in an elevated number of migrants on its territory.
Positive aspects
4. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has ratified the Convention without any reservation.
5. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has ratified, in addition to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, four United Nations human rights treaties, namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, and its Optional Protocol, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
8. The Committee notes with concern that, in paragraph 67 of its report, the State party, when describing the composition of the
population of the Dominican Republic, uses the expressions “racial purity” and “genetic characteristics” of different ethnic groups,
which could lead to an erroneous interpretation of the State party’s policies. The Committee also notes the statement by the delegation
that, although incidents of racial discrimination may occur, there is no racial discrimination on the part of public authorities, an assertion
which the Committee rejects, bearing in mind that no Government is capable of knowing how each public official performs his or her
functions (arts. 1, 2 and 5).
The Committee reminds the State party that it is an obligation under article 2 (d) of the Convention to prohibit and bring to an end, by all
appropriate means, including legislation, racial discrimination by any persons, group or organizations.
Click here to read more »
Freedom In The World 2010 Report
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 2
Status: Free
Trend Arrow
The Dominican Republic received a downward trend arrow due to the revelation through several major scandals of the level of
drug traffickers’ penetration of Dominican police and legal institutions, as well as new constitutional bans on abortion and gay
marriage that are among the strictest in the world.
Overview
In 2009, support for President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party began to wane amidst a worsening economic
climate, as well as several major scandals involving collusion between drug traffickers and the police. The new constitution ratified in
October included some of the toughest restrictions on abortion and gay marriage in the world.
The PLD, capitalizing on the president’s successful economic management, won a majority in both houses of Congress in May 2006. In
the Senate, the PLD took 22 seats, while the PRD won only 6 and the PRSC took 4. In the Chamber of Deputies, the PLD won 96 seats
and the PRD took 60, leaving the PRSC with 22. Fernandez secured a third term in the May 2008 election with 54 percent of the vote.
His opponent, the PRD’s Miguel Vargas Maldonado, garnered just over 40 percent. Political violence associated with the balloting led to
three deaths, but Fernandez called for a national celebration, dubbing the election a “democratic fiesta.” Fernandez promoted a
constitutional reform process that resulted in the ratification of the country’s 38th constitution in October 2009. The new constitution
has no restrictions on non-consecutive presidential reelection, which would allow Fernandez to run for president again in 2016.
The Dominican Republic faced new troubles in 2009 stemming from a wave of scandals involving the Dominican National Police, as
well as a worsening economic climate. In February, 27 police officers, including two colonels, were charged with allowing drug dealers
to operate in their districts with impunity. In August, another police unit was dismantled, and authorities launched an investigation into
the alleged ties between nearly 200 officers and drug trafficking. Separately, lawyers and staffers in the government’s legal department
were fired in relation to allegations of malfeasance in the Central Electoral Board. Controversy also erupted over bloated government
payrolls after new reports revealed that some Dominican ministries had 10 times as many staff as equivalent ministries in neighboring
countries. The Central Bank claimed 3.5 percent growth during 2009, but some analysts and rating agencies viewed that figure as
optimistic, especially considering initial projections of a 1 percent contraction during the year.
The Dominican Republic is an electoral democracy. The 2008 presidential election and the 2006 legislative elections were determined to
have been free and fair. The constitution provides for a president and a bicameral National Congress, both elected to four-year terms.
The Congress consists of the 32-member Senate and the 178-member Chamber of Deputies. The three main political parties are the
ruling PLD, the opposition PRD, and the smaller PRSC.
Click here to read more »
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 2
Status: Free
Trend Arrow
The Dominican Republic received a downward trend arrow due to the revelation through several major scandals of the level of
drug traffickers’ penetration of Dominican police and legal institutions, as well as new constitutional bans on abortion and gay
marriage that are among the strictest in the world.
Overview
In 2009, support for President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party began to wane amidst a worsening economic
climate, as well as several major scandals involving collusion between drug traffickers and the police. The new constitution ratified in
October included some of the toughest restrictions on abortion and gay marriage in the world.
The PLD, capitalizing on the president’s successful economic management, won a majority in both houses of Congress in May 2006. In
the Senate, the PLD took 22 seats, while the PRD won only 6 and the PRSC took 4. In the Chamber of Deputies, the PLD won 96 seats
and the PRD took 60, leaving the PRSC with 22. Fernandez secured a third term in the May 2008 election with 54 percent of the vote.
His opponent, the PRD’s Miguel Vargas Maldonado, garnered just over 40 percent. Political violence associated with the balloting led to
three deaths, but Fernandez called for a national celebration, dubbing the election a “democratic fiesta.” Fernandez promoted a
constitutional reform process that resulted in the ratification of the country’s 38th constitution in October 2009. The new constitution
has no restrictions on non-consecutive presidential reelection, which would allow Fernandez to run for president again in 2016.
The Dominican Republic faced new troubles in 2009 stemming from a wave of scandals involving the Dominican National Police, as
well as a worsening economic climate. In February, 27 police officers, including two colonels, were charged with allowing drug dealers
to operate in their districts with impunity. In August, another police unit was dismantled, and authorities launched an investigation into
the alleged ties between nearly 200 officers and drug trafficking. Separately, lawyers and staffers in the government’s legal department
were fired in relation to allegations of malfeasance in the Central Electoral Board. Controversy also erupted over bloated government
payrolls after new reports revealed that some Dominican ministries had 10 times as many staff as equivalent ministries in neighboring
countries. The Central Bank claimed 3.5 percent growth during 2009, but some analysts and rating agencies viewed that figure as
optimistic, especially considering initial projections of a 1 percent contraction during the year.
The Dominican Republic is an electoral democracy. The 2008 presidential election and the 2006 legislative elections were determined to
have been free and fair. The constitution provides for a president and a bicameral National Congress, both elected to four-year terms.
The Congress consists of the 32-member Senate and the 178-member Chamber of Deputies. The three main political parties are the
ruling PLD, the opposition PRD, and the smaller PRSC.
Click here to read more »
Dominican Republic should investigate abduction allegations against anti-kidnap police
28 September 2010
Amnesty International has urged the authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate the whereabouts of Juan Amonte Herrera who is
believed to have been abducted by anti-kidnapping police officers.
On 28 September 2009, Juan Almonte Herrera, a member of the Dominican Committee of Human Rights, was on his way to the Santo
Domingo office where he worked as an accountant, when a group of armed men forced him into a car and drove away. He has not been
seen since.
One year on, Juan's family and lawyers are yet to receive any official communication on the status of the investigation into his
disappearance despite fears that he could be being held incommunicado or have been killed.
"The Dominican authorities should investigate this disappearance or reveal Juan's whereabouts if he is being held by the security forces.
It is very worrying that one year on after his disappearance they appear to have done very little to discover his fate," said Chiara Ligouri,
Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.
The police had announced on Dominican television that two hours after his detention that Juan was himself being investigated over the
alleged kidnapping of a 19-year-old in the eastern town of Nagua, and have since maintained that Juan Almonte remains a fugitive.
At the end of October 2009, two unidentified charred bodies were found in a car in Santo Domingo. Juan's sister identified one as being
that of Juan Almonte. However, when DNA tests were carried out they were negative, and the family has questioned how the tests were
carried out.
Following their call for an investigation, his relatives and lawyers have reported to have been placed under surveillance by the police.
They told Amnesty International they have been followed in cars and watched from the street in front of their house. Juan’s sister has
received telephone calls asking her to stop publicising the case. They have reported the incidents of surveillance to the authorities, who
offered them protection from the police, something they consider inadequate.
"The Dominican authorities must provide adequate protection to Juan Almonte Herrera's family and lawyers, as a matter of urgency and
according to their wishes," said Chiara Ligouri.
Click here to read more »
28 September 2010
Amnesty International has urged the authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate the whereabouts of Juan Amonte Herrera who is
believed to have been abducted by anti-kidnapping police officers.
On 28 September 2009, Juan Almonte Herrera, a member of the Dominican Committee of Human Rights, was on his way to the Santo
Domingo office where he worked as an accountant, when a group of armed men forced him into a car and drove away. He has not been
seen since.
One year on, Juan's family and lawyers are yet to receive any official communication on the status of the investigation into his
disappearance despite fears that he could be being held incommunicado or have been killed.
"The Dominican authorities should investigate this disappearance or reveal Juan's whereabouts if he is being held by the security forces.
It is very worrying that one year on after his disappearance they appear to have done very little to discover his fate," said Chiara Ligouri,
Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.
The police had announced on Dominican television that two hours after his detention that Juan was himself being investigated over the
alleged kidnapping of a 19-year-old in the eastern town of Nagua, and have since maintained that Juan Almonte remains a fugitive.
At the end of October 2009, two unidentified charred bodies were found in a car in Santo Domingo. Juan's sister identified one as being
that of Juan Almonte. However, when DNA tests were carried out they were negative, and the family has questioned how the tests were
carried out.
Following their call for an investigation, his relatives and lawyers have reported to have been placed under surveillance by the police.
They told Amnesty International they have been followed in cars and watched from the street in front of their house. Juan’s sister has
received telephone calls asking her to stop publicising the case. They have reported the incidents of surveillance to the authorities, who
offered them protection from the police, something they consider inadequate.
"The Dominican authorities must provide adequate protection to Juan Almonte Herrera's family and lawyers, as a matter of urgency and
according to their wishes," said Chiara Ligouri.
Click here to read more »
DR-CAFTA Falls Short on Workers’ Rights
By Carol Pier
July 26, 2005
At a port that supplies U.S. consumers with clothes and other imports from El Salvador, a group of forty-one dockworkers signed up in
December to form a union. When the employer found out, it fired thirty-four of them. Unlike in the United States, these workers have no
right to their jobs back under Salvadoran law for anti-union firings.
Under a regional trade pact known as DR-CAFTA, which passed the U.S. Senate and is likely facing a vote in the House of
Representatives by the end of July, the weak labor laws that allow such human rights abuses to flourish could remain intact in U.S.
trading partners like El Salvador. Yet the Bush administration is attempting to sell this agreement with Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua as pro-worker. Congress should not be fooled. The accord falls short on
workers’ rights, and Congress should reject it in its current form.
Under existing laws that DR-CAFTA would replace, the United States can withdraw trade benefits from Central American and Caribbean
countries if they do not enforce their labor laws and if those laws do not protect workers’ rights. But DR-CAFTA only has one
enforceable labor rights requirement: that countries apply their own labor laws—even if they are grossly inadequate. If governments
change their laws to eliminate rights, that’s okay, too, just so long as the new laws are enforced.
Equally troubling, DR-CAFTA affords women and other groups that have historically faced abuse in the workplace no protection from
discrimination. Women workers predominate in Central American and Dominican free trade zones. This year, the State Department
identified sexual harassment and pregnancy-based discrimination as serious problems in the region.
The Bush administration’s spin is that DR-CAFTA’s enforce-your-own-laws standard is sufficient because the labor laws in the region
are fine. It claims that International Labor Organization (ILO) studies confirmed its analysis. In fact, these studies found no such thing.
Instead, they identified at least twenty-seven areas in which labor laws in the region fall short of international standards, for example, by
severely restricting workers’ right to strike.
El Salvador’s labor laws exemplify the weakness of workers’ rights protections in the region. Several months ago, Congressman Kevin
Brady (R.-Texas), a DR-CAFTA supporter, cited a Salvadoran law allowing workers to register a union with thirty-five supporters as an
example of the region’s allegedly strong labor protections. But an ILO decision says this minimum number, along with El Salvador’s
other union registration requirements, are so onerous that they “seriously infringe the principles of freedom of association.”
Click here to read more »
By Carol Pier
July 26, 2005
At a port that supplies U.S. consumers with clothes and other imports from El Salvador, a group of forty-one dockworkers signed up in
December to form a union. When the employer found out, it fired thirty-four of them. Unlike in the United States, these workers have no
right to their jobs back under Salvadoran law for anti-union firings.
Under a regional trade pact known as DR-CAFTA, which passed the U.S. Senate and is likely facing a vote in the House of
Representatives by the end of July, the weak labor laws that allow such human rights abuses to flourish could remain intact in U.S.
trading partners like El Salvador. Yet the Bush administration is attempting to sell this agreement with Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua as pro-worker. Congress should not be fooled. The accord falls short on
workers’ rights, and Congress should reject it in its current form.
Under existing laws that DR-CAFTA would replace, the United States can withdraw trade benefits from Central American and Caribbean
countries if they do not enforce their labor laws and if those laws do not protect workers’ rights. But DR-CAFTA only has one
enforceable labor rights requirement: that countries apply their own labor laws—even if they are grossly inadequate. If governments
change their laws to eliminate rights, that’s okay, too, just so long as the new laws are enforced.
Equally troubling, DR-CAFTA affords women and other groups that have historically faced abuse in the workplace no protection from
discrimination. Women workers predominate in Central American and Dominican free trade zones. This year, the State Department
identified sexual harassment and pregnancy-based discrimination as serious problems in the region.
The Bush administration’s spin is that DR-CAFTA’s enforce-your-own-laws standard is sufficient because the labor laws in the region
are fine. It claims that International Labor Organization (ILO) studies confirmed its analysis. In fact, these studies found no such thing.
Instead, they identified at least twenty-seven areas in which labor laws in the region fall short of international standards, for example, by
severely restricting workers’ right to strike.
El Salvador’s labor laws exemplify the weakness of workers’ rights protections in the region. Several months ago, Congressman Kevin
Brady (R.-Texas), a DR-CAFTA supporter, cited a Salvadoran law allowing workers to register a union with thirty-five supporters as an
example of the region’s allegedly strong labor protections. But an ILO decision says this minimum number, along with El Salvador’s
other union registration requirements, are so onerous that they “seriously infringe the principles of freedom of association.”
Click here to read more »
Statement Ьу His Ехсеllепсу Dr. Leonel Fernandez- President of the Dominican Republic
At the General Debate ofthe 65th General Assembly ofthe United Nations
New York,
September 23, 2010
Statement Summary
LEONEL FERNÁNDEZ, President of the Dominican Republic, said in 1998 a General Assembly special session was held to eliminate or
substantially reduce illegal production of drugs. Ten years later, another meeting concluded that little progress had been made, and the
international community should be concerned about the growing threat posed by the global drug problem. At the end of that session, it
was determined that a new 10-year plan was needed, covering the period until 2019, for the General Assembly to evaluate the outcomes
of policies applied to the most serious threat to citizen safety: organized crime and illegal drug trafficking. While drug usage was
dispersed across the world, consumption was highest in areas with the highest levels of economic and social development, “such as the
United States, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia”. Harmful effects of drug consumption included loss of will, apathy, bulimia and the
development of pathological behaviours and could expose users to HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C.
This “global black market” reached the astronomical amount of $400 billion each year, making it larger than the GDP of 122 out of the
184 countries registered on the World Bank’s Economic Index – more wealth than countries like Chile, Denmark, Finland and Portugal.
Drug trafficking utilized kidnappings, contract killings, torture and decapitations, and murdered journalists, teachers, doctors, students
and housewives. Its power was so great that it interfered in vital government areas such as the armed forces, police, intelligence services
and the justice system.
Yet, “it is possible to confront and defeat it”, he said. To do so, the international community must change paradigms and strategic
visions to focus not just on the supply side, but on demand and consumption as well. Indiscriminate gun sales and human trafficking
must be curtailed, and cooperation policies must be developed among the countries that produce, serve as transit points for, and
consume narcotics. It was necessary to introduce new technologies, strengthen intelligence systems, increase personnel professionalism
and strengthen development to protect against crime. In 2019, when the General Assembly again convened to evaluate its plan against
drug trafficking, he hoped that the Assembly would be able to say it had prevailed.
Turning to the costs of recent natural disasters, the losses experienced in 2010 were a great cause for concern, he said. To date, there
had been 47 floods and landslides affecting countries from Brazil to Sudan; 12 hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, from Mexico to
Madagascar; eight serious droughts from California to the Russian Federation; seven earthquakes from China to Haiti; and Iceland’s
volcanic eruption, which constituted the most serious interruption in air traffic since the Second World War. Vulnerability to natural
disasters was increasing, and development levels were starkly declining as a result. As most of those disasters were caused by climate
change, it was imperative that the General Assembly approved possible guidelines as soon as possible to regulate the emissions of carbon
dioxide and to protect the planet’s biodiversity.
He stressed the necessity for early warning systems in coastal areas, as well as at-risk cities, schools and hospitals. In this regard, the
Dominican Republic planned to take an active part in the work towards the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, including its
next meeting in Geneva in May 2011. The United Nations system should create a world alliance of countries at risk, in order to exchange
experiences, knowledge and ideas, as well as transfer the best practices learned in catastrophic circumstances. This would help to save
lives and minimize material damages.
Click here to read more »
At the General Debate ofthe 65th General Assembly ofthe United Nations
New York,
September 23, 2010
Statement Summary
LEONEL FERNÁNDEZ, President of the Dominican Republic, said in 1998 a General Assembly special session was held to eliminate or
substantially reduce illegal production of drugs. Ten years later, another meeting concluded that little progress had been made, and the
international community should be concerned about the growing threat posed by the global drug problem. At the end of that session, it
was determined that a new 10-year plan was needed, covering the period until 2019, for the General Assembly to evaluate the outcomes
of policies applied to the most serious threat to citizen safety: organized crime and illegal drug trafficking. While drug usage was
dispersed across the world, consumption was highest in areas with the highest levels of economic and social development, “such as the
United States, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia”. Harmful effects of drug consumption included loss of will, apathy, bulimia and the
development of pathological behaviours and could expose users to HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C.
This “global black market” reached the astronomical amount of $400 billion each year, making it larger than the GDP of 122 out of the
184 countries registered on the World Bank’s Economic Index – more wealth than countries like Chile, Denmark, Finland and Portugal.
Drug trafficking utilized kidnappings, contract killings, torture and decapitations, and murdered journalists, teachers, doctors, students
and housewives. Its power was so great that it interfered in vital government areas such as the armed forces, police, intelligence services
and the justice system.
Yet, “it is possible to confront and defeat it”, he said. To do so, the international community must change paradigms and strategic
visions to focus not just on the supply side, but on demand and consumption as well. Indiscriminate gun sales and human trafficking
must be curtailed, and cooperation policies must be developed among the countries that produce, serve as transit points for, and
consume narcotics. It was necessary to introduce new technologies, strengthen intelligence systems, increase personnel professionalism
and strengthen development to protect against crime. In 2019, when the General Assembly again convened to evaluate its plan against
drug trafficking, he hoped that the Assembly would be able to say it had prevailed.
Turning to the costs of recent natural disasters, the losses experienced in 2010 were a great cause for concern, he said. To date, there
had been 47 floods and landslides affecting countries from Brazil to Sudan; 12 hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, from Mexico to
Madagascar; eight serious droughts from California to the Russian Federation; seven earthquakes from China to Haiti; and Iceland’s
volcanic eruption, which constituted the most serious interruption in air traffic since the Second World War. Vulnerability to natural
disasters was increasing, and development levels were starkly declining as a result. As most of those disasters were caused by climate
change, it was imperative that the General Assembly approved possible guidelines as soon as possible to regulate the emissions of carbon
dioxide and to protect the planet’s biodiversity.
He stressed the necessity for early warning systems in coastal areas, as well as at-risk cities, schools and hospitals. In this regard, the
Dominican Republic planned to take an active part in the work towards the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, including its
next meeting in Geneva in May 2011. The United Nations system should create a world alliance of countries at risk, in order to exchange
experiences, knowledge and ideas, as well as transfer the best practices learned in catastrophic circumstances. This would help to save
lives and minimize material damages.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Dominican State Policy In The Area Of Human Rights
Written by Portorreal on 03/03/2010 • In Category Human Rights
Original text in Conlaplumacomoespada.com
Since the execution of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, May 30, 1961, we are trying to get the Dominican government,
which is hosting and define its policy in the area of Human Rights. In the period from 1930 to 1961, known as the glorious era in which
govern touched Trujillo Molina was naive to pretend that this regime of terror, a model of "democratic, Western and Christian" blessed
and supported throughout their journeys different U.S. administrations and pawn of the Cold War, implement measures for Human
Rights, although ironically it signed the San Francisco Charter, which gave birth to the Nations Organization (UNO) and joined in 1948,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and become a State Party, Member and Founder of the Organization of American States
(OAS). National efforts were unsuccessful, to build in the period 1961 to 1966, a space, which opened its doors to U.S. policies in the
area of Human Rights, during the politically turbulent period, however we have held the first free elections after execution of the dictator,
the first government elected in such elections, chaired by a figure of international stature, as was Don Juan Bosch was overthrown by a
cabal of conservative sectors of the country, using an armed force, acting powered by fear communism and foreign dependence. In the
long, dark period of not less than twelve years, from 1966 to 1978, numerous efforts were made to force the Dominican State to adopt a
policy on Human Rights, which will definitely mark the transition from dictatorship to democracy. From 1978 to 2000, stepped up those
efforts, both internally and resolute initiative specialized international institutions to adopt policies that are firm and transparent State
Human Rights.
Several governments have had in the periods shown, but all without exception have set aside the issue, and partisan views and unilateral,
have been more effective, and have made serious and consistent efforts sink to provide the state a strong Dominican and transparent
policy on Human Rights. Political shamelessly adopted the policy of signing, ratifying or acceding to treaties, conventions and treaties on
various topics within the area of human rights, constituting a routine to raise their hands in international fora and without the slightest
blush to support a important convention, without this meaning that the internal level, implement or carry out an implementation schedule
to the agreement on the international stage, finds its counterpart at the domestic level. This crazy policy of approving agreements without
intent to apply them in domestic practice, just find a happy precedent for the enactment of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which
precisely and unambiguously in its first article provides that:
"... The courts in applying the law, ensure the effective enforcement of the Constitution of the Republic and international treaties and
their interpretation by the courts created by them, whose rules and principles are direct and immediate application in the chaos under
jurisdiction and always prevail over the law. Failure to comply with a rule of judicial guarantees established in favor of the accused can
not be relied to their detriment ... "
This first fundamental principle of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, referred from other international instruments ratified by the
Dominican State in the area of Human Rights, including:
(A) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(B) Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
(C) Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
(D) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(E) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(F) The Inter-American Convention on Human Rights Pact of San José
(G) The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture
(H) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(I) International Convention to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women or Convention of Belem Do Pará
These instruments, in addition to other protectionist, to form a solid base of sufficient documentation for the development of a coherent
state policy in the area of Human Rights. However, there is no government agency to coordinate domestic action in the applicability of
these conventions, the creation of an interdisciplinary commission in the area of Human Rights, in addition to not contributing anything
to the development of a state policy is a stillborn body, bureaucratic, it is not known on whom he depends to celebrate their "jobs", I
think that was invented in response to allegations of abuse against Haitian workers, who in response to develop a specific state policy.
In that sense we sent to the President, through the Executive Branch's Legal Advisor, a blueprint for creating the Executive Unit
Executive Advisor in the Area of Human Rights as the request internal validation to implement government policies in this important area
and facilitate improved implementation of State policies on Human Rights.
Click here to read more »
Dominican State Policy In The Area Of Human Rights
Written by Portorreal on 03/03/2010 • In Category Human Rights
Original text in Conlaplumacomoespada.com
Since the execution of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, May 30, 1961, we are trying to get the Dominican government,
which is hosting and define its policy in the area of Human Rights. In the period from 1930 to 1961, known as the glorious era in which
govern touched Trujillo Molina was naive to pretend that this regime of terror, a model of "democratic, Western and Christian" blessed
and supported throughout their journeys different U.S. administrations and pawn of the Cold War, implement measures for Human
Rights, although ironically it signed the San Francisco Charter, which gave birth to the Nations Organization (UNO) and joined in 1948,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and become a State Party, Member and Founder of the Organization of American States
(OAS). National efforts were unsuccessful, to build in the period 1961 to 1966, a space, which opened its doors to U.S. policies in the
area of Human Rights, during the politically turbulent period, however we have held the first free elections after execution of the dictator,
the first government elected in such elections, chaired by a figure of international stature, as was Don Juan Bosch was overthrown by a
cabal of conservative sectors of the country, using an armed force, acting powered by fear communism and foreign dependence. In the
long, dark period of not less than twelve years, from 1966 to 1978, numerous efforts were made to force the Dominican State to adopt a
policy on Human Rights, which will definitely mark the transition from dictatorship to democracy. From 1978 to 2000, stepped up those
efforts, both internally and resolute initiative specialized international institutions to adopt policies that are firm and transparent State
Human Rights.
Several governments have had in the periods shown, but all without exception have set aside the issue, and partisan views and unilateral,
have been more effective, and have made serious and consistent efforts sink to provide the state a strong Dominican and transparent
policy on Human Rights. Political shamelessly adopted the policy of signing, ratifying or acceding to treaties, conventions and treaties on
various topics within the area of human rights, constituting a routine to raise their hands in international fora and without the slightest
blush to support a important convention, without this meaning that the internal level, implement or carry out an implementation schedule
to the agreement on the international stage, finds its counterpart at the domestic level. This crazy policy of approving agreements without
intent to apply them in domestic practice, just find a happy precedent for the enactment of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which
precisely and unambiguously in its first article provides that:
"... The courts in applying the law, ensure the effective enforcement of the Constitution of the Republic and international treaties and
their interpretation by the courts created by them, whose rules and principles are direct and immediate application in the chaos under
jurisdiction and always prevail over the law. Failure to comply with a rule of judicial guarantees established in favor of the accused can
not be relied to their detriment ... "
This first fundamental principle of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, referred from other international instruments ratified by the
Dominican State in the area of Human Rights, including:
(A) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(B) Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
(C) Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
(D) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(E) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(F) The Inter-American Convention on Human Rights Pact of San José
(G) The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture
(H) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(I) International Convention to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women or Convention of Belem Do Pará
These instruments, in addition to other protectionist, to form a solid base of sufficient documentation for the development of a coherent
state policy in the area of Human Rights. However, there is no government agency to coordinate domestic action in the applicability of
these conventions, the creation of an interdisciplinary commission in the area of Human Rights, in addition to not contributing anything
to the development of a state policy is a stillborn body, bureaucratic, it is not known on whom he depends to celebrate their "jobs", I
think that was invented in response to allegations of abuse against Haitian workers, who in response to develop a specific state policy.
In that sense we sent to the President, through the Executive Branch's Legal Advisor, a blueprint for creating the Executive Unit
Executive Advisor in the Area of Human Rights as the request internal validation to implement government policies in this important area
and facilitate improved implementation of State policies on Human Rights.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Wilton Guerrero supports former Constitutional Officer to lead office "Ombudsman"
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
SANTO DOMINGO .- After announcing his support for the candidacy of Andrés Fortunato constitutional fighter as ombudsman,
senator Wilton Guerrero announced also that support within the Senate to pass legislation ordering the universities and other educational
institutions, to establish education as a compulsory subject in the Constitution.
"Undoubtedly this will ensure that hundreds of thousands of Dominican students graduate from the classroom with a high degree of
control of our Constitution," he said.
Guerrero spoke to reporters who cover the legislation to receive in his office and dozens of ex Fortunato constitutionalists, who went to
Congress to lay a draft bill which includes the initiative that requires the teaching of the Constitution of the Republic.
Speaking at the ceremony held in the office of Senator Guerrero, Fortunato thanked the support given by the legislature both in your
application to be appointed as Ombudsman, as well as his proposal to study the Constitution.
He also intervened with a brief message the lawyer ventura Omar, coordinator of the Senate Office of the National District, who made
the presentation of Fortunato and recalled that this is supported by the Foundation of Ex Military Constitutionalists, and other patriotic
organizations.
Click here to read more>>
Wilton Guerrero supports former Constitutional Officer to lead office "Ombudsman"
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
SANTO DOMINGO .- After announcing his support for the candidacy of Andrés Fortunato constitutional fighter as ombudsman,
senator Wilton Guerrero announced also that support within the Senate to pass legislation ordering the universities and other educational
institutions, to establish education as a compulsory subject in the Constitution.
"Undoubtedly this will ensure that hundreds of thousands of Dominican students graduate from the classroom with a high degree of
control of our Constitution," he said.
Guerrero spoke to reporters who cover the legislation to receive in his office and dozens of ex Fortunato constitutionalists, who went to
Congress to lay a draft bill which includes the initiative that requires the teaching of the Constitution of the Republic.
Speaking at the ceremony held in the office of Senator Guerrero, Fortunato thanked the support given by the legislature both in your
application to be appointed as Ombudsman, as well as his proposal to study the Constitution.
He also intervened with a brief message the lawyer ventura Omar, coordinator of the Senate Office of the National District, who made
the presentation of Fortunato and recalled that this is supported by the Foundation of Ex Military Constitutionalists, and other patriotic
organizations.
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Leonel Fernandez Reyna
President since 16 August 2004
President since 16 August 2004
Rafael Alburquerque de Castro
Vice President since 16 August 2004
Vice President since 16 August 2004
| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS |
Current situation: the Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for
the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; a large number of Dominican women are trafficked into
prostitution and sexual exploitation in Western Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Caribbean destinations; a
significant number of women, boys, and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude
Tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, the Dominican Republic is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to
show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of not adequately investigating and prosecuting
public officials who may be complicit with trafficking activity, and inadequate government efforts to protect trafficking victims; the
government has taken measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts with children through criminal prosecutions (2008)
the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; a large number of Dominican women are trafficked into
prostitution and sexual exploitation in Western Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Caribbean destinations; a
significant number of women, boys, and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude
Tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, the Dominican Republic is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to
show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of not adequately investigating and prosecuting
public officials who may be complicit with trafficking activity, and inadequate government efforts to protect trafficking victims; the
government has taken measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts with children through criminal prosecutions (2008)
Leonel Fernandez Reyna
President since 16 August 2004
President since 16 August 2004