Human rights in the Dominican Republic

Constitution of the Dominican Republic The current Constitution of the Dominican Republic, which came into effect on June 13, 2015, contains a limited description of the rights of its citizens indicative of the Republic's history of political oscillation between democratic and authoritarian administrations. The document as it currently stands contains narrow protections for civil and political rights and adheres to the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, though its constant state of flux and the scarcity of constitutionalism as a prevailing ideology among the Dominican political elite contributes to wider doubt over its efficacy. Article 8 of the Constitution details the human rights norms that dominate the current political climate, stating that “[t]he effective protection of the rights of the human person and the maintenance of the means for his progressive development within a system of individual liberty and social justice compatible with public policy, the general well being and the rights of all are recognised as the principal aims of the state”. This article includes, among others, the specific prohibition of torture, stating that “torture or any other penalty or procedure harmful to, or entailing the loss or diminution of, the physical integrity or health of the individual may in no circumstances be established, imposed or enforced” and freedom of religious practice in the event that is not done ‘improperly and disrespectfully”. The Dominican Republic has signed but is yet to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Two significant treaties that the country has yet to sign include the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which has attracted criticisms from human rights groups wary of the administration's treatment of its Haitian minority. The Dominican Republic is also a member of the Organisation of American States, with a Dominican judge having served on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. == Treatment of particular groups and minorities ==

Haitian racial minority The current wellbeing of Haitian migrants and ethnically Haitian citizens of the Dominican Republic is an ongoing issue. Historically, the political elite of the Dominican Republic have used the Haitian minority as a scapegoat for their national ills, with a United Nations Human Rights Council report on the 'elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance' claiming the existence of a 'profound and entrenched problem of racism and discrimination in Dominican society”. This sentiment, also referred to as antihaitianismo, underpinned the dictatorial regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, with the 1937 massacre of between nine and twenty thousand Haitian labourers near the national border, commonly known as the Parsley massacre, kickstarting the development of violent Dominican nationalism and the retroactive historiographical endeavours of Dominican elites to demonise the Haitian minority. Notable Dominican intellectual Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle once stated: “....there is no feeling of humanity, nor political reason, nor any circumstantial convenience that can force us to look indifferently at the Haitian penetration. That type is frankly undesirable…the Haitian that enters [our country] lives afflicted by numerous and capital vices and is necessarily affected by diseases and physiological deficiencies which are endemic at the lowest levels of that society.” Human rights groups insist that Haitian migrants and their Haitian descendants are protected under the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The resulting law, Migration Law No. 285-04, denied undocumented Haitian migrants and their descendants a number of human rights including the ability to enrol in tertiary education, their capacity for employment or their access to an acceptable standard of health care. The decision was met with widespread condemnation from the international human rights community and resulted in calls to restore their citizenship and put an end to forced deportations. In 2014, the current President of the Dominican Republic, Danila Medina instituted Law 169/14 with the publicly stated intention of working to restore the nationality of the undocumented migrant families affected. However, the law was widely criticised for its failure to automatically reinstate Dominican nationality, which has currently left thousands in a condition of statelessness and vulnerability to the exploitation of their rights. The National Police provided statistics in a Human Rights Watch report in 2016 indicating that more than 1,300 deaths recorded between 2008 and 2014 were the result of gender-based violence. Research by Dan Danielsen and Karen Engle in 1995 (as cited in Cabezas. 2002) postulates that the intensity of the government crackdown on prostitution is due to outrage over deviation from the monogamous, heterosexual reproductive relationship norms which dominate Dominican society. The verbal, physical and sexual abuse inflicted upon sex workers both nationally and regionally has been extensively documented, described by Erika Guevara-Rosas, directors of the Americas at Amnesty International, as an ‘epidemic across Latin America and the Caribbean’. In December 2014, President Danilo Medina promoted a series of sweeping reforms to the Dominican Republic's penal code, with his contentious proposal to decriminalize abortion in instances of rape, incest and threat to the life of the mother receiving a significant amount of local and international media attention. However, a Constitutional Court decision the following year ruled the reform unconstitutional and reinstituted the total ban on abortions. The decision was widely criticised as a major blow to the progression of women's rights in the country, its impact described by Amnesty International as “catastrophic for women and girls…who will continue to be criminalized, stigmatized and forced to seek out unsafe abortions because they are denied access to safe and legal medical treatment”. A majority of Dominicans affiliate with the Catholic Church. As such, attitudes towards members of the LGBT community tend to reflect prevailing Catholic mores. Nevertheless, LGBT people have gained more and more visibility and acceptance in recent years, in line with worldwide trends. Support for same-sex marriage was 25% according to a 2013/2014 opinion poll, but had grown to 45% by 2018. Additionally, the Dominican Republic is legally bound to the January 2018 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling, which held that same-sex marriage and the recognition of one's gender identity on official documents are human rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. == References ==