Amnesty International condemns racism and discrimination against Haitians

Amnesty International (AI) underscored in its 2023 annual report released on Tuesday that discrimination against individuals of Haitian descent and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry persisted in the Dominican Republic, alongside ongoing racism targeting the black population.

The AI report, titled ‘The Situation of Human Rights in the World,’ highlighted that discrimination was particularly prevalent among “women and girls, LGTBI individuals, and the migrant, asylum-seeking, and refugee population.”

Of particular concern was the plight of pregnant or postpartum women seeking medical assistance, who were often labeled as Haitian by authorities. These women faced discrimination and, in some cases, were detained in hospitals for deportation proceedings.

Following the deportation of pregnant women to Haiti, seven UN human rights mechanisms urged last September for the separation of immigration control from access to public services.

“Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality” Amnesty International also criticized the “arbitrary deprivation of nationality,” which persisted a decade after a court ruling sanctioned this practice and retroactively stripped thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality.

In 2023, AI noted that the government had failed to take “sufficient measures to mitigate and rectify the human rights violations” caused by this ruling. Furthermore, the 2014 ruling issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights was not being upheld, leaving tens of thousands of individuals, predominantly of Haitian descent, stateless.

In response, the Inter-American Commission urged the Dominican government to assist these stateless individuals in regularizing their status.

Gender and Sexual Violence According to Amnesty International, another significant human rights issue in the Dominican Republic was gender and sexual violence, in a country where abortion is prohibited under all circumstances.

In 2023, the absence of reforms to the Penal Code to address “torture, violence, and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” the failure to classify femicides and hate crimes as specific offenses, and the absence of a minimum age for sexual consent, coupled with high rates of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors, were among the pressing issues requiring attention.

Concerning the excessive use of force, AI reported no progress in combating impunity in such situations.

Lastly, AI noted the confirmation that journalist Nuria Piera, known for her investigative work on corruption, was targeted for the first time in 2020 with a spy program. Both the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic and the Ministry of Interior and Police denied involvement in the surveillance.