Background

In May, Luis Abinader was re-elected as president.

Discrimination

Racial discrimination remained widespread and structural, particularly towards Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian asylum seekers seeking protection, impacting their rights to access healthcare and education. Racial profiling was common in immigration operations.

The president made no commitment to promote or develop comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, and there were no reforms to strengthen investigations into torture and other ill-treatment, despite evidence that discriminated groups were at heightened risk.

Human rights defenders

Human rights defenders were threatened and harassed, especially those working on racism, gender or LGBTI issues. Activists and lawyers reported receiving death threats and experiencing harassment on social media.

Anti-rights groups harassed and threatened with impunity, while authorities failed to protect defenders and organizations.

Arbitrary deprivation of nationality

Eleven years since the Constitutional Court ruling that retroactively deprived thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality, the government had still not taken sufficient measures to mitigate and repair the human rights violations caused, despite an order by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.¹

In September, members of the Reconoci.do movement protested against the racism and institutional barriers faced by thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent and demanded the restoration of their nationality.

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

Civil society organizations and victims of migration raids reported that violence and excessive use of force were recurrent during raids. There were reports of warrantless raids carried out by non-uniformed agents using violence and stealing belongings, some during the night.²

People in need of international protection faced barriers to seeking asylum. The state failed to inform new arrivals about the asylum process and imposed barriers to applying for visas and renewing residence permits. In April, residence permit renewals resumed.

In October, the president announced a plan to deport up to 10,000 Haitians weekly, risking violations of international law.³ According to the International Organization for Migration, the Dominican Republic deported 193,508 Haitians during the year, despite the crisis and violence in that country.

Sexual and gender-based discrimination and violence

Abortion remained prohibited. In July, the approval of a new Penal Code that would have maintained the total prohibition of abortion and further jeopardized women’s reproductive autonomy and the rights of LGBTI people failed.

Femicide and hate crimes remained unrecognized as specific criminal offences. According to official figures, 94 women were murdered up to September.

Sexual and gender-based violence during immigration operations was reported by media outlets. In April, the media reported the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old Haitian girl by a member of the military during an immigration raid. Deportation continued of pregnant people, especially Haitian asylum seekers and Dominicans of Haitian descent. Stigmatization and fear of detention or deportation discouraged them from seeking medical attention, putting their rights to life and health at serious risk.

1. “Over a decade of enduring and resisting statelessness in the Dominican Republic”, 23 September ↩︎
2. “President Luis Abinader’s second mandate must prioritize respect for human rights and put an end to racist migration policies”, 28 August ↩︎
3. “Dominican Republic: End racist deportations of Haitians”, 8 October ↩︎