CCHD Statement on the Unfortunate Events in Pedernales on Monday, March 12, 2018
The organizations that make up the Haitian-Dominican Dialogue Commission (CCHD) categorically reject the acts of violence and incitement to hatred that took place on Monday the 12th in the border town of Pedernales and urge the Haitian and Dominican states to take the necessary measures to guarantee harmony between the two peoples of the island.
In its role as a coordinating body for initiatives promoting constructive coexistence and sound binational understanding, the CCHD joins the grief of the relatives of Neida Urbaez and Julio Reyes Perez and urges the Haitian authorities to collaborate with the Dominican authorities for the prompt and satisfactory clarification of this crime.
The civil society organizations that make up the CCHD condemn every act of incitement to hatred and request that the Dominican state take action to prevent abuses and violence by mobs, leading to the persecution of Haitian nationals residing in the city of Pedernales. It is vital to guarantee the civil rights of migrants and their families, especially border residents, in order to avoid human rights violations and contribute to the search for harmony between the peoples of the island.
It is also of vital importance that the Dominican state strengthen its legislative framework against acts of hatred such as those that took place in Pedernales, including the implementation of the draft "General Law on Equality and Non-Discrimination," which is awaiting approval in the Dominican Congress.
The CCHD also calls on the media of both countries, as well as on the citizens of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to avoid generalizing blame and to be patient with the justice processes under way in both countries, with the ultimate goal of restoring peace in this border area in a lasting manner.
Signing organizations:
In Haiti
• Fondation Zile-Haiti (FZ);
• Groupe d'Appui aux Rapatries et Refugies (GARR);
• Observatoire de Recherche sur les Rapports Elites-Populations et les Migrations (ORREM); • Reseau Frontalier Jeannot Succes (RFJS);
• Sant Pon Ayiti (SPA) ;
• Service Jesuite aux Migrants - Solidarite Fwontalye Haiti (SJM-SFw-Haiti).
In the Dominican Republic
• Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitianas (MUDHA)
• Movimiento Socio Cultural para los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA);
• Centre for Migration Observation and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA).
• Centro de Desarrollo Social (CEDESO)
• Centro Cultural Dominico Haitiano (CCDH)