Taking Stock of the National Context One Year after Ruling 168-13
September 23, 2014--Civil society oversight regarding the implementation of Law 169-14 has been forceful. With respect to the persons registered in the civil registry, implementation of Article 2 of Law 169-14, which orders the accreditation of their right to nationality, is moving timidly.
23 September 2014--Civil society oversight regarding the implementation of Law 169-14 has been forceful. With respect to persons registered in the civil registry, implementation of Article 2 of Law 169-14, which orders the accreditation of these persons' right to nationality, is moving timidly. Extra-legal processes introduced by the Central Electoral Board (JCE) are being observed, together with slowness in advancing them and the lack of validity of the few identity and electoral cards issued.
Moreover, annulment suits continue to be filed against the birth certificates of those affected.
Secondly, with regard to the sons and daughters of foreigners born in national territory who were never registered in the civil registry, Law 169-14 has not had significant effects in improving their documentary situation. Out of a universe of approximately 53,000 intended beneficiaries according to data produced by the National Statistics Office (ONE), the Ministry of Interior and Police (MIP) has processed only a little more than 1,000 applications because of a series of obstacles.
On October 22, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released its ruling in the emblematic case on mass expulsions dating back to the late 1990s, entitled "Case of Expelled Dominicans and Haitians vs. Dominican Republic." It touches on the issue of the right to nationality, since both Dominicans and Haitians were expelled from national territory during that period.
Addressing Ruling 168 and its legislative sequel, Law 169, the Inter-American Court declared that: "That understanding, applied to persons who were born before the 2010 constitutional reform, implies in practice a retroactive deprivation of nationality that [...] has already been determined to be contrary to the Convention."
In short, it is obvious that the response given by the State to the recommendations made by the Inter-American Commission in December 2013 is insufficient to repair the denial and deprivation of the right to nationality imposed by the Dominican State on the Dominican population of Haitian descent born in the country.
For updated information on the subject, visit the Dominicans for Rights platform.