MRG condemns campaign of disinformation and threats against Haitian – Dominican rights defender
2 December 2011
The rapid and generous assistance offered to Haiti by the Dominican Republic (DR) following the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital in January 2010 raised hopes that relations between the two neighbours were about to enter a new and more favourable era.The two states that share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola have had a long and turbulent history, made even thornier by the large number of undocumented Haitian migrants living in the DR.
Haitians have been migrating for nearly 100 years to work on DR sugar plantations, and more recently for jobs in the booming construction and tourist industries. Government estimates put the number of undocumented migrants at almost one million; however researchers suggest it is more likely to be about 300,000. Most migrants live in marginalized communities called bateyes that lack schools and other basic services.
Despite being a key part of the DR economy, Haitians, who mainly speak Kriol French, experience widespread discrimination and negative stereotyping. In addition to being blamed for a number of social ills, including driving up health costs, official and social exclusion greatly limits their chances of easily changing their legal or economic status.
The intolerance and xenophobia shown to Haitians by both the government and society has drawn international criticism, especially over arbitrary deportations and the reluctance of the state to grant citizenship to children born of undocumented Haitian parents.
Over the past two years Haitian migrant rights organization, the Movement of Dominican-Haitian Women (MUDHA), with the support of Minority Rights Group International (MRG), has been running an innovative Street Theatre programme aimed at fighting racism and discrimination and promoting cooperation and inter-community understanding.
The project, which uses drama and street theatre to challenge commonly held racist attitudes and negative stereotypes, has been well received by both the local press and the public, in spite of the prevailing social environment.
The need for more initiatives of this type was reinforced by a recent campaign of denunciations and threats in the Dominican media, Twitter and online against Haitian migrant rights activist Sonia Pierre, who is also the director of MUDHA.
Zulema Cadenas, MRG’s Street Theatre Programme Director, says, ‘MRG strongly condemns this campaign against Sonia Pierre. Public threats of this nature should not be tolerated in a democratic society such as the Dominican Republic, where human rights defenders should be protected and respected.’
The campaign followed a request by a group of more than 17 local and international civil society organizations in the country for an October 2011 hearing in Washington with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The hearing aimed to offer the DR government an opportunity to explain its policies regarding Dominican-born residents of Haitian parents and stimulate a national dialogue that would lead to a favourable outcome for those affected.
The proposed theme, ‘Judicial Response in Cases of Denationalization in the Dominican Republic’ was particularly related to Circular 17 and Resolution 012 of 2007 issued by the DR Central Electoral Board (Junta Central Electoral -JCE) that renders Haitian Dominicans stateless, whilst, according to international law, they should be regarded as citizens by virtue of birth.
In a situation similar to that faced by the offspring of undocumented migrants in the United States, the children of the undocumented migrant Haitian population in the DR know no other country and count on obtaining national identity documents and the right to vote.
Despite having been born and resident in the DR – in some cases for as much as 40 years – thousands of Haitian Dominicans continue to be regarded by the state as people 'in transit'. Local courts have issued decisions favourable to them; nevertheless following the passage of the 2007 decrees, their future has become increasingly uncertain.
Upon learning that an international hearing was planned, some sectors of the Dominican press immediately sought to single out the MUDHA director as a key protagonist behind the initiative. This despite the fact that she did not initiate the hearing nor negotiate the process and that MUDHA was just one of many other local and international NGOs that supported the request for a discussion.
Local activists point out that the strong comments in the media and online, which include personal insults and death threats, continue to reflect the tendency among some sectors of Dominican society to focus on the migrant Haitian population as a source of trouble, and their defenders in particular as agents bent on destroying the country's international image.
Sonia Pierre, who is the recipient of an award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights as well as a beneficiary of protective measures ordered by the Inter-American Court, can now only count on the fact that the Dominican State is obliged to investigate all acts of threat and aggression against her.