Amnesty slams Dominican Republic on ‘many unlawful killings’

London.- Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday denounced unlawfulkillings and delays to comply with the law to regularize the situation ofHaitians in Dominican Republic and the entry into force of the law that liftsthe ban on abortion, EFE reports.

In its annual report on human rights worldwide, theorganization said no legislation was passed to protect the rights of women andLGBTI, noting the "152 homicides at the hands of security forces betweenJanuary and September" (2015).

"Many killings occurred in circumstances suggestingthey may have been unlawful," says the document, it said Congress hadn’tapproved by year end a bill on "comprehensive" to reform the police ofthe Dominican Republic, a country with 6% more murders from January toSeptember compared to the same period in 2014.

The human rights group said no progress has been made inthe investigation into the forced disappearance of three men, Gabriel SandiAlistar, Juan Almonte Herrera and Randy Gonzalez Vizcaino last seen when theywere in police custody in July 2009, September 2009 and December 2013,respectively."

AI also notes that there was no progress to restore theDominican nationality to people who had been stripped of it "arbitrarilyand retroactively" in 2013.

"Many people of Haitian descent remain effectivelystateless despite the enforcement of a law whose purpose was to address thatsituation."

"Dozens of Dominicans of Haitian descent were detainedarbitrarily and threatened with expulsion to Haiti as ‘irregular’migrants" although in the vast majority of cases, the authorities releasedthem after verifying that they were born in the Dominican Republic,” the reportsays.