Immigration chief slams the region’s Human Rights Court

Santo Domingo.- Immigration director José Ricardo Taveras on Tuesday said the Inter- American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) doesn’t have jurisdiction when it comes to matters of sovereignty, such as nationality or immigration, for which in his view the country should withdraw as a member of the hemispheric tribunal.

"If it were up to me, the Dominican Republic wouldn’t form part of that court; what we ought to do is denounce this Treaty because the attitude it’s taking is honestly questionable," the official said.

He acknowledged however that the Dominican judicial system should’ve prosecuted the case of the “massacre of Guayubín" which occurred in 2000, for which the Dominican Government is before the IACHR today.

Six Haitians and one Dominican were killed when soldiers who fired on the vehicle they were traveling in the town of Guayubin, north-western Montecristi province, after failing to stop at a military checkpoint.

The official noted that Venezuela has recently pulled out of the IACHR, Colombia has warned it could do the same and Argentina and even the host country Costa Rica have questioned that court’s attitude.

"When it issues a ruling on nationality despite that international public law doesn’t allow an international court to judge matters on the issue of nationality or immigration because they are the sovereignty reserved to the states, and it overreaches its jurisdiction and convict the Dominican Republic, I think they are out of line,” he said.

The official spoke during the signing of agreements with the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) and the Housing Builders and Promoters Association (Acoprovi), aimed at regulating the unknown number of Haitians working in companies affiliated with the Social Security System.