Haitian-Dminicans look to OAS’ help in their struggle

Santo Domingo.- The social platform Dominican@s por Derecho(Dominicans for the law) will take ask the Organization of American States(OAS), to be held in Santo Domingo, to eliminate discrimination, exclusion andcorruption in the Dominican Republic.

It said it welcomes the OAS’ initiative to promote capacitybuilding for sustainable development in the Americas through the Declaration ofSanto Domingo, the hemispheric entity’s official position to be disclosed atthe end of the annual assembly.

it said the time is right to reiterate its concern over the“institutional crisis in the Central Electoral Board,” which hit affirms has “robbedthousands of Dominican citizens of their fundamental rights, ignoring itsmandate to ensure the identity and democracy.”

"The JCE has institutionalized a series ofdiscriminatory practices and measures that have marked the lives of thousandsof Dominicans of Haitian descent who’ve been prevented or hindered access tocivil registration and identification documents from administrative provisionswithout legal grounds, leaving it effectively stateless," the group said.

It notes that despite that the Dominican Republic gets fundingand technical assistance from the OAS to modernize the electoral system, assustainer of democracy, “it was evident, from the results of the lastelections, the inefficiency and arbitrariness of the JCE Dominicans of Haitiandescent aren’t limited, because the entire population is at risk ofarbitrariness of officials who are placed above the Constitution, procedurallaws, international treaties and agreements."