55 them for discriminatory reasons, since this Office cannot make exceptions and its work is merely to confirm that applicants have proved they were born in the country; (b) It is irrelevant whether the fathers of the Yean and Bosico children were in transit in the country because, by being born on Dominican territory, the children had the right to opt for this nationality and never lost this privilege; however, this matter is of no interest since, the children now have Dominican nationality; (c) The alleged victims were able to opt for Haitian nationality because of the ius sanguinis connection through their fathers; therefore, they were never in danger of being stateless; (d) The presentation of the parents’ identity cards is a requirement for obtaining late declaration of birth, to show whether they are the legitimate children of foreigners who are resident in the country, or diplomats, or in transit. In this specific case, the children’s mothers are Dominicans so they should not have had any problem complying with this requirement. The other documents required are necessary to ensure that the registration mechanism is reliable and to avoid fraudulent supplantation; (e) The alleged continuing situation of illegality of the children does not exist, because there is no deportation policy against individuals who are illegally on Dominican territory, and (f) The State is not responsible for a continuing violation of the right to nationality, because the delay in granting it was due to the negligence of the mothers who did not register the births of the children opportunely and who, when they attempted to make a late registration, did not provide the evidence and the requirements needed to complete this procedure. 122. In relation to Article 24 of the American Convention, the State argued that: (a) The particular situation of late birth declaration of the children Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico means that they are treated separately from the general regime for all other Dominicans who are registered at birth. The regulations in force for all those who have not been registered with the Civil Status Registry Office are applied to them; namely the late declaration procedure. This procedure must be carried out in accordance with a series of requirements and steps needed to show reliably and legally that the applicants have a real right to Dominican nationality, and (b) It has not been proved and it is not true that the Dominican Republic civil status registrars have been instructed by their superiors to prevent the registration of children of Haitian origin and not grant them birth certificates. The civil status registrars involved in this case were simply complying with their obligation to ask for the documents that are required of both Dominicans and foreigners, without any form of distinction, for late declarations of birth. 123. In relation to Article 3 of the Convention, the State argued that it had not violated the right to juridical personality, since it never prevented the children’s registration.

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