I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. Submission of the case and synopsis: On July 12, 2012, in accordance with Articles 51 and 61 of the Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted to the Court case 12,271 against the State of the Dominican Republic (hereinafter “the State” or “the Dominican Republic”). According to the Commission, the case relates to the “arbitrary detention and summary expulsion from the territory of the Dominican Republic” of the presumed victims who are Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, including children (infra para. 3.c.i), without following the expulsion procedure set out in domestic law. In addition, the Commission considered “that a series of obstacles prevented Haitian immigrants from registering their children born in Dominican territory,” and persons of Haitian descent born in the Dominican Republic from obtaining Dominican nationality. 2. According to the Commission the case “occurred in a tense climate of mass collective expulsions of individuals that involved Dominicans and aliens alike, both documented and undocumented, who had established permanent residence in the Dominican Republic, where they had close family and work-related ties.” In addition, among other considerations, the Commission referred to: (a) “impediments to granting nationality to persons born in Dominican territory, despite the fact that the State follows the principle of ius soli”; (b) that “the State failed to submit information demonstrating that the repatriation procedure in effect at the time of these events had been applied to the [presumed] victims,” and (c) that the presumed victims “were not provided with legal assistance, and did not have the opportunity to appeal the deportation decision; furthermore, there no order from a competent, independent, and impartial authority ruling on their deportation.” In addition, “the State did not indicate a specific remedy the [presumed] victims could have accessed to protect their rights.” Also, according to the Commission, “during their arbitrary detention and expulsion, [they] did not have the opportunity to present their documentation and, in those cases where it was presented, it was destroyed by the Dominican officials,” which meant that the presumed victims “were deprived of the ability to demonstrate their physical existence and juridical personality.” In addition, “during their detention, the [presumed] victims did not receive water, food, or medical assistance, and their expulsion led to the uprooting and breakdown of family structures and affected the normal development of familial relations, even for new members of the family.” 3. Processing before the Commission. The case was processed before the InterAmerican Commission as follows: a) Petition. The initial petition, dated November 12, 1999, was presented by the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Boalt Hall, the Center for Justice and International Law (hereinafter “CEJIL”), and the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (hereinafter “NCHR”). 1 On May 8, 2000, the Commission opened case 12,271. On January 30, 2002, the representatives presented an addendum to the petition in favor of 28 persons, in order to litigate the 1 In a brief of November 17, 1999, the then petitioners asked the Inter-American Commission to grant precautionary measures “to protect the Dominicans of Haitians descent and the Haitians who lived and worked in the Dominican Republic from arbitrary expulsions and deportations perpetrated by the Dominican Government.” On November 22, 1999, the Commission asked the State to adopt precautionary measures. 5