29
violation of the basic rights of a particular group of persons –Haitian immigrants and Dominican citizens of
122
Haitian descent. It is a policy waged by the State and carried out by the military,
mainly outside
123
bateyes and in urban areas like Santiago or Santo Domingo,
where the persons are apprehended,
124
loaded onto buses or trucks and taken to the Haitian boarder. These deportations or expulsions occur
rapidly and the persons being expelled are not given the opportunity to speak with family members, which
125
often means that children are deported without their parents knowing or vice versa.
140.
The reports are all consistent in their assessments of the modus operandi through which
the Dominican authorities have conducted the collective expulsions of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian
decent in recent decades. Apropos the foregoing, it has been said that the collective expulsions are
126
typically characterized by a lack of due process and judicial oversight;
those being deported are not
permitted to contact family members and are mistreated and abused by the authorities –who confiscate or
127
destroy their legal identification documents or simply never even ask to see them, even when they may
prove legal status within the national territory, whether as residents, tourists, temporary workers or
128
relatives of Dominican citizens.
141.
Civil society studies have also made the point that rather than rely on documents, the
identity checks that trigger the deportations are based on racial profiling; officials simply observe the way
a person walks, how he or she lives and his or her skin color to determine whether the person is Haitian
129
or of Haitian descent.
…continuation
No.33, p. 4. Annex C of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009. See also Annex 47. FERGUSON, James.
Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and beyond. Minority Rights Group International. London, United
Kingdom. 2003, p. 17. Annex H of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.
122
Annex 47. FERGUSON, James. Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and beyond. Minority
Rights Group International. London, United Kingdom. 2003, p. 17. Annex H of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16,
2009. Annex 48. UNHCR and HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. Illegal people: Haitians and Dominico-Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
April (2002), p. 14. Annex I of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.
123
Annex 47. FERGUSON, James. Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and beyond. Minority
Rights Group International. London, United Kingdom. 2003. p. 18. Annex H of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16,
2009.
124
Annex 51. UNHCR and HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. Illegal people: Haitians and Dominico-Haitians in the Dominican
Republic. April (2002), p. 14 of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.
125
Annex 45. UN, Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène, and the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall,
Addendum, Mission to Dominican Republic, A/HRC/7/19/Add.5, A/HRC/7/23/Add.3, March 18, 2008, paragraph 24. Annex B of the
petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.
126
Annex 53. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. Dominican Republic: A life in transit – The Plight of Haitian Migrants and
Dominicans of Haitian Descent. March (2007), London, pp. 7-9, 17. Annex F of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16,
2009.
127
Annex 46. VOYNEAU, Sébastien. République Dominicaine : le traitement infligé aux haïtiens et aux Dominicains
d’origine haïtienne, une discrimination institutionnalisée ? OBSERVATOIRE DES AMÉRIQUES. Montreal, Canada. October 2005
No.33, p. 5. Annex C of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009. See also, Annex 45. UN, Human Rights Council,
Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,
Doudou Diène, and the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall, Addendum, Mission to Dominican Republic,
A/HRC/7/19/Add.5, A/HRC/7/23/Add.3, March 18, 2008, paragraph 24. Annex B of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April
16, 2009; Annex 53. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. Dominican Republic – A Life in Transit: The Plight of Haitian Migrants and
Dominicans of Haitian Descent. March (2007) London, pp. 7-9. Annex F of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16,
2009.
128
Annex 46. VOYNEAU, Sébastien. République Dominicaine : le traitement infligé aux haïtiens et aux Dominicains
d’origine haïtienne, une discrimination institutionnalisée ? OBSERVATOIRE DES AMÉRIQUES. Montreal, Canada. October 2005
No.33, p. 5. Anexo C of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.
129
Annex 46. VOYNEAU, Sébastien. République DominicaIne : le traitement infligé aux haïtiens et aux Dominicains
d’origine haïtienne, une discrimination institutionnalisée ? OBSERVATOIRE DES AMÉRIQUES. Montreal, Canada. October 2005
No.33, p. 6. Annex C of the petitioners’ observations on the merits, April 16, 2009.