Is the Dominican Republic Violating its Own Constitution?

Waking up in the only place known our entire life, but  jobs, education, health insurance, getting married, the right of ownership are privileges taken away. Moreover, being labeled as a foreigner because our parent’s documentation problems don’t guarantee a citizenship in the country we were born. Many Dominicans of international descendent, which parents without documents thought that giving birth in the Dominican Republic automatically provided Dominican citizenship to their children, now are being considered “stateless” individuals by the law TC 0168-13 in the country. Now, those denationalized citizens face lack of opportunities and deportation to their ancestral native country. The most prejudiced citizens by the law are the Dominican of Haitian decent, who without knowing anyone in Haiti, many not even the Haitian creole, are being deported to Haiti.

The Ruling TC 0168-13

The Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic issued a ruling on September 23 that reaffirms who is Dominican, in accordance with a legal tradition that dates back to 1929. In order to be considered a Dominican the parents of Dominican born children need a Dominican nationality. Therefore, children of foreigners born in the Dominican Republic are not considered Dominicans, even if their parents were in the process of becoming legally Dominicans. However, any one born outside the country of Dominican descendent is considered to be a Dominican. The ruling TC was not directed for the Haitian foreigners, but to everyone without Dominican documentation. Indeed, 80% of all countries do not provide automatic citizenship to born children of international parents; Haiti is one of those countries. Only one parent needs legal Dominican documentation in order to be considered a Dominican. About 53,847 foreigners will be affected with the ruling, of which 24, 392 are not eligible to get Dominican nationality, and out of this, only 13,672 are Haitian nationals. Nevertheless, not all those Haitians will be deported because the cases will be looked with humanitarian perspective during six months.

Denationalization is not part of the ruling because children of undocumented parents were never Dominican. Nonetheless, Haitians decedents are considered Haitians no matter where they born, according to the Haitian constitution. The ruling TC/ 0168-13 is not to discriminate because is prohibit by the Dominican Constitution, but to regulate the undocumented aliens. Therefore, everyone has free access to health, pre-university education and access to the courts, particularly the labor courts, to claim their rights, without even the need to present identification.

How TC/ 0168-13 Started

The Dominican Republic used to give nationality to children born in the Dominican Republic, except those who were passing by the country for less than ten days. In 2004, a new migration law added that not only the children of transit foreigners were not Dominicans, but the ones of undocumented parents regardless how long the children have been in the country. In 2007, the Dominican Central Electoral Council (JCE) stopped giving citizenship to all children born from undocumented parents. In 2010, the Constitution changed to not recognize as Dominicans children born from undocumented parents only after 2010; however, on September 23 2013, through Resolution TC 0168-13 denied nationality to anyone born after 1929 who does not have at least one parent with Dominican citizenship.

Who is Affected by the Ruling

The Dominican Republic government has change the Constitution several times during the last decade with the intention of determine who is Dominican and who is not. However, the Constitutional changes are directed to affect the Haitian decedent Dominicans, which are the minority more affected by getting the rights educational, freedom of movement, political participation, and marriage denied.

As a response to the pressure from the international human rights organizations the Dominican government now intends to withdraw from the international court that has consistently found it in violation of international human rights norms.

Reactions of support and rejection towards TC 0168-13 have been produced in the Dominican Republic. An environment against who criticize and defend the affected by ruling have been created in the Dominican country. Statements directed against journalists, intellectuals, lawyers, politicians, legislators, human rights defenders, and public figures that have criticized the ruling have become alarmingly aggressive, according to the Inter-American Commission. Some of the threats and descriptions towards the ones against the court decision are “traitors to the homeland” and “death to the traitors.”

Constitutional Court Justices Isabel Bonilla Hernandez and Katia Miguelina Jimenez Martinez, who vote against the ruling, were accused of being “traitors to the work of Duarte.” A group of community organizations in the Santiago area held a ceremony in which they burned Mario Vargas Llosa’s book The Feast of the Goat and declared his son, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Santo Domingo, as a person without gratitude, along with former Haitian consul Edwin Paraison and the NGO Red Fronteriza Jano Siksé (RFJS).

Journalists Luis Eduardo (Huchi) Lora and Juan Bolívar Diaz filed a complaint with the Federal District Prosecutor’s Office in which they asked for an investigation to be opened into those responsible for threats made against them because of their criticism of the court’s decision. Other cases have been reported in which human rights defenders and members of the media have been stigmatized and have received threats. Among those are the journalists Marino Zapete, Fausto Rosario Adames, Ramon Emilio Colombo, and Javier Cabreja.

Working Hypothesis 1

The method of stoping the undocumented immigration to the Dominican Republic is taking a counter-progressive path, which violates the human rights of the citizens and produces a mass-hysteria at a national level.

Working Hypothesis 2

The main target of the ruling TC 0168-13, in the Dominican Republic, is the Haitian Decedents Dominican; As a result, of the ruling the Dominican Republic will suffer by the decisions of the international opposition to the ruling.

Topics for Smaller Papers

The Haitian and Dominican History 

The Dominican Republic and Haiti have been in controversy since the colonial times. Therefore, I will be able to provide explanation to decision of part of the Dominican population in be in favor of the ruling by providing the events that created each ideology from Haiti and the Dominican Republic towards each other.

What is the Position of Religious Forces on the Hispaniola and Internationally towards Ruling 0168-13

The religious perception towards the ruling is important because religions do not have borders. Therefore, the importance of alliance and separation of individuals on the Hispaniola will take a big role in the final outcome to the law.

Current State of the Research

My research is currently starting; nevertheless, the reading about the TC 0168-13 ruling in the Dominican Republic gives me the idea that the Dominican Republic intentions are not as the Dominican Constitution states because there might be discrimination towards the Dominican with Haitians decedents. Nonetheless, I still have a lot of reading ahead, which will provide me the view of the Dominican country and Haitian country towards the topic.