#1017: Letter to Fernandez (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Merrill Smith <advocacy@bellatlantic.net>

Haiti Advocacy has endorsed this letter and strongly urges all others to
do the same.

In a message dated 99-11-19 12:43:47 EST, plopez@law.berkeley.edu
writes:

Dear Colleague:

I am writing on behalf of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at
the University of California Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall), the
Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the National
Coalition of Haitian Rights (NCHR) to seek your support to protest the
human rights crisis facing Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent in
the Dominican Republic.

In the wake of the release of a country report by the Inter-American
Commission for Human Rights critical of the treatment of Haitian
immigrants in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican government has
launched a country-wide campaign to expel thousands of Haitians from the
country. Within the last several days, suspected Haitians, among them
Dominican citizens, have been arrested by immigration or army officials
and transported to the Haitian border, without an opportunity to prove
their legal status. Many arrested have been separated from their
children, unable to collect their belongings and property, have not
received food and water while in custody, and have been subject to
physical mistreatment. The level of suffering is truly alarming.

We ask that your organization add its name to the attached letter to the
president of the Dominican Republic, protesting the crisis and calling
for an immediate end to the expulsions. Because of the urgency of the
matter, we will send the letter on Monday, November 22nd. Therefore, we
ask you to consider this matter quickly and let me know no later than
noon (E.S.T.) Monday, November 22nd if you wish to add your organization
to the list of signatories. (Unfortunately, because of the time
constraint and the number of organizations receiving this letter, we are
unable to make changes to the text of the letter.)

I can be reached by phone (510) 643-4792, fax (510) 643-4625 or email
(lef@law.berkeley.edu) If you have any further questions, please do not
hesitate to contact me directly. Thank you for your attention to this
urgent matter. The text of the letter follows:

Sincerely,

Laurel Fletcher
Associate Director
International Human Rights Law Clinic
Boalt Hall School of Law
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200 
ph: (510) 643-4792
fax: (510) 643-4625

November 19, 1999

His Excellency Doctor Leonel Fernandez Reyna
Constitutional President of the Dominican Republic
Palacio Nacional
Santo Domingo, D.N.A.
Dominican Republic

Your Excellency Dr. Fernandez Reyna:

We are international human rights organizations writing to express our
grave concern regarding the serious human rights abuses now occurring in
the Dominican Republic in the wake of the release of a country report
critical of the treatment of Haitian immigrants in the Dominican
Republic issued by the Inter-American Commission (Informe sobre la
Situación de los Derechos Humanos en la República Dominicana 1999).

Within days of publication of the Commission's report, Dominican
officials launched a country-wide campaign to expel thousands of
Haitians and those suspected of being Haitian from the country. This
current wave of expulsions unfortunately mirrors that carried out in
January-March 1997, just a few months after your election, in which
approximately 20,000 individuals suspected of being Haitians illegally
residing in the Dominican Republic were forced across the Haitian
border.

Reports indicate that suspected Haitians, among them Dominican citizens,
have been arrested by immigration or army officials and transported to
the Haitian border, without an opportunity to prove their legal status.
Many arrested have been unable to collect their belongings and property,
have not received food and water while in custody, and have been subject
to physical mistreatment.

We especially are concerned about the devastating impact of the
expulsions on children. There are reports of children left alone in the
Dominican Republic as a consequence of the expulsions. For example, we
have received a report of a sizable group of children near Jimaní who
were separated from their families after their parents were expelled to
Haiti.

The expulsion operation constitutes serious breaches of Dominican and
international law. Dominican immigration law provides that no foreigner
will be deported without being informed of the specific charges
underlying the deportation and without having a just opportunity to
refute the charges. The expulsions also violate an agreement reached
between the Dominican Republic and Haiti which ended the January-March
1997 expulsions and set forth procedures to safeguard the human rights
of Haitians subject to forced repatriation.

Similarly, arbitrary expulsions violate due process guarantees and the
rights to freedom of movement and nationality protected by the American
Convention and other human rights treaties to which the Dominican
Republic is a party. The Dominican government is conducting expulsion
operations with no guarantee of due process necessary to establish the
legality of the action. Absent appropriate procedures, many Haitians of
Dominican descent and Haitians who are otherwise entitled to remain in
the Dominican Republic are being expelled from the country in violation
of their right to freedom of movement. Moreover, the government is
violating the right to nationality of Dominicans of Haitian descent.

By specifically targeting suspected Haitians, the Dominican Republic
also is engaging in discriminatory practices that deprive Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian descent equal protection guaranteed by applicable
national and international law.

Finally, the Dominican government fails to take appropriate measures to
ensure that children are not separated from their parents in the course
of expulsions. Thus the government compromises its obligations under the
American Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to
protect children against forced separation from their parents and to
make the best interest of children a primary consideration in its
actions.

We, the under-signed human rights organizations, deplore the human
rights abuses being unleashed on the population of Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic and urge
you immediately to halt the on-going mass expulsions and to conduct all
legal repatriations in accordance with international due process
guarantees to ensure that the procedures are carried out in a humane and
legal manner. Thousands of innocent adults and children have been forced
from their homes and thousands more live in constant fear that they may
be torn, without notice, from their homes and families. The level of
suffering is truly alarming and must stop immediately.

We wish to be clear that this is not an issue of sovereignty. We do not
dispute the right of the Dominican Republic under international law to
control immigration. We do insist, though, that the methods used by the
government to control migration conform to the standards set forth in
legally binding international human rights agreements to which the
Dominican Republic is a party. 

Finally, we are aware that these periodic mass deportations reflect a
longstanding political, economic and social dynamic between the
Dominican Republic and Haiti and urge you to pursue a longer-term
solution, to put an end to these terrible episodes in a way that accords
with international norms.

On behalf of: 

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of California
Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
National Coalition of Haitian Rights (NCHR)
-- 
Merrill Smith
Haiti Advocacy, Inc.
1309 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20003-2302
(202) 544-9084
(202) 547-2952 fax
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~advocacy