Dominicanos por Derechos, The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion & The Center for Justice and International Law Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 32nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review The Dominican Republic I. Introduction and focus of the submission 1. Dominicanos por Derechos (DxD)1, the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)2, and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)3 make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the Dominican Republic. 2. This joint submission focuses on statelessness, the right to a nationality, and discrimination faced by Dominicans of Haitian descent in the enjoyment of their human rights. This report proceeds in the following manner: first, a review of the recommendations made in the previous cycles of the UPR; second, an analysis of the Dominican Republic’s international human rights obligations; third, an examination of the Dominican legal framework and the right to a nationality; fourth, an analysis of the human rights violations that have resulted from the State’s failings to comply with its domestic and international obligations; and finally, recommendations. This submission draws on the combined expertise of the submitting organizations and is the product of extensive legal analysis, investigation, research, and consultations with affected persons, national civil society organizations, and international partners. 1 Dominicanos por Derechos (DxD) is a network of national organizations working to promote the human rights of the most vulnerable in the Dominican Republic, especially Dominicans of Haitian descent. The collaboration is made up of the following organizations: Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitiana (MUDHA), Movimiento Socio Cultural para los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA), Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible (CEDESO), Centro para la Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (Observatorio Migrantes del Caribe (OBMICA)), Hermanas Misioneras de San Carlos Borromeo Scalabrinianas (ASCALA), Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH), Movimiento RECONOCI.DO, Centro de Educación para el Desarrollo (CEDUCA), Centro Cultural Dominico Haitiano (CCDH), y Derechos Vigentes. For more information about DxD, please see: https://dominicanosxderecho.wordpress.com/. 2 ISI is an independent non-profit organization committed to an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. It is the first and only global center committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. Between the 27th and 31st sessions of the UPR, ISI has made over 30 country-specific submissions on the human rights of stateless persons and has also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review between the 23rd and 30th UPR sessions. For more information about ISI, please see: http://www.institutesi.org. 3 CEJIL utilizes international human rights law to strategically litigate in international forums, principally before the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. CEJIL has represented diverse cases from many countries in the Americas, including the Dominican Republic. For more information about CEJIL, please see: https://www.cejil.org/. 2