140 | Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic relations between groups are morally 'and scientifically justifiable; it is reflected in discriminatory provisions in legislation or regulations and discriminatory practices as well as in anti-social beliefs and acts; it hinders the development of its victims, perverts those who practice it, divides nations internally, impedes international cooperation and gives rise to political tensions between peoples; it is contrary to the fundamental principles of international law and, consequently, seriously disturbs international peace and security. 342. Moreover, in Article 2.2 of the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, adopted on November 27, 1978, UNESCO held that: [r]acism includes racist ideologies, prejudiced attitudes, discriminatory behavior, structural arrangements and institutionalized practices resulting in racial inequality as well as the fallacious notion that discriminatory relations between groups are morally and scientifically justifiable; it is reflected in discriminatory provisions in legislation or regulations and discriminatory practices as well as in anti-social beliefs and acts; it hinders the development of its victims, perverts those who practice it, divides nations internally, impedes international co-operation and gives rise to political tensions between peoples; it is contrary to the fundamental principles of international law and, consequently, seriously disturbs international peace and security. 343. The Commission underscores that the fact that historical problems such as racism and racial and ethnic discrimination are denied and rejected by different sectors of Dominican society—particularly political and economic elites—means that these issues mainly kept out of the public conversation and that public policies are not adopted to deal with these ills, which have grievous effects on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the Dominican Republic. The disavowal and disregard of these issues and the failure to adopt policies to address them have enabled discrimination against Dominicans of Haitian and African descent to manifest themselves in myriad aspects of their lives and to mutate over time, leading to the denial and violation of a multitude of their human rights. B. Constitutional and legal framework for equality and nondiscrimination 344. With regard to the normative framework for equality and nondiscrimination, the Dominican legal system fully recognizes, both constitutionally and legally, the right to equality and the principle of non-discrimination. In this regard, Article 39 of the Dominican Constitution recognizes the right to equality and establishes that: All persons are born free and equal before the law; they receive the same protection and treatment from the institutions, authorities, and other persons and enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of gender, color, age, disability, nationality, family Organization of American States | OAS