Santo Domingo.- Social and human rights organizations demanded that the attorney General of the Dominican Republic “firm actions” to end “the impunity that covers” racist hate crimes and human rights violations against the Haitian immigrant community.
The organizations, 14 in total, explained in a statement that since 2019 they have made four written requests to the Attorney General’s Office in this regard, without receiving a response.
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“We have seen how the proliferation of racist speeches and criminal actions against the Haitian immigrant community in the country continues under the impassive gaze of the authorities, when it is not under their direct incitement,” they stated in a letter sent to the Attorney General’s Office and given to meet the press.
One of these crimes, they recounted, “has been the persecution and aggression of a horde of lynchers” against Haitian immigrants in the town of Rancho Manuel, in the northern province of Puerto Plata, on October 2 after a Haitian was identified as responsible for the death of three Dominicans.
The organizations also asked the authorities for information on the case of a Haitian worker nicknamed Armando, allegedly killed and burned by the military on June 13 in the community of Galván de Bahoruco (southwest).
They also demanded that the murder in March of this year of the Haitian worker Joel Lolo be investigated, at the hands of a Migration agent in Las Matas de Farfán (southwest), during a raid.
The statement also denounced “the illegal detention and expulsion of pregnant women and children separated from their fathers, mothers and legal representatives.”
Complainant organizations include HaitiansRDRecognized Movement, Socialist Workers Movement and the Dominican-Haitian Women’s Movement.