The United States yesterday denounced the treatment given in the Dominican Republic to Haitian immigrants by denying the rights of their offspring born in the country. In its annual report on the human rights situation in the world, Washington also highlighted corruption in the Dominican police and the allegations of murder and torture by the police, in addition to discrimination and violence against women
Specifically, the report said security forces were "involved in many unjustified killings outside the law" and "excessive in the use of force", although it was noted there was a hundred such deaths less than last year, going down from 455 to 346 incidents.
Moreover, while some observers agree on the "improvement of conditions for professional training" of the officers, they noted the continuing physical abuse of detainees, mainly through beatings.
Other descriptions of violations of human rights were inhumane conditions and violence in prisons which remain overcrowded despite construction of new facilities.
Rape, said the report was another "serious and widespread but undocumented problem” and noted that domestic violence between January and May resulted in the deaths of 41 women.
Nor are there official policies to curb the "obvious" racial discrimination, which the government denies, in the way Haitian immigrants and their descendants are treated.
In this regard, the statement focused on the denial of the rights of "stateless" children of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic and who have no rights to citizenship because of their parents’ status.
On Haiti, the U.S. report believes that the corruption extends, not only between the security forces, but also in the judicial and political institutions. The report highlighted the failure to hold parliamentary elections on time, assassinations and kidnappings where the Haitian police are involved, overcrowded and unsanitary prisons.
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