Submitted by CRIN on
Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also to be included will be the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.
Dominican Republic - 18th Session - 2014
Wednesday, 5 February, 09:00 - 12:30
National Report
II. Institutional and legislative developments
A. Legal framework
Act No. 1-12 on the National Development Strategy until 20304
(Recommendations 87.1 and 87.4)
5. Given the different needs that have arisen in the social sector and in terms of human rights in the Dominican Republic, on 25 January 2012, Act No. 1-12 on the National Development Strategy entered into force. It focuses mainly on human rights, such as education, children and adolescents, women,5 social development, a decent living, disabled persons, the ageing population, etc.
Criminal Code
(Recommendations 87.13, 88.25 and 88.26)
7. In June 2013, the Chamber of Deputies approved the reform of the Criminal Code addressing legislative issues such as minor and serious violations of human rights, including crimes against humanity, domestic violence, femicide, enforced disappearance, racial segregation, slavery, etc. At the same time, the definitions and scope of the classifications of offences contained in the current Criminal Code are being expanded, such as torture and its use against individuals based on their gender or sexual orientation, discrimination on the grounds of race, gender or sexual orientation,7 unlawful detention, abduction, abuse of authority, cruel and inhuman treatment. It also decriminalizes abortion in cases where the life and physical integrity of women and adolescents is placed in danger.8
Decree No. 631-2011 approving the Regulations governing the General Migration Act No. 284-0413
12. Decree No. 631-2011 of 19 October 2011, describes the procedures to be undertaken when making any type of immigration application, and stipulates that administrative detention is prohibited for pregnant women, infants, the elderly or ageing population.
B. Institutional progress
(Recommendations 88.16, 87.2 and 88.18)
18. Provision has also been made in the education sector for the construction of 28,000 new classrooms nationwide within a period of four years. The classrooms will be equipped with all the facilities to allow for longer schooldays with eight hours of classes. Around 569 centres are already included in the project, and it is planned to cover 85 per cent of the 11,000 centres in the system by 2016. Similarly, the programme for early childhood care “Quisqueya empieza contigo” (Quisqueya starts with you),18 will have an impact on more than 90,000 children aged 0 to 5 years and their families, with the construction of 200 new centres in 2013 and 2014 and will represent the start of a national plan covering the entire territory of the Republic.19
III. Achievements in the protection of human rights in compliance with the recommendations
A. Children and adolescents
(Recommendations 87.14, 87.23, 88.27, 88.29 and 88.30)
21. Progress made in helping children and adolescents includes work under way on drafting a provision to combat child abuse that covers corporal or physical punishment based on the Guide on Comprehensive Health Care for Children and Adolescent Victims of Violence and Abuse.20
22. At the same time, a strategic framework is being implemented which proposes a road map that will make the Dominican Republic “free from child labour by 2020 and from its worst forms by 2015”. In this connection, the National Council for Children and Adolescents (CONANI), the NGO Coalition for Children and the United Nations Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF) coordinated a nationwide participatory process so that, in April 2013, the country will have a national road map.21 It will serve as a basis for the implementation of Recommendations 1, 2 and 11 of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children, conducted at the request of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which is known as the UNVAC Study. At the moment, the road map is in the final stages of preparation and the institutions participating have already sent their comments, which will be taken into account to complete the process.
23. In addition, CONANI continues to receive technical assistance from international organizations such as UNICEF in matters relating to combating violence against children and adolescents.
24. Given the concern expressed about ensuring all children access to basic services like education and health without having to show an identity document, such as a birth certificate, proof of identity is not required for such services in the Dominican Republic, as will be shown in this report.
25. However, the work of the inter-agency platform called the Inter-Agency Law Commission on Name and Nationality (Commission on Name and Nationality), created in 2005 and chaired by CONANI, is ongoing. With technical support from UNICEF activities have been implemented to promote the timely declaration of children. The Central Electoral Board and the United Nations Development Programme have worked together on the Project to Strengthen Civil Registration and Identity (October 2007 to December 2012; extended to 2013), with funding of US$ 57,938, so that children and adolescents without identity documents can obtain them.22 Furthermore, in October 2013, the Central Electoral Board and the Ministry of Health adopted a series of measures to ensure that children born in national hospitals are issued with birth certificates before their mothers leave the facilities. The process begins with a prenatal questionnaire to verify whether the mother has the necessary documentation for registration; in that way, the mother can be given a birth certificate or identity card and voting card so that the baby’s birth can be registered.23
26. Furthermore, and in order to implement the provisions of the Children and Adolescents Code (Act No. 136-03) in the field of education, prevention and rehabilitation, it should be noted that, in 2011, the process of establishing Local Boards for the Protection and Restoration of Rights and Foster Family Programmes began.24
27. Similarly, in accordance with the provisions of articles 48 and 49 of Act No. 136-03, in November 2011, the Policy Guidelines for Early Childhood were issued together with a System of Statistical Indicators for Children and Adolescents in the Dominican Republic to record, store and process quantitative and qualitative disaggregated and consolidated data in conformity with article 434, paragraphs (f) and (g), of the Act. In compliance with article 20, paragraph, (e), of the Act, in October 2011, the Coordination Board on International Cooperation on Children and Adolescents was established.
28. In February 2012, the second edition of the Dominican Education System’s Standards of Conduct and School Discipline in Public and Private Schools was issued. It is an important tool for establishing a code of conduct to be followed by both teachers and students, and in helping students to understand their rights and duties.25
29. On the other hand, a problem that is currently affecting Dominican families, especially ones with lower incomes, is the high percentage of teenage pregnancies; it has placed the Dominican Republic among the countries in the region with the highest rate of early pregnancy. As a result, many programmes aimed at preventing teenage pregnancies have been implemented by the National Commission for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (CONAPLUVI), with the support of departments in the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry for Youth, the Office of the First Lady and the Office of the Vice President, and for which the Government is allocating RD$ 388 million by 2014.26
C. Women’s rights
(Recommendations 87.6, 87.15, 87.16, 87.17, 87.18, 87.19, 87.20, 87.21, 87.34 and 88.28)
43. With the aim of strengthening methods of preventing violence against women and of implementing campaigns, plans, programmes and strategies to guarantee that women have access to the necessary information about their rights and the protection mechanisms available through due access to justice and health centres, work has started on various issue, including:
• Strategic Plan on Teenage Pregnancy Prevention 2011–2016: It has a gender perspective and human rights approach, and its mission is to create and strengthen mechanisms at the local and national levels for policies aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy, including through budgetary allocations and accountability for development;
D. Racial discrimination
(Recommendations 87.8, 87.10, 87.7, 87.9, 87.12, and 87.41)
51. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the National Council for Children and Adolescents and the Bilateral Dominican-Haitian Commission has organized various conferences, visits, meetings, workshops and bilateral coordination projects between the two countries so as to define a tool to care and provide protection for the children and adolescents who were affected by this terrible disaster. This has resulted in the preparation by CONANI, in coordination with the United Nations agencies (UNICEF, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM)) and NGOs, of a Protection Protocol for Haitian children and adolescents who were affected by the situation described above.
52. The Protection Protocol in question is intended to provide guidance to governmental and non-governmental institutions in the country on the humanitarian response to be taken to protect the rights of Haitian children and adolescents and their families affected by the natural disaster.
53. In order to implement the Protocol, six categories of vulnerable persons were defined as follows: children and adolescents in hospital; children and adolescents in temporary reception centres; street children; the disabled; children and adolescents in vulnerable families; children and adolescents in vulnerable conditions (abandonment, smuggling, trafficking, sexual exploitation, international adoption, in transit etc.). According to statistics relating to the Protection Protocol, 407 children and adolescents were provided with care, 261 of them were accompanied, 40 were separated from their families and 106 were unaccompanied.
F. Trafficking and smuggling in persons
(Recommendation 87.22)
57. From 2009 to 2010, judicial proceedings were brought in 25 cases, while in 2011, 63 cases were referred to court. In 2012, three persons were sentenced for the offence: two Haitian nationals were sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for trafficking 12 minors aged between 8 and 14, of Haitian nationality for the purpose of labour exploitation; the other sentence was 20 years’ imprisonment for a Dominican woman who had been sexually exploiting her 8 year-old son. As at December 2012, restraint measures were being applied to another 18 people for the offence. Also, 61 persons were rescued and assisted by State bodies.
I. Right to health and social security
(Recommendations 87.32 and 87.33)
69. The Plan’s strategies and actions were aimed at meeting public health needs and focused mainly on the following problems: maternal mortality, infant mortality, vaccine preventable diseases, dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and zoonoses. The Plan was based on strengthening primary health care, both at the primary care level and the level of specialized care, by ensuring effective immunization coverage levels, access to medicines for the population, as well as on improving the infrastructure of the network of care services with an increase in the annual budget of a total RD$ 53,325,148,054.37 for 2012,55 in comparison with 2011, when it totalled RD$ 41,751,228,343.00,56 and RD$ 36,033,000 for 2010.57
J. Right to education
(Recommendations 87.35, 87.38, 87.39, 87.36, 87.37, 88.19, 88.20 and 88.21)
79. Concerning the right to education and its vitally important role in the development of nations, for several years now various measures have been implemented to guarantee access for all children and adolescents to the different schools in the public sector of the Dominican Republic, as reported to the various international organizations for the protection of human rights. This can be seen in the continued implementation of Ministry of Education Circular No. 18 of 27 July 2011, instructing “all directors of public schools in the country, to enrol all boys/girls and adolescents whether or not they are properly registered”.61
80. In the same year, 2011, the Ministry contracted an institutional agreement with the Directorate-General of Migration, under which the incumbents of both institutions would guarantee places in public schools for foreign children regardless of their immigration status, by strengthening policies to provide the necessary documents for the 24,000 children enrolled, mainly from Haiti, of a total of 54,808 foreigners.62
81. The Ministry of Education, with a view to providing quality education for all children and adolescents studying in national schools, sharing the same classroom, teacher and teaching materials, regardless of their origin or immigration status, also issued Resolution No. 420-2011 of 17 June 2011.63
84. With its focus on improving the policy of access to education for those who lack resources and are unaware of their rights, in September 2012, through publicity campaigns in various outlets of the national press, the Central Government launched the National Literacy Plan “Quisqueya Aprende Contigo” (Quisqueya learns with you), set forth in Decree No. 546-12.67 Its goal is to teach people over the age of 15 to read and write in conditions of equality and to bring down to zero the current national illiteracy rate among young people within two years. The Plan has the support of all sectors of government and society. As at 11 October 2013, 379,639 young people and adults had benefited nationwide, 29,203 learning centres had been established, and 28,047 people had been trained as literacy teachers.68 The Plan has also been extended to people who are held in Dominican prisons, thus in August 2013 more than 3,000 inmates benefited from it.69
85. Outside of the school environment, in parallel, human rights training and courses for different sectors of society have continued to be held, including for the civilian population and law enforcement officials, through the Armed Forces’ Graduate School of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and the National Police Institute for Human Dignity.
L. Civil registration
(Recommendation 87.43)
92. As part of the overhaul of infrastructures that provide civil registration services to the public, the Central Electoral Board ordered the construction of new buildings as follows: 165 Civil Registry Offices, 162 of which are automated; 62 Civil Registry branch offices, located in public health centres, of which 57 are automated; 10 automated mobile units and 7 service centres, thus facilitating the access of parents to the civil registry offices to register the birth of their children.
M. Scope of international obligations (Conventions and treaties) and
(Cooperation with treaty bodies and special procedures)
(Recommendations 88.1, 88.3, 88.7, 88.12, 88.13 and 88.14)
98. A positive aspect is the status of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which is at the approval stage in the Dominican Senate, for subsequent publication by the Executive branch.
UN Compilation
2. The United Nations Country Team indicated that, two years after the date of signature, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict had still not been ratified. It specifically recommended ratification of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.12
III. Implementation of international human rights obligations
B. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
32. CEDAW was concerned about sexual exploitation of women and girls63 and adolescent prostitution.64
34. The HR Committee and CESCR were concerned at child labour, especially in the domestic and agricultural sectors.68
C. Administration of justice and the rule of law
39. The Country Team recommended that the State step up its implementation of the New Prison Model for improving conditions in adult detention centres and establish a similar system for imprisonment, with adolescents in custody as well as a system of alternatives to deprivation of liberty as a last resort for persons under 18 years of age.75
40. CERD invited the Dominican Republic to give full effect to the judgement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of the Yean and Bosico girls.76
D. Right to privacy, marriage and family life
41. CEDAW was deeply concerned that women of foreign descent and their children faced great difficulties regarding recognition or acquisition of Dominican nationality, which placed them at risk of statelessness.77
43. CEDAW recommended that the country raise the legal minimum age of marriage for women to 18 years and adopt effective measures to prevent early marriages.80
F. Right to work and to just and favourable conditions of work
50. CESCR was concerned that underemployment and unemployment remained high, disproportionally affecting women and young persons, notably in rural areas. It recommended that the Dominican Republic adopt measures, such as an employment action plan, to expand regular employment; and undertake to ensure the respect of the rights of all employees.88
H. Right to health
59. The Country Team reported that national efforts to guarantee the population universal access to health care had focused on enhancing the quality of services and bringing down the number of mother and child deaths, the vast majority of them preventable. Public investment in health accounted for a mere 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP),100 a situation that affected service quality as well as coverage.
62. CESCR expressed concern about the increasing number of teenage pregnancies and the high number of unsafe abortions involving girls between 12 and 18 years old.104
I. Right to education
66. CEDAW recognized that discriminatory and sexist practices in the education sector still persisted.109
67. UNESCO recommended that the Dominican Republic continue to provide access to quality education without discrimination for the school-age population throughout the country. The State should be encouraged to intensify programmes of human rights education with a view to eliminating discriminative practices and to ensuring inclusive education and gender equality.110
68. CESCR urged the Dominican Republic to guarantee universal free primary education111 and strengthen the quality of the public education system.112
69. CESCR was concerned that children in remote areas, Dominican-born children of foreign descent and children of migrants faced difficulties in initial enrolment and access to education. It recommended ensuring equal access to education for all without discrimination.
Stakeholders Compilation
Information provided by other stakeholders
A. Background and framework
1. Scope of international obligations
1. AI pointed out that of the Conventions that the Dominican Republic agreed to sign and ratify during the last review, it has only ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in January 2012.2 JS3-CDPM recommended accession to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.3 JS11-WCADP urged the Dominican Republic to ratify/accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.4 JS6-CODHMU encouraged the State to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), the ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) and the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).5
3. Institutional and human rights infrastructure and policy measures
10. JS7-COPI recommended that the State should set up the mechanism for intersectoral coordination, planning, supervision, monitoring, civil participation and civil enlistment for the protection of families and children and establish transparent processes for budgets related to children.
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law
1. Equality and non-discrimination
12. JS1-CDERNA stated that the systematic denial of the right to nationality for children born in the Dominican Republic to foreign mothers in an irregular situation had created marginalization, social exclusion and extreme poverty22 and noted that without those documents they could not register the birth of their children, continue with their secondary studies or enrol in university.23
17. With regard to the civil register, JS1 recommended abolishing discriminatory administrative measures and policies and guaranteeing that all children could be registered without distinction.36 AI recommended to avoid retroactive application of the General Law on Migration and of the Constitution, to ensure full compensation to the persons affected by the aforementioned directives and to recognize citizenship of those who had it at the time of their birth.37 OSJI also referred to the right to an effective remedy38 and recommended to implement transparent, non-discriminatory procedures with respect to birth registration and personal identification, and guarantee due process by including written notifications and records of investigations, written explanations for decisions given and opportunities for appeal.39
20. With regard to gender equality, JS1 stated that progress included the constitutional recognition that Dominican women transmitted Dominican nationality to their children by jus sanguinis, the permission granted to women to acquire Dominican nationality by marriage and the automatization of the Dominican civil register, noting that it remained to be seen how it would be implemented.44
21. JS1 stated that, although constitutional and legislative progress had been made in the 2009–2013 period,45 discriminatory measures and practices persisted towards children of Haitian immigrants born in Dominican territory,46 who were denied the right to nationality and faced deficiencies in the civil register, the implementation of the birth register (“Immigration Registry”),47 administrative denationalization48 and discriminatory policies by the Dominican State.49
2. Right to life, liberty and security of person
24. JS8 noted that progress had been made in combating sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons, but observed that such offences persisted and recommended, inter-alia, adopting the necessary measures to fight against impunity of those responsible for sexual exploitation, trafficking in minors and child pornography.60 JS7 recommended implementing the mechanisms for intersectoral coordination, planning, supervision, monitoring, civil participation and civil enlistment established in Act 136-03 for the protection of children.61 JS7 also recommended, inter alia, the full implementation of, and allocation of resources to, the local committees for the protection and restoration of rights and training and awareness-raising for public servants who dealt directly or indirectly with children.62 With regard to trafficking in migrants, JS3 noted that it was necessary to adopt public policies to eradicate the practice and bring those responsible to justice, to ensure proper classification of the practice as an offence63 and to adopt public policies to provide shelters for migrant women.64
27. JS7 pointed out that, despite the fact that Act 136-03 criminalized violence against children and adolescents, a worrying number of children were victims of violence, including corporal punishment, although no relevant data were available.68 GIEACPC stated that, despite the Government’s commitment to prohibit it in all settings (UPR-2009),69 there has been no change in the legality of corporal punishment, and children are legally protected at times, while the new Constitution does not explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment and there is no provision for judicial corporal punishment in criminal law.70 JS8 welcomed the establishment in all provinces of tribunals for the defence of minors and programmes for abandoned children71 and recommended reviewing the legal framework, promoting programmes to assist vulnerable children and conducting awareness-raising campaigns.72
4. Right to marriage and family life
37. JS1 noted that as Dominicans of Haitian descent were denied their identity documents, they were not in a position to register their children and were also prevented from marrying.91 JS5 mentioned that the constitutional prohibition of egalitarian marriage legally excluded and discriminated against that sector of the population, and highlighted the lack of legislation on the recognition of children of same-sex couples.92
8. Right to health
49. JS8 noted with concern that the number of adolescent mothers was very high112 and recommended that health services should be guaranteed for adolescents, particularly reproductive health and sex education programmes.113 JS10 recommended making properly equipped services available, providing ongoing and updated training for health workers and correctly implementing care standards and protocols, with monitoring instruments to ensure compliance114 as part of a strategic plan for the reduction of maternal and infant mortality.115
9. Right to education
52. JS8 recommended that the State party should continue to strengthen education policy to guarantee education for all children, to ensure access to secondary school for all children, and knowledge of children’s rights and the full implementation of the 2004 Children’s Code.122 OSJI mentioned the effects on labour rights,123 and access to education by Dominican children of Haitian descent without birth certificates or identity documents who are unable to attend school or obtain secondary education.124
53. JS5 recommended that public education should be secular and that a request should be made for the Ministry of Education’s Affective Sex Education Programme to include in the State educational curriculum issues related to sexual diversity.125
54. JS6 drew attention to progress made in the integration of women into education at all levels, although the education system reproduced prejudices, and recommended including sex education and implementing programmes on non-sexist education at all levels of the public and private school system, with a gender and human rights-based focus promoting the eradication of sexism in the Dominican education system and the promotion of concepts, values and principles that countered gender stereotypes.126 JS6 reported that the adolescent pregnancy rate was high, and that although Act 163-03 provided for the right to health information, including sexual and reproductive health and programmes on preventive health in that regard, the General Education Act did not contain any provisions in that regard for the education system.127
11. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
57. JS3 stated that, in relation to migrants, there had been reports of acts of violence, intimidation, arbitrary detention, house raids, collective repatriation, separation of families, obstruction of access to justice, prohibition of the recovery of assets, salaries or personal effects, labour exploitation and trafficking of persons and minors, all in the context of discrimination by State agents and sectors of the Dominican population.