COLLECTIVE GUADELOUPE
-RHRDR-for the
RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS in
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Open Letter for the respect of Human Rights in Dominican Republic
To
- MrDanilo MEDINA SÁNCHEZ, President of the Dominican Republic
-Ms Cristina LIZARDO MÉZQUITA, President of the Dominican Republic’s Senate
-Mr AbelMARTÍNEZ DURÁN, President of the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Deputies
Forward to
Mr Ban Ki MOON
Secretary General of the UN
Mr Felipe GONZALEZ
President of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (OEA)
Mr Laurent FABIUS
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism (France)
Mr Victorin LUREL
President of the Regional Counsel of Guadeloupe (FWI)
Associate member of the CSA
Representing France
Mr Serge LETCHIMY
President of the Regional Counsel of Martinique(FWI)
Associate member of the CSA
Representing France
MrAlfonsoMúnera Cavadía
Secretary General of CSA
Mr Luis ALMAGRO LEMES
Secretary General of OEA
Mr Irwin LaROCQUE
Secretary General of CARICOM
Subject: Our indignation against your politics of apartheid and the mass deportation of populations
Attachment: Our petition
Pointe-à-Pitre, 31st of July 2015
Mr. the President of the Republic
Ms. the President of the Senate
Mr. the President of the Chamber of Deputies
We are a collective of associations based in Guadeloupe.
The situation of Dominicans of Haitian descent, as well as of Haitian workers living in your country, alarms us as militants of Human Rights and because we wish that the Caribbean remains a region of openness, tolerance, and mutual respect.
«Even in a ditch, gold is still gold».
It is the reason why the History of humanity remembers that Haiti carried the flame of hope and freedom by breaking free from slavery and colonization. Irrevocably, it is written that Haiti crushed Napoleon’s powerful army, formed the first Black Republic… then gave away two thirds of its territory to protect its and, later, so that your people exists.
Slave nations throughout the XIX century, progressively abolished the Niggers Trade and Niggers slavery. For the international community the key moment that marked a return to the positive values of a civilized lifestyle was December 10, 1948, when 58 nations, all members of the UN General Assembly UN voted to ratify the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
However, the inhuman practices of your country have not changed. In fact, they have worsened. Since the beginning of the XX century, the Dominican Republic has relied heavily on a Haitian workforce that has been consistently underpaid. This workforce is put in a position of de facto slavery.
Treated like furniture or used paper towels, these people, are denied their humanity, are imported, retained, used, and then sent back based on your whim.
Since the installation of your segregationist and racist legislation (constitutional reform of 2010, article 168-13 by your Constitutional Court of September 13, 2013 and law 169-14 proposed by the Medina government), many personalities, associations, and non-governmental organizations have issued protests against this new reform. Many States, including your neighbor Haiti, have petitioned you about the necessity to find a more suitable solution which respects international rights. In vain!
You have also ignored the judgment of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights, as well as the protests of the CARICOM, the UN Refugee Agency, the European Union, the of American States (OAS) and many more. Trapped in your ill-advised logic, you have not given any response to the UN Secretary General’s declarations during his visit to the Dominican Republic on July 15 and 16, 2014.
Nonetheless…
Authorities cannot abuse with impunity any part of their population.
Under the constant push of worldwide opinion, the elaboration of the right of interference was followed with the creation of international courts allowing to judge — individually, regardless of social status—whoever commits a crime against humanity. Based on articles 7.1.j and 7.1.d, statuses of the International Criminal Court (ICC), apartheid and “deportation or forced transfer of populations” are crimes against humanity.
Remember that the Dominican Republic ratified the creation of this institution.
The ICC specifies that “the deportation or forced transfer of population”, consists of “forcefully relocating people, by expulsion or other coercive means, from the place where they legally live without accepted reasons in international right”.
Any prejudice requires reparation. Any crime deserves sanction.
Currently, like a few other countries, you choose to become a pariah State.
And yet …
You could try to save what can still be saved by recognizing your errors.
We would be pleased if:
-You would follow the judgment of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights (IACHR) from August 28, 2014;
-You would create conditions for a harmonious coexistence between your different communities;
-You would follow the path to compensate Haitian workers,and Dominicans of Haitian decent living in your country and their beneficiaries, based on what they rightfully deserve;
-You would immediately and definitively put an end to the process of mass deportation announced for August 9, 2015.
You should know that, in a petition we submitted online, we call upon people to boycott the Dominican Republic as a tourist destination and to boycott its industrial and agricultural exports!
You should know that if, by August 9, 2015, the mass deportations planned are carried out, the responsibility of all Dominican authorities could be taken before the International Criminal Court for having committed a crime against humanity.
For the Collective,
Signatories:
Afrocenticity International Section Guadeloupe, Agir en Citoyen, Amnesty International section Guadeloupe, Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne (ATTAC) Guadeloupe, Centrale des Travailleurs Unis (CTU), Combat Ouvrier, Comité Inter-Mouvements Auprès Des Evacués (CIMADE), Comité International des Peuples Noirs (CIPN), Confédération Générale du Travail de la Guadeloupe (CGTG), Contacts Recherches Caraïbe (CORECA), Coordination Tèt kole, Family Band, Fédération d’Associations Franco-Haïtiennes en Guadeloupe, Institut Des Hautes EtudeS de la Guadeloupe (IDHES), Ligue des Droits de l’Homme en Guadeloupe, Maison de la Citoyenneté de Pointe-à-Pitre, Parti Communiste Guadeloupéen (PCG), Union Populaire pour la Libération de la Guadeloupe (UPLG).
Collectif Guadeloupe RDHRD – 16 rue du Commandant Mortenol - 97110 Pointe-à-Pitre –