This case is about Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent who have been systematically denied access to personal identity documents and forcibly expelled from the Dominican Republic. In this case, five families were targeted by government officials on the basis of their Haitian descent. They were taken from their homes or off the street, detained and expelled to Haiti, albeit they were Dominican citizens. Dominican authorities refused to allow most of the victims to present their Dominican identification documents in order to avoid expulsion, and they confiscated and destroyed the identification documents of other victims. Further, some of the child victims had no identification documents as a result of discriminatory State practices denying Dominican children of Haitian descent access to identification documents. The Court found that the State violated the American Convention on Human Rights.
Case Summary: Case of Expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, Case Summary