Documento - REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA . Temor por seguridad

PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 27/001/2008

11 January 2008

Further Information on UA 288/07 (AMR 27/005/2007, 2 November 2007) Fear for safety

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC         Johnny Rivas (m), human rights defender
                Members of his family

Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the community of Ranchadero, Monte Cristi province

Johnny Rivas and his family are being intimidated by anti-migrant protestors as a result of his work as the coordinator of the Solidarity Associations of Migrant Workers in the Northwest Region (Asociaciones Solidarias de Trabajadores Migrantes de la Línea Noroeste, ASOMILIN). Amnesty International fears that an escalation in intimidation may lead to attacks on Johnny Rivas, members of his family or migrant workers, asoccurred in October 2007.

On 9 January, a group of between 10 and 15 anti-migrant protestors went to Johnny Rivas’s house in the community of Ranchadero, Monte Cristi province. As Johnny Rivas was not at home, the protestors told his wife that they should leave the community within the next three weeks. According to eyewitnesses, a government employee of the General Directorate for Migration (Dirección General de Migración), accompanying the protestors also threatened to expel all Haitian migrant workers living in Ranchadero.
 
The group then left Johnny Rivas’s house, and went to the home of some Haitian migrants living nearby. Witnesses claim that the group again demanded that they leave the community.

This follows a racially motivated attack on Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent in Ranchadero on 28 October 2007, in which a number of people were wounded with machetes, and houses were attacked (see original UA).

Johnny Rivas was threatened after reporting the attack to the authorities and to Solidaridad Fronteriza, an organization defending the rights of migrant workers. Following the attack, the majority of the Haitian migrants living in the community went into hiding or left the Dominican Republic because they feared further violence. Those that still remain in Ranchadero are at risk of further attacks by anti-migrant protestors.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:
- expressing concern that Johnny Rivas, his family and Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in Ranchadero are at risk of attack by anti-migrant protestors;  
- urging the authorities to take urgent measures to ensure their safety;
- urging the authorities to bring to justice anyone responsible for intimidating or attacking Johnny Rivas or Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent;
- urging the authorities to refrain from the mass expulsion of Haitian migrant workers and to ensure that all those whose expulsion is considered have their cases individually examined in a fair and transparent procedure where they can challenge the expulsion and have their cases reviewed according to the appropriate international legal standards.

APPEALS TO:

Secretary of State for the Interior and Police

Sr. Franklin Almeyda Rancier

Secretario de Estado de Interior y Policía

Avenida de México, esq. Leopoldo Navarro,

Edif. Oficinas Gubernamentales,

Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Fax: +1 809 685 1194

Salutation: Dear Secretary of State

Chief of Police

Mayor General Ingeniero Guillermo Guzman Fermin

Jefe de la Policía Nacional

Oficina del Jefe de la Policía Nacional

Palacio del la Policía Nacional

Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Fax: +1 809 685 4510

Salutation: Dear Chief of Police

Director of Immigration

Sr. Carlos Amarante Baret

Director General de Migración

Secretaria de Estado de Interior y Policia
Dirección General de Migración

Avenida 30 de Mayo, Esquina Héroes de Luperon

Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Fax: +1 809 534 7118

Salutation : Dear Director

COPIES TO:

Solidaridad Fronteriza

c/o ASOMILIN- Johnny Rivas

c/ Manuel Roca n.13, Esq. P.Santa Anna
Dajabón, República Dominicana
Fax: +1 809 579 7012

and to diplomatic representatives of Dominican Republic accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 22 February 2008.