OAS Team to Investigate Human Rights Conditions in the Dominican Republic

5 May 1997 -- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an agency of the Organization of American States, will send a mission to the Dominican Republic in June to investigate the Dominican government's compliance with its human rights obligations under the American Declaration of Human Rights. The problems faced by Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent will be an important focus of the mission's work. NCHR had urged the Inter-American Commission to send a delegation to the Dominican Republic in testimony before the Commission in October 1996. The Commission's mandate includes reporting to the General Assembly on the situation of migrant workers in the hemisphere. It will focus first on Haitian migrant workers in the Dominican Republic. NCHR intends to work with Dominican NGOs to ensure that the Commission obtains a complete picture of the problems faced by both recent and long-term Haitian residents in their neighboring state.