H.R. defenders: Investigate hate crime against Haitians in D.R.

Santo Domingo, Sep 28 (EFE).- Defenders of the human rights of Haitians in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday asked the Attorney General’s Office to investigate “the linchings, death threats and other hate crimes with racist and xenophobic motives” perpetrated against the immigrants.

The #HaitianosRD collective, which includes various social organizations, delivered to the AG’s Office a letter in which it reiterated the complaints that it had made in 2019 and 2020 and to which it has received no response, the group’s spokesman, Roudy Joseph, told EFE.

The first letter was written in response to the linching of Haitians Victor Pierre and Esil Homme Atul on the northern island of Santiago in 2019.

“But there are many hate crimes that have enjoyed eomplete impunity in recent years,” according to the new letter directed to Attorney General Miriam German Brito.

With this letter, the group is demanding “an official response to the more than 5,000 people from more than 20 countries” who went on the Internet to sign a document expressing support for the group’s request, Joseph added.

“We hope that the Attorney General’s Office will exercise due diligence in the face of this very serious situation that threatens human rights and fundamental freedoms and, in compliance with what the law and the Constitution set forth, take the appropriate action in the shortest possible time,” the letter read.

A first step, the group said in its missive, would be to convene an audience with human rights organizations and the immigrant community to exchange ideas about initiatives that the AG’s Office “can push to safeguard the human rights of immigrants, as well as to provide a response to the requests and complaints from 2019 to date.”

EFE