مذكرات إحاطة صحفية بشأن الجمهورية الدومينيكية وسري لانكا

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville
Location: Geneva
Date: 7 November 2014
Subjects: (1) Dominican Republic (2) Sri Lanka
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(1) Dominican Republic

We are deeply concerned at the recent Dominican Constitutional Court’s ruling that the Dominican Republic’s act of recognition of the competence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is unconstitutional. This ruling may jeopardize the capacity of Dominican people to protect their rights, and deny them a system of protection designed to complement the Dominican legal framework and institutions.

Regional human rights bodies, such as the Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, play a very important role in the promotion and protection of human rights in the region. The Inter-American Court is a highly respected body. It has been crucial, in its 36 years of existence, in obtaining justice and reparation for large numbers of victims of human rights violations and in prompting legal, policy and institutional reform throughout the Americas. Its jurisprudence has set standards on issues such as reparations, amnesties, indigenous peoples, discrimination, and the State’s responsibility to protect individuals from violations, which have greatly influenced the development of the universal human rights system as well as other regional systems.

We are confident that the Dominican Government will reconfirm its commitment with this regional human rights protection system.

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(2) Sri Lanka

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is this morning issuing a press release criticizing the continuing attacks by the Sri Lankan Government on the integrity of the UN Human Rights Office’s ongoing investigation into alleged grave human rights violations and abuses in Sri Lanka, and condemning the intimidation of human rights defenders and individuals who may wish to cooperate with the investigation.

To see the full text of the press release, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15263&LangID=E

ENDS

For more information or media requests, please contact Rupert Colville (+41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org)

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