Human rights in the Dominican Republic to face scrutiny by UN treaty body

8 March 2012

NEW YORK – The human rights record of the Dominican Republic will on Monday 12 March and Tuesday 13 March face the scrutiny of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in a meeting that will be webcast live on the Internet.

As one of the 167 state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is one of the primary international human rights treaties, the Dominican Republic is required to undergo regular examinations of its human rights record before the Human Rights Committee. The Dominican Republic was last reviewed by the Committee in 2001.

In meetings which will take place on Monday 12 March from 15h00 to 18h00 and Tuesday 13 March from 10h00 to 13h00 New York time, the Committee, which is composed of 18 independent experts, will engage in a dialogue with the delegation of the Dominican Republic on questions relating to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. The list of issues that are likely to come up in the dialogue can be found on: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/AdvanceVersions/CCPR_C_DOM_Q_5_en.pdf. A summary is attached.

The Government of the Dominican Republic has already submitted a State report on implementation of its human rights obligations to the Committee and a number of non-governmental organisations have also sent reports for the Committee’s consideration.

A live webcast of the session can be viewed on http://www.ccprcentre.org/en/home/215.

The concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on the Dominican Republic will be made available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs104.htm on 29 March after which interviews can be arranged with Committee members

To learn more about the Human Rights Committee, visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/index.htm

To learn more about the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

For additional information and media requests, please contact Fred Kirungi in New York (+1 917 367 3431 / kirungi@un.org) or Kate Fox (+1 212 963 8574 / kfox@ohchr.org).

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