US human-rights group to visit Dom Rep

WASHINGTON (CMC):

A delegation from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center) is to visit the Dominican Republic as pressure continues to mount on the Spanish-speaking country to reverse a Constitutional Court ruling that has the effect of rendering stateless, thousands of people of Haitian descent.

The visit this week coincides with one by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the current human rights situation and the potential impacts of the country's citizenship and naturalisation requirements.

Last week, the regional integration grouping, CARICOM, announced it had suspended discussions on the application by Santo Domingo for membership of the 15-member grouping.

CARICOM said it would also seek to raise the court ruling with several bodies, including the Association of Caribbean States, the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States, as well as maintaining "our interest and active participation at the Organization of American States".