Urgent Action

UA-Nr: UA-288/2007-1
AI-Index: AMR 27/001/2008
Datum: 11.01.2008

DEATH THREATS

Further information on UA 288/07 (AMR 27/005/2007, 2 November 2007

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

Johnny Rivas (m), human rights defender
Members of his family
Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the community of Ranchadero

Johnny Rivas and his family are being intimidated by anti-migrant protestors as a result of his work as the coordinator of the Solidarity Associations of Migrant Workers in the Northwest Region (Asociaciones Solidarias de Trabajadores Migrantes de la Línea Noroeste, ASOMILIN). Amnesty International fears that an escalation in intimidation may lead to attacks on Johnny Rivas, members of his family or migrant workers, as occurred in October 2007.

On 9 January, a group of between 10 and 15 anti-migrant protestors went to Johnny Rivas's house in the community of Ranchadero, Monte Cristi province. As Johnny Rivas was not at home, the protestors told his wife that they should leave the community within the next three weeks. According to eyewitnesses, a government employee of the General Directorate for Migration (Dirección General de Migración), accompanying the protestors also threatened to expel all Haitian migrant workers living in Ranchadero.

The group then left Johnny Rivas's house, and went to the home of some Haitian migrants living nearby. Witnesses claim that the group again demanded that they leave the community.

This follows a racially motivated attack on Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent in Ranchadero on 28 October 2007, in which a number of people were wounded with machetes, and houses were attacked (see original UA).

Johnny Rivas was threatened after reporting the attack to the authorities and to Solidaridad Fronteriza, an organization defending the rights of migrant workers. Following the attack, the majority of the Haitian migrants living in the community went into hiding or left the Dominican Republic because they feared further violence. Those that still remain in Ranchadero are at risk of further attacks by anti-migrant protestors.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:

expressing concern that Johnny Rivas, his family and Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in Ranchadero are at risk of attack by anti-migrant protestors; urging the authorities to take urgent measures to ensure their safety; urging the authorities to bring to justice anyone responsible for intimidating or attacking Johnny Rivas or Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent; urging the authorities to refrain from the mass expulsion of Haitian migrant workers and to ensure that all those whose expulsion is considered have their cases individually examined in a fair and transparent procedure where they can challenge the expulsion and have their cases reviewed according to the appropriate international legal standards.

APPEALS TO:

Secretary of State for the Interior and Police
Sr. Franklin Almeyda Rancier
Secretario de Estado de Interior y Policía
Avenida de México, esq. Leopoldo Navarro,
Edif. Oficinas Gubernamentales,
Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
Fax: 00 1 809 685 1194
Salutation: Dear Secretary of State

Chief of Police
Mayor General Ingeniero Guillermo Guzman Fermin
Jefe de la Policía Nacional
Oficina del Jefe de la Policía Nacional
Palacio del la Policía Nacional
Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
Fax: 00 1 809 685 4510
Salutation: Dear Chief of Police

Director of Immigration
Sr. Carlos Amarante Baret
Director General de Migración
Secretaria de Estado de Interior y Policia
Dirección General de Migración
Fax: 00 1 809 534 7118
Salutation: Dear Director

COPIES TO:

Solidaridad Fronteriza
c/o ASOMILIN- Johnny Rivas
c/ Manuel Roca n.13, Esq. P.Santa Anna
Dajabón, República Dominicana
Fax: 00 1 809 579 7012

Botschaft der Dominikanischen Republik
S.E. Herrn Herr Pedro Luciano Verges Ciman
Dessauer Straße 28 - 29, 10963 Berlin
Telefax: 030-2575 7761
E-Mail: embajadomal ät t-online.de

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 22 February 2008.

Quelle

http://www2.amnesty.de/internet/deall.nsf/AlleDok/F0A9669F9A799DFEC12573D0005B81f0?open

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