The Medina Law is enacted in response to international outcry condemning Sentencia 168-13 that retroactively revoked the nationality of over 250,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent, going back to 1929. The Medina Law requires birth certificate, national identity card and Dominican passport to reinstate Dominican citizenship. The Dominican Republic has a long history of denying birth rights to Dominicans of Haitian descent. Reference is made to the 2004 Interamerican Human Rights Court (IAHCR) decision that condemned Dominican authorities and institutions for denying Dominicans of Haitian descent official papers, including birth certificates. Today, the Dominican Republic remains in violation of the IACHR Court Order. Thus, the Medina Law does nothing to effectively reestablish citizenship despite the Dominican Government’s claims.

1. Committee on Migration
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact Sandra Thomas (786) 218 7161
Global Haitian Diaspora Federation Condemns Medina Law
and Urges Unconditional Return of Citizenship to Victims.
Washington DC, June 17, 2014 – The Global Haitian Diaspora Federation is dismayed by the
May 23, 2014 Sentencia 169-14 known as Danilo Medina Law and urges unconditional return of
citizenship rights to all Dominicans denationalized by the September 23, 2013 Sentencia 168-13.
The Medina Law is enacted in response to international outcry condemning Sentencia 168-13
that retroactively revoked the nationality of over 250,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent, going
back to 1929. The Medina Law requires birth certificate, national identity card and Dominican
passport to reinstate Dominican citizenship. The Dominican Republic has a long history of
denying birth rights to Dominicans of Haitian descent. Reference is made to the 2004
Interamerican Human Rights Court (IAHCR) decision that condemned Dominican authorities and
institutions for denying Dominicans of Haitian descent official papers, including birth certificates.
Today, the Dominican Republic remains in violation of the IACHR Court Order. Thus, the Medina
Law does nothing to effectively reestablish citizenship despite the Dominican Government’s
claims.
“Whether it is the Dominican Republic’s institutionalized birthrights denial to Dominicans of Haitian
descent, its violation of the 2004 IAHCR Order, its invidious 2010 Constitutional Amendment, or
its revolting Highest Court’s decision or its Medina Law, they are all linked to the same recurring
human or civil right violations of Afro-Haitian descents,” said Mayor Joseph M. Champagne, Esq.,
the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network’s Special Envoy to the Global Federation.
“With hundreds of thousands of undocumented black Dominicans left stateless and their children
barred from attending schools, the Medina Law is the equivalent of prescribing an aspirin to cure
a metastatic cancer,” said Dr. Bernier Lauredan, Vice President of the Global Federation. “The
time has now come to consider sanctions,” he added.
Contra to the Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Miguel Insulza
comments hailing the new law an essential step to opening the way for all concerned to find a
worthy place in Dominican society, the measure is far from resolving the issue at stake. The
Global Haitian Federation urges all friends of Haiti, especially the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) and OAS Member Countries, to force Dominican Republic to honor its human rights
and international obligations to avoid sanctions. ###
The Global Haitian Diaspora Federation is the bridge
between the Haitian Diaspora communities and Haiti.