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CHAPTER
I BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION A.
Requests made to the Commission
On April 24, 1965, a revolutionary movement started in the
Dominican Republic which affected the country’s stability and brought
about the deaths of thousands of persons as well as numberless
violations of human rights.
As a result of this movement two entirely antagonistic
governments were established in the Dominican territory: one called
Constitutionalist Government and the other, Government of National
Reconstruction.
On May 10, 1965, the Commission received a cable from the
National Congress of the Constitutionalist Government requesting the
visit of a representative of the Commission, for the purpose of
verifying on the spot “the abuses to which defenseless citizens were
being subjected.” On May 24, Dr. Jottín Cury, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Constitutionalist Government, addressed the Chairman of
the Commission requesting the transfer of that body to the Dominican
Republic for the purpose of verifying, and of adopting the pertinent
measures with regard to, the “abuses and assassinations committed by
the troops of the Government of National Reconstruction.”
On the other hand, the Government of National Reconstruction made
known to the Commission the urgent need that existed for it to make an
on-the-spot examination of the situation regarding human rights in the
Dominican Republic.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Dr.
José A. Mora, in a cable dated May 25, 1965, addressed to the President
of the Tenth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Ambassador Guillermo Sevilla Sacasa, stated that he considered essential
and urgent the presence in Santo Domingo of the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights. The text of the cable of the Secretary
General is as follows:
In view of numerous denunciations of violations of human rights
formulated by both parties, I consider essential and urgent the presence
in Santo Domingo of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. To
facilitate here the work of that Commission I am informing and
requesting co-operation of both parties.
Complying with those requests, the Chairman of the Commission,
Professor Manuel Bianchi, went to Santo Domingo on June 1, 1965, where
he joined the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Luis Reque, who
had left Washington on May 30 accompanied by a staff member of the
Secretariat. B.
Representation of the Commission
In accordance with its Regulations (articles 3(a) and 8), the
Commission was represented in the Dominican Republic by its Chairman
and, in his absence, by some of its members.
The Chairman, Professor Manuel Bianchi, represented the
Commission from June 1 to 20 and from July 2 to 19, and again from
September 2 to 27, 1965.
Dr. Carlos Alberto Dunshee de Abranches acted as Representative
from June 21 to July 2, and from August 25 to September 5, 1965; Mrs.
Angela Acuña de Chacón from July 25 to August 5, 1965; and Dr. Durward
V. Sandifer from June 30 to July 14, and from August 11 to 23, 1965.
The Commission established its provisional headquarters at the
Hotel Embajador in the Dominican capital, where it installed the offices
of its Secretariat. Besides the Executive Secretary of the Commission,
Dr. Luis Reque, Drs. Isidoro Zanotti, Renzo Minut, Alvaro Gómez, and
Guillermo Cabrera, staff members of the Commission’s Secretariat, have
served at different times. C.
Legal basis for the Commission’s activities
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights whose function, in
accordance with its Statute, is “to promote respect for human
rights” (Article 1), may move to the territory of any State when it so
decides by an absolute majority of votes and with the consent of the
government concerned (Article 11.c)
In the present situation of the Dominican Republic, consent was
implied in the requests made by both governments, and in the commitments
assumed by both to formally respect the American Declaration of the
Rights and Duties of Man, as well as to give the Commission all of the
facilities that are essential for the fulfillment of its mission.
The texts of the pertinent documents are as follows:
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
It is the duty of the Constitutionalist Government to affirm to
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that:
1. It has respected and will
continue to respect the human rights established in the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man proclaimed at the Ninth
International Conference of American States, held at Bogotá, Colombia,
in 1948.
2. It has respected and will
continue to respect, basically, the right to life, the right to trial by
competent courts, the right to protection from arbitrary arrest, and the
right of every person to humane treatment during the time he is in
custody.
3. It will provide to the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or to the representative of
the said Commission, all of the facilities that are essential for the
proper fulfillment of its mission.
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic, June 8, 1965
For the Constitutional For the Inter-American
Government
Commission on Human Rights
Dr.
Jottín Cury Manuel Bianchi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Chairman __________
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Nº 9420
THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION REAFFIRMS TO THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS THAT:
Faithful to its purpose to comply with all the requirements of
the Constitution of the Republic, especially those with regard to human
rights, and all the international commitments assumed by the Dominican
Republic, it has respected, it will respect, and it will enforce the
human rights established in the American Declaration of the Rights and
Duties of Man approved by the Ninth International Conference of American
States, held at Bogotá, Colombia, in 1948.
Consequently, the Government of National Reconstruction will
continue, as it has done up to now, to furnish the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights all of the facilities that are essential for
the proper fulfillment of its mission.
Horacio Vicioso Soto
Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
June 9, 1965
The Commission, in the
performance of its duties, also took into consideration the Act of Santo
Domingo, the resolutions of May 6 and 20 and June 2, 1965, of the Tenth
Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and the Act
establishing the Inter-American Peace Force, signed on May 23, 1965.
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