- English
- Español
IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Welcomes the Ratification of the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty by Dominican Republic
February 2, 2012
Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the ratification by the Dominican Republic of the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty. The Dominican Republic ratified this Protocol on December 19, 2011, and deposited the instruments of ratification at the OAS on January 27, 2012.
With this act, the Dominican Republic has ratified four out of the six inter-American instruments of human rights additional to the American Convention, ratified in 1978. The other instruments that have been ratified by the Dominican Republic are: the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, or Convention of Belem do Pará; and the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities.
Through this ratification, the Dominican Republic has taken one more step towards the universalization of the inter-American instruments of human rights. The IACHR encourages the Dominican Republic to advance in this path and proceed to also ratify the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, or Protocol of San Salvador.
The IACHR reiterates the importance that the inter-American system move toward universal acceptance and application of its norms through the ratification of all the regional human rights instruments by all the member States.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this matter. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 12/12