Dominican Republic

Thematic Reports

Mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights

Disappearances, Working Group on enforced or involuntary: (E/CN.4/1998/43, paras. 156--158)

No new cases of disappearance were transmitted by the Working Group to the government. Of the two outstanding cases, one concerns a person who was arrested in June 1984 in Santo Domingo and who subsequently disappeared, and the other concerns a university lecturer -- also a journalist and political activist -- who was reportedly detained in May 1994 by members of the army and subsequently taken to a military base. The report notes a reply from the government referring to information previously provided on one of the cases, stating that the person concerned had a criminal record for crimes which included rape and leaving the country illegally, and therefore it was likely that he was out of the country.

Sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography, Special Rapporteur on the: (E/CN.4/1998/101, para. 15 )

In the section on sex tourism, the report refers to allegations that over 30,000 children in the Dominican Republic work as prostitutes to escape poverty. Most of these children no longer live with their parents because they have either been thrown out or prefer to work on the streets to earn a living for themselves or their families. Minors who engage in this trade are common in Santo Domingo and other tourist zones such as Boca Chica and Puerto Plata.

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