The Commonwealth of Dominica

Universal Periodic Review MEDIA BRIEF

Thursday, 1 May 2014 (Morning)
(Disclaimer: The following brief is not an official record, provides a brief factual
summary of the UPR Working Group meeting with the State under review, and does
not cover all points addressed)
State under review Dominica
Represented by a delegation headed by Mr. Vince HENDERSON,
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Commonwealth of
Dominica to the United Nations Headquarters in New York
Documents To access national report, compilation of UN information, and
summary of stakeholders information, visit the Dominica page
on the UPR website
Troika * Germany, Mexico and Sierra Leone
Opening statement
by State under
review
Few points raised in the opening statement of State under
review:
(See full statement on the Dominica page on the UPR Extranet
**)
Over the past 14 years there have been major strides in
access to an delivery of quality education, healthcare,
social services, protection of the rights of persons with
disabilities, support to indigenous people, women and the
elderly ;
Dominica has made significant strides in the protection of
women and children. In May 2013 the State ratified the
Protocol to Prevent, Supress and Punish Trafficking in
Person, Especially Women and Children;
In 2006, the Government adopted a National Gender
Policy to provide a framework for achieving gender equity
and equity in every facet of Dominican society. A
National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence has
also be prepared and will soon be submitted for
consideration and approval;
Workshops and seminars have been held with Police and
community leaders to better understand the problem of
violence against women and children and to provide
assistance to victims;
Per the Education Act of 1997, corporal punishment may
be administered where no other punishment was
considered suitable or effective and in a manner which
was in conformity with the guideline issues in writing by
the Chief Education Officer;
In Dominica there has been a self-imposed moratorium on
the use of the death penalty since 1986. The current law
on the death penalty was based on the 2003 ruling of the
Privy Council of England;
Since 2000, the Government of Dominica has placed
special emphasis on the islands indigenous people the
Caribs. A Ministry of Carib Affairs was created, headed
by the Member of Parliament for the Carib Territory to
facilitate the delivery of government services, programmes
and projects;
Dominican women have been serving in Parliament for
more than 60 years and have served as Prime Minister,
ministers, Attorney General and Speaker of the House of
Assembly. Currently, there are two elected and one
nominated woman serving in the parliament;
The Government of Dominica was not prepared to
introduce to the Parliament any legislation to
decriminalize sexual relations between adults of the same
sex. Extrajudicial killings based on race, ethnicity,
religion or sexual orientation did not exist in Dominica;
Since the establishment of the National HIV/AIDS
Prevention Unit in the Ministry of Health in 2003, there
have been a number of programmes geared at creating
greater awareness, care, understanding and tolerance for
those affected and infected by the disease;
The Government ratified the Convention on the rights of
persons with disabilities in October 2012 and was
establishing a special commission to ensure that the
government could meet its commitments under the
convention;
While noting his Governments limited resources to meet
its human rights commitments, the head of delegation
called on OHCHR to provide support to Dominica in order
to meet its human rights obligations.
Participants In total 48 States participated in the dialogue: 25 HRC members
and 23 observers (Statements available on Dominica page on the
UPR Extranet **)
Positive
achievements
Positive achievements noted by delegations included, among
others:
Efforts to combat domestic violence and violence against
women and children;
The National Policy and Action Plan for Gender Equality
and Equity and efforts to empower women;
The ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Supress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons;
Steps to promote and protect the rights of persons with
disabilities and the ratification of the CRPD;
Progress in the health and education sector and provision
of free primary and secondary education;
The extension of a standing invitation to the UN Special
Procedures.
Issues and Questions Issues and questions raised by the Working Group included,
among others:
Efforts to eliminate violence against women and gender-
based violence;
Steps undertaken to promote and protect the rights of the
child;
Plans to repeal legislation discriminating against persons
on the grounds of their sexual orientation;
Measures to uphold the right to education for all, in
particular persons with disabilities;
The States position on the death penalty;
Assistance from OHCHR to Dominica to meet its human
rights obligations.
Recommendations States participating in the dialogue posed a series of
recommendations to Dominica. These pertained to the following
issues, among others:
To continue efforts to eliminate violence against women
and gender-based violence and to ensure compliance with
international obligations in that regard; To report on active
policies to protect the rights of women and date on
gender-based violence; To ensure relevant agencies had
sufficient resources and staff to enforce existing domestic
violence laws;
To pursue efforts to protect the rights of the child and
establish a comprehensive child protection policy and a
comprehensive list of hazardous work prohibited to
children and amend laws to raise the minimum age for
employment to at least 15;
To prohibit sentences of corporal punishment for children
and life imprisonment under the age of 14 without
exception;
To establish anti-discrimination laws and regulations
ensuring that LGBT persons and other vulnerable groups
enjoyed equal treatment; To repeal all provisions that
discriminated against persons on the grounds of their
sexual orientation including those in the Sexual Offences
Act;
To take further steps to protect the rights of persons with
disabilities;
To adopt measures to allow for better integrate of the
Kalinago/Carib community;
To continue efforts to promote and protect the full
enjoyment of the right to education for all, in particular
children with disabilities and migrant children; To
promote measures to eliminate discrimination against
disabled persons in the education system;
To maintain a de facto moratorium on executions and
consider abolishing the death penalty;
To decriminalise defamation and place it under the civil
code in accordance with international standards;
To continue efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and address the
needs of those living with HIV/AIDS;
To consider establishing a national human rights
institution in compliance with the Paris Principles; For
OHCHR to provide technical assistance to Dominica for
the establishment of a national human rights institution
and to advance human rights policies and programmes;
Ratification of human rights instruments: The 1st and 2nd
OPs to the ICCPR, the OP to the ICESCR, the CAT and
OPCAT, the OP to CEDAW, the CERD, the Convention
on enforced disappearances, the 3rd OP to the CRC, the
Convention on the rights of migrant workers, ILO
Convention 189 (domestic workers), and ILO Convention
182 (worst forms of child labour), and the Convention on
the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.
Adoption of report of
Working Group
The adoption of the report of the UPR Working Group on
Dominica is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 6 May 2014
*The troikas are a group of three States selected through a drawing of lots who serve as
rapporteurs and who are charged with preparing the report of the Working Group on the
country review with the involvement of the State under review and assistance from the
OHCHR.
** For access to the UPR Extranet, please fill out the following form to receive a
username and password
Media contacts: Rolando Gmez, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917
9711, rgomez@ohchr.org
Cdric Sapey, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917
9695, csapey@ohchr.org