London, England (TDN) -- Amnesty International regrets that Dominica was unable to submit a national report as part of its UPR. We acknowledge, however, the financial and technical restraints faced by small island developing states and welcome Dominica’s commitment to seek the continued support of the UN in order to fulfil its international obligations and to implement accepted UPR recommendations.
Amnesty International hopes this collaboration will allow Dominica to fulfil its commitment to ratify key international human rights standards, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Amnesty International regrets that Dominica has rejected all recommendations pertaining to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in particular the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations.
During the review, Dominica stated that no one had been arrested or prosecuted under article 16 of the Sexual Offences Act which criminalizes “buggery”. There have, however, been recent reports of individuals being arrested and charged under this legislation, although in all cases the charges were subsequently dropped.
We are concerned that this legislation contributes to creating a discriminatory environment in which LGBTI people are not able to fully enjoy their human rights, and we stress that by criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct Dominica is in violation of its international obligations. We urge the government to repeal this legislation as an important step towards combating discrimination against LGBTI persons.
Amnesty International welcomes the fact that there have been no executions in Dominica since 1986 and the government’s acknowledgement of its “self-imposed moratorium” on the death penalty.
As such, we are very disappointed that Dominica has been unable to accept recommendations to abolish the death penalty. Amnesty International calls on Dominica to declare a formal moratorium on executions, with a view towards abolition of the death penalty.
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