[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Friday called upon [press release] the Dominican Republic reject a constitutional court ruling that would impact the nationality of Dominicans of foreign descent. The court ruling, which was issued last month, held that a person born in the Dominican Republic to parents of another nationality should not be registered as a Dominican citizen. If the court’s ruling is implemented, affected individuals’ identity cards will be cancelled leaving them no way to travel or receive services from the government. AI claims the ruling will particularly impact those of Haitian descent. Chiara Liguori, AI’s Caribbean researcher, argued that implementation of this ruling would result in numerous human rights abuses against individuals who will be left with no nationality.

A group of Caribbean nations also condemned [AP report] the court’s ruling. Dominicans of Haitian descent [Open Society backgrounder] have historically experience discrimination in the Dominican Republic. AI detailed these practices in a report [text] in July 2010. The report specifically cites the issue of identity documents as the cause of the abuse. The ruling was issued [AP report] in September.