Dominican Republic's Noncompliance - International Child Abduction - U.S. July 2018 Action Report

Country Summary: 

The Convention has been in force between the United States and the Dominican Republic since 2007. In 2017, the Dominican Republic demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the judicial authorities in the Dominican Republic persistently failed to implement and abide by the provisions of the Convention. As a result of this failure, 20 percent (one case involving one child) of requests for the return of abducted children under the Convention have remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On average, these cases have been unresolved for 16 months. The Dominican Republic has been cited as noncompliant since 2014.

Report of Actions Taken: 

The United States regularly presses the Dominican Republic directly to improve its performance. In 2017, the USCA nominated the Director of the Dominican Central Authority (DCA) for the International Visitor Leadership Program. In April 2018, an official from the Office of Children’s Issues traveled to the Dominican Republic, met with the DCA and discussed ways to improve communication. During this meeting, the DCA and USCA agreed on a method for improving the overall quality and frequency of communication between our Central Authorities.

In June 2018, the Consul General at U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo delivered a demarche to the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Relations, giving official notice that the Department cited the Dominican Republic for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance. The demarche also highlighted the lack of progress on long-standing cases, and requested an update on a case pending with the Dominican Supreme Court.

The embassy delivered both messages to the DCA and the Dominican Attorney General’s Office.