Discrimination Against LGBT Persons

The rights and treatment of LGBT persons was a prominent issue during the initial review of Dominica, and it included several concerns of the Human Rights Committee: reports of physical attacks and harassments against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation, the admissibility of the “gay panic defence” in the courts (wherein a victim’s sexual orientation may come to justify their murder), and the criminalization of same-sex sexual activity under the Sexual Offences Act. The latter is punishable by up to 25 years in prison and convicts of such offences may be forcefully admitted to psychiatric hospitals for treatment. 

In its response, the State emphasized that it currently was not prepared to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity due to the dominant public opinion. It largely refuted allegations of physical harassment against LGBT persons - noting no such notifications had ever reached the government but also admitted that it is possible that such persons may opt not to report due to a fear of reprisals or social stigmatization.. Turning to ‘gay panic defence’, the Dominican delegation noted that this was a creation purely of the courts. 

The Committee emphasized that in ratifying the ICCPR the State had brought upon itself a number of obligations to protect civil and political rights. The enactment of these obligations cannot be solely dependent upon the driving force of public opinion - but democratic decision-making institutions have some level of responsibility by, for example, issuing awareness-raising campaigns.

Infant Mortality

In citing a 2019 LANCELET report, the Human Rights Committee raised serious concerns over the high rates of childhood mortality in Dominica - numbering roughly 30 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births. Most problematically, the trend in Dominica has been in sharp contrast to the rest of the world - it is “the only country in recorded history where childhood mortality has been consistently and considerably on the rise for the past 15 years and counting”. 

In its response to Mr Bulkan’s questions on the matter, Dominica outlined the quality of its primary health care systems and reiterated that this was an issue it was giving a great deal of attention and investment to. Indeed, the ambassador stated that this was a “cause for concern for all of us”. 

Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

The Committee expressed concerns over a report indicating that some children in Dominica were subject to the worst kinds of labour - including commercial sexual exploitation. In addition, the Committee noted that children appear not to be protected outside of the school year by the legal framework - and, in particular, that no regulation delineated the types of hazardous work prohibited for minors. 

The State rejected these concerns in their entirety - citing several methodological concerns with the report the Committee had relied upon.The Ambassador stated that “for this Committee to challenge Dominica [on the issue of child abuse] is dishonest and misleading, totally unacceptable. This report is loaded with gaps. Any academic, peer-review would have prevented it from seeing the light of day of publication”. The Committee responded that its questions are not accusations and based upon publicly available information. It further reiterated that the dialogue was intended for exactly this type of purposes: for the state to be able to correct any misleading or false information the Committee has received from other sources. The Chair of the Committee emphasized that the emotion experienced in the dialogue illustrated that 27 years was surely too long to go without further engagement. 

Priority Recommendations

The State party is requested to provide, by 27 March 2022, information on the following recommendations from the Committee’s Concluding Observations. 

Pre-trial Detention

The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to address the excessive use of pre-trial detention. It should: 

• Reduce the length of pretrial detention, expedite the passing into law of the Bail Act, which sets out procedural standards for the handling of cases
• Develop the use of non-custodial alternatives, bearing in mind its obligations under article 9 of the Covenant as interpreted by the Committee in its general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person, as well as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules)

Infant mortality

• In order to protect the right to life of children, the State party should take, without delay, all necessary steps to reduce infant mortality.

Participation in public affairs

The State party should adopt an electoral system that guarantees equal enjoyment of the rights of all citizens, in compliance with the Covenant, including article 25 by, inter alia:

• Ensuring fully transparent elections and a pluralistic political order
• Refraining from using criminal law provisions to constrain the right of opposition parties to participate in public affairs
• Investigating any allegations of wrongdoing.