A/HRC/7/19/Add.5 A/HRC/7/23/Add.3 Page 6 Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government of the Dominican Republic and in the pursuance of their respective mandates, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène, and the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall, visited the Dominican Republic between 23 and 29 October 2007. During their visit, they consulted with many senior Government representatives, both at national and local level, members of the legislative and judiciary branches, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community members, academics and students, political parties, media and other institutions and individuals working in the field of human rights, minority issues, social inclusion, anti-racism and discrimination. 2 The United Nations delegation visited Santo Domingo, Dajabón and the border region with Haiti, Santiago and San Pedro de Macorís. They obtained the views of community members and representatives of minority communities, through consultations and open discussion forums. 2. The experts express their thanks to the Government of the Dominican Republic for its invitation to visit the country and for its assistance in the preparation and conduct of their visit. They also express thanks to numerous non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and individuals who met with them, provided valuable information, and facilitated aspects of their visit. They also thank the United Nations Country Team in Santo Domingo for the support and advice provided during the mission. 3. This report is structured in six sections: firstly a general background; secondly a consideration of the methodologies used by the experts; thirdly an overview of the situation of racism and racial discrimination reflecting the views of State officials and civil society; fourthly an overview of issues related to the documentation of civil status and citizenship and its implications; fifthly an analysis by the Special Rapporteur and the independent expert based upon their consultations and findings during the course of their visit; and finally a series of joint recommendations proposed by the Special Rapporteur and the independent expert. 4. The experts acknowledge with thanks the comments to the present report by the Government of the Dominican Republic, which were received on 13 March 2008. I. GENERAL BACKGROUND A. Historical context 5. The island of Hispaniola was populated by around 600,000 Taino Indians at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus on 5 December 1492. With the discovery of gold mines and other natural resources, the Taino Indians were put into slavery and, over the next three decades, were physically wiped out. 2 Quotes used in this report are original comments made to the independent expert and the Special Rapporteur during consultations with Governmental and non-governmental sources during their visit. In all cases the identity of the source is withheld.