Mario Serrano Letter to the Central Electoral Board

Mario Serrano

Santo Domingo, November 1, 2013

 Mr. Roberto Rosario Marquez

President of the Central Electoral Board

Mr. President of Central Electoral Board:

Through this means, I respond to the correspondence that you sent to me on the 28^th of October 2013 in which you informed me of the creation of the Oversight Commission under the request of the National Migration Counsel in response to the Constitutional Court’s ruling (No. 168-13), and you invited me to be a part of the commission.

You know my public position as a priest that accompanies persons affected since 2007 due to the institution’s implementation of the Circular 017 and the Resolucion 012.  These administrative practices have suspended the executive of the rights of thousands of our brothers and sisters, especially Dominicans of Haitian descent.  This situation is aggravated by the Constitutional Court’s ruling and develops unprecedented negative effects.

The solution to this situation is not to accept a sentence that violates our Magna Carta and our profound sovereignty.  The real way is in the radical attachment to the Constitution and the ruling of Inter-American Court on Human Right in September 2005.  In the the Yean and Bosico case, the State was ordered to respect the nationality rights of all persons born under the regiment of jus solis which was not adopted to the Constitution of this sovereign nation until 2010.

The National Migration Counsel’s proposal for migratory regularization that was ordered as a part of the Constitutional Court’s sentence makes assumptions that invalidate its purpose:  That Dominicans by right are declared foreigners and residents that have been in the country for years are in transit.  

God hears the cries of those affected by the administrative decisions of the Central Electoral Board and by the Constitutional Court’s sentence.  On the eve the anniversary of Fray Anton de Montesinos’s Advent Sermon, I would like to express my outrage at the judgment and its impact on fellow Dominican brothers and sisters.  As in Matthew 25, 31-46, I feel compelled to remember as servant of the Word of God that these decisions not only trample those affected but also Christ and God.

Therefore, I cannot consciously accept being part of the Oversight Committee for a denationalization process that violates fundamental rights. Your invitation is appreciated as it is recognition of our accompaniment to the persons affected by the process, but my collaboration with the Central Electoral Board will be understand in other terms, not in my own. 

I ask God to help all sectors of the country interpret and respect our Constitution and human rights conventions internationally agreed by the community of nations, convinced that this is what will bring us closer to serving God, the Nation and the Freedom for our oppressed and faithful people fought for.

In conclusion, I ask God to guide us to a right and just path.

Attentively,

Father Mario Serrano Marte SJ

National Director of Social Pastors in the Society of Jesus