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rate remained high, at nearly 16 per 100,000 

inhabitants during the first half of the year.

The media reported allegations of the 

repeated use of unnecessary and excessive 

force by the police during social protests.

REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS

The authorities remained unable to process 

most of the cases of irregular migrants that 

they received during the National 

Regularization Plan for Foreigners with 

Irregular Migration Status that operated 

between 2014 and 2015. As a result, in July 

the authorities renewed for a further year the 

temporary “regularization carnets” issued to 

registered individuals, allowing them to stay 

in the country.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

The Dominican Republic remained one of the 

few countries worldwide that criminalized 

abortion without exception.

In May the Senate voted against a proposal, 

supported by President Medina, to 

decriminalize abortion.

2

 On 11 July the 

Senate’s vote was rejected by the Chamber of 

Deputies, providing the possibility of future 

reforms that would protect the rights of 

women and girls.

3

In August, a petition was presented to the 

IACHR seeking justice and reparation for the 

death in 2012 of 16-year-old Rosaura 

Almonte Hernández, publicly known as 

“Esperancita”. Because of the country’s 

restrictive legislation on abortion, Rosaura 

Almonte Hernández, who was seven weeks 

pregnant, was denied life-saving treatment 

for leukaemia for several days and died 

shortly after.

An investigation published in August by 

the NGO Women’s Link Worldwide found that 

one woman died every two days in the 

Dominican Republic during the first half of 

2017 from pregnancy-related causes due to 

the lack of access to quality maternal health 

services.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

According to official statistics, the first half of 

the year saw a 21% increase in the number 

of killings of women and girls, compared with 

the same period in 2016.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, 

TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

The Dominican Republic continued to lack 

legislation to combat hate crimes. In June, 

the body of a transgender woman, Rubi Mori, 

was found dismembered in wasteland.

4

 By 

the end of the year, no one had been brought 

to justice for her killing.

1. Dominican Republic: What does it take to solve a statelessness 

crisis? (

News story

, 23 May)

2. Dominican Republic: Vote against decriminalization of abortion, a 

betrayal to women (

Press release

, 1 June)

3. República Dominicana: Amnistía Internacional y Oxfam llaman a 

Cámara de Diputados a garantizar derechos de las mujeres (

AMR 

27/6605/2017

); Dominican Republic: Further information - Congress 

rejects regressive abortion reform (

AMR 27/6724/2017

); Dominican 

Republic: Further information: Abortion vote pending after President’s 

veto (

AMR 27/5478/2017

)

4. Dominican Republic: Horrifying killing of transgender woman 

highlights need for protection against discrimination (

News story

, 6 

June)

ECUADOR

Republic of Ecuador

Head of state and government: Lenín Boltaire Moreno 

Garcés (replaced Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado 

in May)

Indigenous leaders, human rights defenders 

and staff of NGOs faced persecution and 

harassment amid continuing restrictions on 

the rights to freedom of expression and 

association. The right to free, prior and 

informed consent of Indigenous Peoples 

continued to be restricted. The Bill to 

Prevent and Eliminate Violence against 

Women was pending revision by the 

National Assembly.

BACKGROUND

On 24 May, Lenín Moreno Garcés became 

President. Shortly afterwards he called for a 

referendum and a popular consultation, to be 

held in February 2018, for Ecuadorians to 

decide on matters including the amendment 

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of the Constitution to eliminate indefinite re-

election of authorities, the banning of mining 

in protected areas, and reducing the area of 

oil exploitation in the Yasuní National Park.

INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY

In May, Ecuador’s human rights record was 

examined under the UN UPR process. 

Ecuador accepted recommendations to adopt 

a national action plan on business and 

human rights, create an effective consultation 

mechanism for Indigenous Peoples, align 

national laws on freedoms of expression and 

assembly with international standards, 

ensure the protection of journalists and 

human rights defenders, and guarantee 

protection from discrimination based on 

sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Ecuador pledged to lead on creating an 

international legally binding instrument on 

transnational corporations and human rights. 

Ecuador received a total of 182 

recommendations of which it accepted 159, 

noted 19, and left four for further review.

In July, the Inter-American Commission on 

Human Rights (IACHR) held hearings on 

violence and harassment against human 

rights defenders, and on extractive industries 

and the right to cultural identity of Indigenous 

Peoples in Ecuador. The IACHR expressed 

concern over the absence of state 

representatives at both hearings.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND 

ASSOCIATION

In January, the Ministry for the Environment 

rejected a complaint filed by the Ministry of 

the Interior aimed at shutting down the NGO 

Ecological Action Corporation, based on a 

lack of evidence linking the NGO to violence 

that occurred in 2016 in Morona Santiago 

province.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

In November the National Assembly 

approved a Bill to Prevent and Eliminate 

Violence against Women. In December, 

President Moreno partially vetoed the Bill and 

proposed a series of modifications, which 

were pending revision by the National 

Assembly at the end of the year.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

In July, Indigenous and human rights 

organizations denounced before the IACHR 

intrusions of the state into the territory of the 

Sápara People for future oil extraction. They 

also denounced government bids for oil 

extraction in the territory of the Kichwa 

People of Sarayaku without obtaining their 

free, prior and informed consent, despite the 

Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling 

that the Kichwa People must be consulted.

In April, Shuar Indigenous leader Agustín 

Wachapá was released on parole after four 

months in pre-trial detention on charges of 

inciting violence in Morona Santiago in 2016. 

The Shuar People continued to face a 

dispute over the development of two copper 

mines in their territory.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

NGOs denounced before the IACHR the lack 

of an adequate protection system or 

specialized institution responsible for 

investigating attacks against and 

criminalization of human rights defenders. 

They also denounced the frequent misuse of 

the charge of attacking or resisting authority 

to prosecute human rights defenders.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

The UN Committee on Enforced 

Disappearances noted in March that no 

criminal responsibility had been established 

for 17 cases of enforced disappearances 

from 1984 to 2008 identified by the Truth 

Commission, and that the whereabouts of 12 

of those victims remained undisclosed.

EGYPT

Arab Republic of Egypt

Head of state: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Head of government: Sherif Ismail

Egypt’s human rights crisis continued 

unabated. The authorities used torture and 

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