Solange Pierre

Solange Pierre (born 1963), known as Sonia Pierre, is a controversial human rights advocate in the Dominican Republic who works to end "antihaitianismo", which is bias against individuals from Haiti. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/americas/29sonia.html?hp "A Rights Advocate's Work Divides Dominicans"] by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, September 29, 2007.] For this work, she won the 2006 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. [ [http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2006_Winner/ "DOMINICAN BORN HAITIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WINS 2006 RFK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD"] Press Release, RFK Memorial Center, accessed Sept. 28, 2007.]

Life

Pierre was born in the Dominican Republic in 1963 to parents of Haitian descent. One of twelve children, [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700939.html "Activist Sonia Pierre Receives RFK Award"] by Andrew Miga, The Associated Press, printed in the Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2006.] she was raised in a migrant worker camp called a batey, where many of the Dominican Republic's 650,000 people of Haitian descent live. Her birth certificate lists her name as Solain Pie, which Pierre "says is the result of an error by a government clerk." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/americas/29sonia.html?hp "A Rights Advocate's Work Divides Dominicans"] by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, September 29, 2007.]

At the age of 13, she organized a five-day protest by sugar cane workers on one of the country's bateyes, which lead to her being arrested. However, the protest attracted enough public attention that the worker's demand--namely, that to have their living quarters painted and be given better tools and pay raises--were met. [ [http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/Sonia.htm "Dominican-born Sonia Pierre Wins Amnesty International's 2003 Human Rights Award for Working for Her People"] by Tequila Minsky, April 2003, Haitian Support Group website, accessed Sept. 29, 2007.]

Work

Pierre works as director of the non-governmental organization Movement for Dominican Women of Haitian Descent (MUDHA), [ [http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2006_Winner/ "DOMINICAN BORN HAITIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WINS 2006 RFK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD"] Press Release, RFK Memorial Center, accessed Sept. 28, 2007.] which aims to end antihaitianismo or bias against individuals from Haiti in the Dominican Republic.

In 2005, Pierre petitioned the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the case of two ethnic Haitian children who were denied Dominican birth certificates. Called "Yean and Bosico v. Dominican Republic", the case "upheld human rights laws prohibiting racial discrimination in access to nationality and citizenship." [ [http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2006_Winner/ "DOMINICAN BORN HAITIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WINS 2006 RFK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD"] Press Release, RFK Memorial Center, accessed Sept. 28, 2007.] The court also ordered the Dominican government to provide the birth certificates.

However, the Dominican Supreme Court later ruled that "Haitian workers were considered 'in transit,' and that their children were therefore not entitled to citizenship." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/americas/29sonia.html?hp "A Rights Advocate's Work Divides Dominicans"] by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, September 29, 2007.]

Human rights groups have decried this decision, but Dominican government officials blame the ruling on trouble caused by Pierre. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/americas/29sonia.html?hp "A Rights Advocate's Work Divides Dominicans"] by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, September 29, 2007.] The Dominican government has also "questioning her nationality" due to disparities in her birth record. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/americas/29sonia.html?hp "A Rights Advocate's Work Divides Dominicans"] by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, September 29, 2007.]

Awards and honors

For her work, Pierre won the 2006 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. [ [http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/2006_Winner/ "DOMINICAN BORN HAITIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WINS 2006 RFK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD"] Press Release, RFK Memorial Center, accessed Sept. 28, 2007.] U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy said of her that "With certitude, I can affirm that Sonia is one of the most selfless, courageous and compassionate human beings of my generation. Sonia is very near the top of my list of heroines." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700939.html "Activist Sonia Pierre Receives RFK Award"] by Andrew Miga, The Associated Press, printed in the Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2006.]

Pierre also won Amnesty International's 2003 Human Rights Ginetta Sagan Fund Award, [ [http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/Sonia.htm "Dominican-born Sonia Pierre Wins Amnesty International's 2003 Human Rights Award for Working for Her People"] by Tequila Minsky, April 2003, Haitian Support Group website, accessed Sept. 29, 2007.] and she and MUDHA were nominated for the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education in 2002. ["Interview: Solange Pierre, focusing on Dominican-Haitian immigration" by Charles Arthur, Latin American Press, Oct 16, 2002.]

References