countries. No agreement with a host country judicial remedies. By the end of the year, exists, but from 2020 to 2021 the Danish however, no such proposal had been government approached authorities in Egypt, presented to parliament. Morocco, Rwanda and Tunisia. In December, Denmark entered negotiations with Kosovo on outsourcing prison cells for 300 people DOMINICAN convicted of crimes and awaiting expulsion from Denmark as part of their sentence. REPUBLIC In May, Parliament approved a new Return Bill with new rules, such as offering money to Dominican Republic asylum seekers to refrain from appealing to Head of state and government: Luis Rodolfo Abinader the Refugee Appeals Board if their claims are Corona rejected. In August, the government officially paused Gender-based violence remained common. deportations to Afghanistan. At the end of the Lawmakers failed to pass a revised Criminal year, 19 Afghan citizens remained in return Code that would decriminalize abortion and centres, without access to work or education provide protections against violence, torture and with limited access to healthcare. and discrimination on the grounds of sexual In February, the Danish Immigration Service orientation or gender identity. The and Danish Refugee Appeals Board stated authorities extended access to Covid-19 that Damascus in Syria and its surrounding vaccines to Dominicans of Haitian descent rural area were “safe” for returns. As of 19 and migrants, who were previously December, at least 151 Syrians had their excluded. residence permits revoked or not extended, GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE or had their asylum application rejected. Between January and September, 111 WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS women were killed, 61 of whom were victims In March, the CEDAW Committee of femicides, according to preliminary recommended that Denmark include statistics published by the General education about relationships, sexual Prosecutor's Office. Between January and autonomy and consent in compulsory October, the same office reported having sexuality education programmes in primary received over 63,000 reports of gender-based and secondary schools, and introduce a and intra-family violence and more than compulsory module on sexuality education 6,300 reports of sexual offences. The for training teachers. This was not authorities continued to fail to develop a implemented in 2021. national protocol for the investigation of RIGHT TO PRIVACY torture, in line with the Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture In October, a legal proposal on data retention and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading was sent for discussion in parliament. The Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol). proposal was strongly criticized for its This was despite evidence presented to the potential impact on the rights to freedom of authorities in 2019 that the police routinely expression and privacy. raped, beat and humiliated cisgender and CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY transgender women engaged in sex work in acts that may amount to torture or other ill- In October, the government stated that treatment. Denmark would adopt a legal framework SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS requiring businesses to exercise human rights due diligence in their operations, The Dominican Republic remained one of the including the possibility for victims to seek few countries in the region that continued to Amnesty International Report 2021/22 150