Albany – Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte brought her hunger strike to an end after four days as the New York State Assembly voted to approve resolution K376, which calls for the United States Congress to adopt House of Representatives Resolution 443 (2013-2014), condemning actions of the Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court which stripped hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their citizenship.

"Today's vote sends an unequivocal message that the Dominican Republic's persistent abuse of Dominicans of Haitian descent must stop," said Assemblymember Bichotte. "As happy as I am to bring my hunger strike to an end, it was nothing compared to the deprivation and persecution suffered by Dominicans of Haitian descent. I applaud my colleagues in the Assembly for joining me in voting to condemn these human rights violations."

Resolution K376 addresses recent laws and court decisions in the Dominican Republic that have left hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent without citizenship rendering them stateless, as well as other human rights abuses faced by that community.

The resolution had widespread support from numerous organizations including the United States National Bar Association, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Amnesty International (AI), Haitian American Lawyer Association of New York (HALANY), 1199 Service Employees International Union (1199 SEIU), Coalition of Dominicans Against Racism (CDAR), We Are All Dominican (WAAD), Haitian American Caucus (HAC), Haitian American Association Political Action - PAC (HAAPA-PAC), Haitian Round Table (HRT), HABNET Chamber of Commerce, Haitian American Nurses Association of Greater New York (HANA-NY), Friends of Haiti 2010, Make the Road-NY, Border of Lights, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR), the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA), National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) and Ahora/NOW.

For a copy of the current resolution please click here.

For the Video of Press Conference click here.