The European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) declaring the detention of a suspect at the Philipsburg police station unlawful (see related story) is a serious matter, especially as it’s the second such ruling against the Kingdom of the Netherlands after the Corallo case.
A local judge had earlier accepted as reason that the police cells were designated as remand centre while the Pointe Blanche prison is full, an argument successfully made at the time by the Prosecutor’s Office. Yet the latter had itself announced a policy to keep people there no longer than 10 days when Theo Heyliger was taken to Bonaire.
Now faced with the December 17 ECHR ruling authorities apparently managed to create space at the penitentiary and moved the detainee there, but these developments once again illustrate the urgent issues affecting St. Maarten’s detention facilities. The Law Enforcement Council in its most recent report sounded the alarm over what it called a fast-deteriorating situation.
In his reaction at last week’s press briefing, Justice Minister Egbert Doran said that having worked at the prison and visited it as Member of Parliament (MP) he did not need to rely on “second-hand information.” He also committed to tackling the problem, agreed to meet with the Council on a monthly basis and planned to appoint someone to deal with its recommendations who could also be held accountable.
These are good intentions, the realisation of which will be watched closely also in The Hague, where pressure on the Dutch government to address this continued embarrassment in an international context is bound to increase. Something tangible like putting to use the cell containers shipped in as emergency solution is required sooner rather than later.
