THE HAGUE--The Caribbean Netherlands Penal Law will be adapted to make it punishable for rape and sexual abuse suspects to harm their victims while the latter’s consciousness is diminished by the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus announced this in a letter he sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament this week in response to written questions by Members of Parliament (MPs) Chris van Dam and Joba van den Berg, both from the Christian Democratic Party CDA.
Van Dam and Van den Berg had expressed their concerns about the acquittal of a suspect by the Court in Bonaire of rape charges because the victim had been in a diminished state of consciousness. They considered it unacceptable that an outdated criminal law could lead to an acquittal of certain crimes in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. The incident took place in June last year.
The Court in March this year acquitted the Curaçao-born man because, according to the Caribbean Netherlands Penal Law, it is not punishable to willingly enter the body of a person who is in a state of diminished consciousness.
Minister Grapperhaus admitted that the articles inadvertently had not been updated when the Penal Code for the Caribbean Netherlands was introduced in 2010 at which time Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba became Dutch public entities.
The minister promised that a law proposal to amend this part of the Penal Code will be submitted to the Second Chamber before the summer recess. This will bring the Penal Code in line with the existing legislation in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten regarding the diminished state of consciousness of sexual abuse and rape victims.
Grapperhaus said the Bonaire case where the suspect was acquitted was the only one in which it was evident that the rights of the victim had been violated.
