Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus (left) talks with Members of the Second Chamber before the start of Monday’s debate. From right: André Bosman (VVD), Attje Kuiken (PvdA), Antje Diertens (D66) and Chris van Dam (CDA). (Suzanne Koelega photo)
Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker (left) and State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops (second from right) at the start of Monday’s debate in the Second Chamber about law enforcement. (Suzanne Koelega photo)
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops is giving the St. Maarten government the benefit of the doubt where it comes to the construction of a new prison, but it needs to happen soon. And the prison will be included in the conditions for future liquidity support in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is no free ride,” Knops said during a debate in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Monday. On the agenda of that meeting, where Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus and Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker were also present, was law enforcement in the Dutch Caribbean.
Knops said several times during that debate that he didn’t agree with the standpoint and the motion of Member of Parliament (MP) Chris van Dam of his own party, the Christian Democratic Party CDA, that the Kingdom Council of Ministers had to take over the execution of the detention policy in St. Maarten, paid for by St. Maarten.
The state secretary called it “positive” that the St. Maarten government had now allocated NAf. 27 million (13.5 million euros) in the budget for the construction of a new prison. He said he shared the concerns of the Second Chamber about human rights being violated at the Pointe Blanche prison. “We all agree that the situation is unacceptable.”
And, even though too little progress has been made to improve the detention situation at the prison, an active intervention by the Kingdom government was not the solution. “I am giving this new government the benefit of the doubt to fix this. My preference is to work together on this. That is the most efficient way to get things done.”
MP Van Dam said he no longer had confidence that St. Maarten was able and willing to tackle the prison issue on its own. He said the Kingdom had a task to guarantee that human rights were lived up to on the islands. “We cannot look the other way. The situation is dramatic,” he said.
Van Dam painted a picture of inmates locked up in their cells for 22 hours per day, in very bad hygienic circumstances, personnel that was doing its best but was severely understaffed and criminals being released too early due to the lack of space. “Not much has been done in the past years and nothing will change in the coming period.”
Co-signed by MP André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party, Van Dam presented a motion which stated that the Law Enforcement Council and the St. Maarten Progress Committee had repeatedly reported that the Pointe Blanche prison was totally unsuitable, both for human detention and as a workplace, and that the facility didn’t comply with international regulations.
The motion further concluded that the Progress Committee determined that the St. Maarten Ministry of Justice didn’t have a grip on the detention facilities, that St. Maarten didn’t have the capacity, and that without outside help the country was unable to solve the detention problem.
The motion referred to the Charter regarding the guaranteeing of basic human rights by the Kingdom, and it called on the Dutch government to transfer the execution of detention policy to the Kingdom Council of Ministers for a period of five years. St. Maarten would have to carry the cost. The motion will be voted on next week Tuesday, June 30.
“I don’t have the aim with my motion to solve the problems of the Charter, but I do aspire to contribute to solving the detention situation,” said Van Dam, who noted that he had very constructive talks with several St. Maarten MPs on Sunday. He said the St. Maarten MPs concurred that possibilities lacked to tackle the prison issue and that the capacity was insufficient.
Knops said there were intermediate steps that had to be taken in the process to construct a new prison. He said redress by St. Maarten was still possible and that an intervention should only be considered as an ultimate remedy.
“I am not satisfied with the speed, but redress is still possible. We have to give this new government a chance to prove that it can keep to the agreements. Concrete steps must be set in the coming months,” said Knops, who advised against the motion.
MP Bosman said the detention issue was very urgent. “The time of sweating it out is over. St. Maarten needs to be kept to the agreements.” He called the Pointe Blanche prison a “permanent stumbling block.” He accused the St. Maarten government of a “wilful non-cooperative” attitude. “St. Maarten doesn’t do anything about the prison on purpose. It is a matter of unwillingness, not ignorance.”
State Secretary Knops confirmed that the detention facilities would become part of the conditions for future financial support for St. Maarten. “It is a legitimate argument to add this to the conditions. It will most certainly be added.” He pointed out that the Netherlands had repeatedly offered to assist with the logistics of improving the detention facilities, but that St. Maarten had made no use of it.
Minister Dekker for Legal Protection referred to the St. Maarten detention facilities as a “headache dossier.” Asked for clarity by MP Bosman about the St. Maarten inmates locked up in Dutch prisons, Dekker confirmed that there were still 16 persons from the island behind bars in the Netherlands.
Originally, the group that was transferred to the Netherlands after the 2017 Hurricane Irma consisted of 32 inmates. Fifteen of that group have since returned to St. Maarten. Dekker said four inmates would remain in the Netherlands for security reasons because they pose a high risk. He said he hoped the remaining 12 would return to St. Maarten shortly.
