There were further reports of ill-treatment by prison guards and police officers in 1993 in the Netherlands Antilles, a Caribbean country forming part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It emerged during 1994 that former prisoners from Pointe Blanche prison in St Maarten had alleged that they had been beaten by prison guards in 1993. The former inmates claimed that they had been beaten with clubs and fists by at least three prison guards and kicked with steel-capped shoes. One alleged that following beatings he had severe scarring on his right arm and another claimed that he had a scar on his neck where a prison officer had shot him. Following these reports of ill-treatment, the Attorney General of the Netherlands Antilles visited the prison. He stated in a press interview that the prison director was conducting an investigation and claimed that over the past year police officers and prison guards had been convicted of ill-treating people in their custody. In December 1993 Cuthbert Athanaze, a bus driver, stated that he had been threatened and physically ill-treated by police officers following a dispute over a parking offence. He claimed that he was arrested on the bus, handcuffed and assaulted in front of witnesses and assaulted again in the police station. A judicial inquiry was opened. One officer admitted punching the handcuffed man in the left eye, which later required three stitches. The Public Prosecutor concluded that the officers had, for the most part, acted correctly, but the officer who admitted punching the bus driver was severely reprimanded.   Amnesty International sought information from the government about the progress of inquiries into these allegations of ill-treatment. In May the Public Prosecutor replied with details of his investigation and conclusions in the case of Cuthbert Athanaze. No reply had been received by the end of 1994 regarding the investigation into the alleged beatings at Pointe Blanche prison. Amnesty International also asked the Attorney General to supply details of the prosecution of police officers and prison guards mentioned in his press interview. No reply had been received by the end of the year.

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