Amnesty International Report 1994 - Netherlands

NETHERLANDS (KINGDOM OF THE)

A further report of police ill-treatment was received from the Netherlands Antilles, a Caribbean country forming part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Gerardo E. Chong was arrested in November 1992 having twice escaped from the police earlier the same day. He alleged that he first escaped after a police officer menaced him with his truncheon and threatened to shoot him. In the second incident he admitted that he hit one of the officers with an iron bar before escaping in a police car. During his subsequent arrest he was shot and wounded slightly in the head. He alleged that in the police station five or six officers beat and throttled him as he lay manacled on the floor. He claimed that medical evidence supported his allegations of police ill-treatment.

In May the Netherlands Antillean Government provided further information to Amnesty International about two deaths in custody in previous years (see Amnesty International Report 1993). Henry K. Every died as a result of an injury to the chest caused by crushing. Leroy Neil died of peritonitis while being interrogated by the police; previously he had shown clear signs of illness, such as vomiting and diarrhoea.

In October Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles expressing concern about the allegations of ill-treatment made by Gerardo E. Chong and the conduct of the inquiries into the two deaths in custody.

Also in October Amnesty International wrote to the Minister for Netherlands Antillean and Aruban Affairs in The Hague. The organization had previously written to the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles in December 1992 regarding the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into alleged unlawful and violent behaviour by the police (see Amnesty International Report 1993) but had received no response. Amnesty International was not aware whether any of the Commission's recommendations had been implemented or whether disciplinary or criminal action had been taken against police officers involved in unlawful actions. Amnesty International considered that the Commission's report showed that the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizens of the Netherlands Antilles had been endangered. Accordingly, Amnesty International requested the Minister for Netherlands Antillean and Aruban Affairs to exercise his discretionary power, under Article 43 of the Charter of the Kingdom, to intervene in order to safeguard these rights. In December the Minister replied that it had been agreed with the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles to thoroughly update police training. He expressed the hope that the new training program would "drastically improve police officers' relations with the public, and thus also with prisoners".

In December the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles informed Amnesty International of the steps the government intended to take to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry and to increase compliance with international standards. These included reforms to the Codes of Criminal Procedure and the Prison System, a bill recently introduced in Parliament establishing a complaints commission to examine police conduct, and the planned reorganization of the police force.