Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever with the St. Maarten delegation.
PHILIPSBURG–Legislative and policy changes, the correctional system, including the prison, and the status of asylum seekers in St. Maarten were amongst the issues raised when Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever made a presentation during an appearance before the United Nations Committee on the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment, or Punishment (UNCAT) recently.
De Weever said that with the new penal code, persons detained are entitled to a lawyer and youth are now detained under a separate youth detention code and are housed separate from adults. There is also legislation that addresses abuse carried out by public officials as well as initiatives to support a victims support fund.
In discussing the prison, he spoke about the plans of approach, the establishment of the progress committee and the improvements made from 2014 to 2017. He illustrated the effects of Hurricane Irma on the correctional system, including damage to the Pointe Blanche prison, the Simpson Bay holding facilities, the youth detention centre, the justice academy, and the substantial loss of police equipment and vehicles.
He indicated that he believed the full physical, psychological, and financial reality remains unaccounted for, particularly by decision-makers in the Kingdom. He highlighted that in its current constitutional arrangement, St. Maarten is unable to access aid on the global market, but receives no standing budgetary or financial support from the Netherlands. Moreover, financial monitoring mechanisms mandated by the Kingdom require an annual balanced budget, making investment a challenge.
“Minister de Weever used this to illustrate that the seemingly little improvements to the prison have nothing to do with unwillingness to improve, but the financial realities of a small developing island to address the very real and complex needs of prison and judicial reform in St. Maarten, particularly as given its constitutional authority as a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,” it was stated in a press release over the weekend.
De Weever said this manifested itself in the recent ruling in the case Francesco Corallo versus the Netherlands in which the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a violation of Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture was founded.
A review of the Consensus Kingdom Laws, including the manner in which the Prosecutor’s Office operates, is a possibility as well as the operationalisation of the short-term improvement projects for detention centres in St. Maarten.
He explained current procedures in place for asylum seekers, reminding the committee that St. Maarten and Curaçao, unlike the Netherlands and Aruba, are not parties to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, which regulates the process for persons wishing to seek asylum in a given state.
A procedure is in place that allows for request for a temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds and that persons can also appeal, with facilitation and assistance from the Immigration Department to contact the United National High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR).
The Minister stressed that in processing these requests, the general principles of non-refoulement, that is to not send someone to a country where they may fall victim to ill-treatment, are observed. He said he remains committed and will work diligently in continuing to improve the situation in St. Maarten
De Weever’s presentation was the first by a Minister of St. Maarten to the Committee on Torture. Held at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, the two-day hearing examined states’ records on issues such as detention and detention facilities, as well as legislation and law-enforcement training.
De Weever and a delegation consisting of Foreign Relations representative Patrice Gumbs Jr., Judicial Affairs representative Aarti Baran and Immigration representative Eunelda Cairo joined the Kingdom delegation led by Minister of Justice of Curaçao Quincy Girigorie.
During the hearing, a state is required to demonstrate and defend its efforts to combat torturous, cruel, inhuman, and/or degrading treatment in civil society and in its places of detention, in particular.
Heads of each of the four countries that make up the State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands gave interventions to this effect during their 20-minute opening statements. These statements are based on reports carried out by the institutions of each state every four years that act like report cards of the states’ records.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83023-de-weever-speaks-to-un-committee-on-st-maarten-s-correctional-system
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