GREAT BAY--St. Maarten will host a Human Rights Conference on Friday, October 9, bringing together government officials, legal professionals, regional and European human rights experts, students and civil society representatives for discussions on international human rights systems and how those rights are monitored and applied.
The free conference will be held at the University of St. Martin in Philipsburg from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. It forms part of a three-country series of human rights conferences being organized in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten in early October, with the involvement of the Representation of the Netherlands in the three Caribbean countries.
The St. Maarten session will focus on increasing understanding of international human rights treaties, the systems established to monitor them and the practical ways those mechanisms affect policy, justice, government administration, research and the work of civil society organizations.
The conference will feature presentations on human rights systems together with interactive panel discussions intended to make the subject more accessible to people who work with human rights issues professionally as well as members of the public who want to better understand how international protections function.
Minister of Justice Nathalie M. Tackling will deliver the keynote address at the St. Maarten conference.
The event will be moderated by Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz, former State Councillor on behalf of St. Maarten.
The panel will also feature several St. Maarten representatives and international experts. Gwendolien E. Mossel, Ombudsman of St. Maarten, will provide the Ombudsman’s perspective on human rights and the role of independent oversight in protecting citizens.
Zylena Barry, Dean of the Bar Association, will also participate, bringing the perspective of the legal profession, while Jessey Salomon, Secretary General of the Council of Advice, will contribute to the discussions from the standpoint of one of St. Maarten’s High Councils of State.
European human rights expertise will be represented by Clare Ovey, Director of Human Rights at the Council of Europe, and Clare Brown, Head of Division at the Council of Europe.
Also participating will be Babette Koopman, Agent to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, providing insight into the relationship between the Kingdom and the European human rights system.
Fay Keeris of the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Strasbourg and Darren Hernandez of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are also listed among the participants.
A central focus of the conference will be explaining how the Council of Europe’s human rights monitoring mechanisms work and how international human rights instruments can be better understood and used by those working in government, law, policy, research and community organizations.
The discussions are expected to examine not only the international systems themselves, but also their practical relevance to St. Maarten and the wider Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The conference is geared toward lawyers, civil servants, policymakers, students, young professionals, researchers, human rights organizations and other civil society organizations, although participation is also open to other interested persons.
Organizers are seeking to create an interactive setting in which participants can move beyond general discussions about human rights and gain a clearer understanding of the institutions, treaties and procedures that determine how human rights obligations are monitored.
St. Maarten will host the final conference in the three-country series. The first session is scheduled for Friday, October 2 at the University of Aruba from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., followed by Curaçao on Tuesday, October 6 at the University of Curaçao, also from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The series concludes in St. Maarten on October 9, placing local institutions, legal professionals and students in direct discussion with representatives connected to the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Participation in the St. Maarten conference is free of charge. Interested persons can register using the registration link or QR codes provided on the official event flyer.
