CAT/C/NLD/CO/7
(a)
Ensure that the placement of individuals suspected or convicted of
terrorism in high-security units be based on a prior, individualized risk assessment
and be subject to regular reviews;
(b)
Ensure that individual assessments are based on specific and objective
criteria, including a person’s actual behaviour, and supported by credible, concrete,
complete and up-to-date information, and determine whether placement in a highsecurity facility is necessary and proportionate, as required by the State Party’s
obligations under international law and standards;
(c)
Ensure that the conditions in the TA units are in line with the Nelson
Mandela Rules, in particular concerning solitary confinement and contact with the
outside world;
(d)
Limit the systematic practice of full-nudity body searches to the level
necessary for security reasons and ensure that body searches, if necessary, are carried
out in a manner respectful of the dignity of a detainee and by officers of the same sex
as the detainee concerned;
(e)
Ensure that detainees in the TA units have adequate access to effective
complaint mechanisms and collect and publish statistical data on the number, nature
and outcome of the complaints filed by those detainees;
(f)
Ensure that persons in pretrial detention on suspicion of terrorist
offences, awaiting trial at first instance are not held in the TA units with those
convicted of terrorism offences.
Conditions of detention
30.
The Committee is concerned about reports indicating that in the European part of the
Kingdom, health-care services in prisons are inadequate and, in particular, notes that
medical screening of newly arriving detainees are often delayed, traumatic injuries that may
come from inter-prisoner violence are not properly recorded and medical professionals are
not given a sufficiently active role. In this regard, the Committee regrets that the relevant
recommendations made by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Committee for the Prevention of Torture),
following its visit in 2016, have not been implemented and further notes with concern the
delegation’s response indicating a lack of willingness to implement them. Furthermore, it is
concerned at reports of the substandard detention conditions in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint
Maarten, including poor material conditions, inadequate access to medical care, particularly
mental health care, and food, and insufficient attention paid to vulnerable detainees (arts. 11
and 16)
31.
The State party should conduct a fundamental review of its prison health-care
services, with a view to bringing the system into line with the recommendations made
by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT/Inf (2017) 1, para. 55). In
particular, it should ensure that medical screening is promptly and effectively
conducted and injuries are properly recorded. It should also ensure that the living
conditions of detention facilities in all of its constituent countries are in line with
international standards, such as the Nelson Mandela Rules and the Bangkok Rules.
Inter-prisoner violence
32.
The Committee is concerned about information that in the Caribbean part of the
Netherlands, the prevalence of inter-prisoner violence poses a serious threat to the safety of
prisoners and the prison administration has not taken effective measures to address the issue.
Furthermore, in the light of its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6,
para. 23), the Committee regrets the lack of information on the investigations of interprisoner violence in Aruba and Curaçao (arts. 12, 13 and 16).
33.
The State party should enhance measures to prevent and reduce inter-prisoner
violence, including by improving prison management and strengthening the
monitoring and protection of vulnerable prisoners. It should also conduct prompt,
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