CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6
(d)
Undertake effective and impartial investigations into incidents where the
excessive use of restrictive measures resulted in injuries and/or death of the interned
persons;
(e)
Provide remedies and redress to the victims.
Access to complaint mechanisms
22.
The Committee is concerned at the lack of clarity regarding the State party’s
strategies to inform, through the Custodial Institutions Inspectorate, alleged victims of
torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities, including immigration detention centres,
about the available complaint procedures against detention personnel (arts. 12, 13 and 16).
The Committee recommends that the State party take further steps:
(a)
To sensitize detainees, through the Custodial Institutions Inspectorate,
about the possibility and procedure for filing a complaint of alleged torture and illtreatment in detention facilities against the respective categories of detention
personnel;
(b)
To make such information available and widely publicized, including by
displaying it in all places of detention;
(c)
To ensure that all allegations of misconduct by the detention personnel
are duly assessed and investigated, including the cases of intimidation or reprisals as a
consequence of the complaints of ill-treatment.
Prompt, independent and thorough investigations
23.
While welcoming the clarification on the mechanisms of investigation of illtreatment and abuse of prisoners (paras. 73-77 of the report), the Committee is concerned at
the absence of any indication of the impact of the measures to reduce cases of ill-treatment
in detention facilities, including immigration detention centres. The Committee is also
concerned about the lack of independent, impartial and effective investigations of interprisoner violence in Aruba and Curaçao (arts. 12, 13 and 16).
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Inform it about measures to ensure prompt, impartial and effective
investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities,
including immigration detention centres, and measures to bring the perpetrators to
justice and compensate the victims appropriately;
(b)
Assess the impact of those measures in reducing the cases of ill-treatment
in all detention facilities and update the Committee accordingly;
(c)
Undertake independent, impartial and effective investigations of interprisoner violence in Aruba and Curaçao and facilitate request for compensation,
including by family members of the inmates.
Redress
24.
Noting the State party’s indication about the avenues of seeking redress and
reparation through the criminal, civil and administrative proceedings (para. 90 of the
Report), the Committee notes with concern the lack of specific information about the
number and instances of redress and reparation measures, including the means of
compensation ordered by the courts and actually provided to victims of torture, or their
families, since the examination of the last periodic report in 2007. The Committee is also
concerned that while an independent investigation into the fire in the immigration detention
centre at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, killing 11 people and injuring 15 on the night of 26
to 27 October 2005, concluded that fire precautions had severely failed, no officials were
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