Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Netherlands.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the
Netherlands. Some of these links may
lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to
verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Netherlands U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/netherlands/
[accessed 29 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT The nongovernmental
organization (NGO) Amnesty International in its 2019 report criticized the
Netherlands’ use of special high-security detention units for persons
arrested on terrorism charges and awaiting trial or convicted of terrorism,
based on findings in a 2017 joint report with the Open Society Initiative.
The NGO specifically noted that persons were detained in these units without
individual assessments, and claimed that some security measures employed in
these units, such as invasive body searches, isolation, and constant
monitoring, could be considered cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
Amnesty International acknowledged the government had implemented reforms for
the improved treatment of such detainees since 2017, including establishing a
personalized regimen for a detainee based on a risk-based assessment of the individual.
The NGO, however, maintained this assessment should occur before the
detainee’s placement in these detention units, not afterward. Concluding
observations on the seventh periodic report of the Netherlands Committee against
Torture, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights
OHCHR, 20 November 2018 tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/NLD/CAT_C_NLD_CO_7_33166_E.pdf [accessed 8 December
2018] CRIMINALIZATION OF
TORTURE
-- 7. While noting the State party’s willingness to consider torture as a “manifestly unlawful” crime set forth
in section 11 (3) of the International Crimes Act, the Committee is concerned
by the absence of specific legislation defining torture in conformity with
articles 1 and 2 of the Convention applicable in all the constituent
countries of the State party. It also
regrets the lack of clear information on whether a crime of torture is not
subject to statute of limitation in
all constituent countries of
the State party.
In addition, it
is concerned that domestic legislation concerning
torture is not harmonized throughout the State party (arts. 1, 2 and 4). Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/netherlands/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 18 May
2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? The police are
under civilian control, and prison conditions mostly meet international standards.
However, people suspected or convicted of terrorism often experienced
treatment that NGOs have called inhumane, including constant surveillance and
regular full-body searches. Council of Europe
anti-torture Committee publishes report on the Netherlands Council of Europe
COE, 19 January 2017 rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000016806ebb7c [accessed 4 June
2020] ILL-TREATMENT -- 13.The CPT
notes positively that hardly any person interviewed by the visiting
delegation who was or who
had in the
recent past been
in police custody
complained about ill-treatment by
the police. On the
contrary, many persons
with whom the
delegation spoke stated
explicitly that they had
been treated correctly
and respectfully by
the police and
appreciated their politeness
and professionalism. That
said, a few
isolated allegations were
received of unduly
tight handcuffing of
persons apprehended by the police. In one case, the delegation could
still observe parallel linear-shaped red marks on the wrist which were
consistent with the allegations made. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture
[PDF] U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/NET/CO/4 (2007) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/netherlands2007.pdf [accessed 4 March
2013] Fundamental
safeguards 6. Notwithstanding
the State party’s establishment in 2006 of a “programme
to enhance and strengthen the quality of the performance of police officers
and prosecutors” (CAT/C/NET/Q/4/Rev. 1/Add. 1, par. 50) in the European part of
the Kingdom, the Committee is concerned that persons in police detention do
not have access to legal assistance during the initial period of
interrogation. Similarly, the Committee is concerned that in the Netherlands
Antilles, the presence of a lawyer during interrogation is only permitted
with the prior authorization of a magistrate. Pre-trial detention 10. The Committee
expresses its concern at the excessive length of pre-trial detention and the
high number of non-convicted detainees in Aruba and in the Netherlands
Antilles. Education on the
prohibition against torture 14. While noting
the different training programmes for police and
prison officers in the three constituent parts of the Kingdom, which cover
human rights and rights of detainees including the prohibition of torture,
the Committee regrets that there is no available information on the impact of
the training or its efficacy in reducing incidents of torture, violence and
ill-treatment. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 REFUGEES,
ASYLUM-SEEKERS AND MIGRANTS - Immigration detention continued to be used
excessively, despite the introduction of pilot alternative schemes for
particular categories of migrants and asylum-seekers. Conditions in
immigration detention centres largely mirrored
those in criminal detention facilities. The transparency of
the Commission for Comprehensive Supervision of Return (Commissie
Integraal Toezicht Terugkeer, CITT), the body overseeing forced removals and
one of the national preventative mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to
the UN Convention against Torture, remained limited. Annual reports published
by the CITT do not include specific data on the use of force in individual
removal proceedings. In October, the new
coalition government proposed criminalizing unlawful residency, leading to
concerns over further marginalization and increased vulnerability of
undocumented migrants. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=netherlands+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 9 January 2019] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/netherlands [accessed 6 February
2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The judiciary is
independent, and the rule of law prevails in civil and criminal matters. The
police are under civilian control, and prison conditions meet international
standards. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61666.htm [accessed 6 February
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61666.htm [accessed 4 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices, and there were no reports that government officials
employed them. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Netherlands", http://gvnet.com/torture/Netherlands.htm, [accessed
<date>] |
