Philipsburg:---The announcement made by Minister Jacoba that grand scale post-brooks towers controls, starting March 1, will be held is reason for the St. Maarten Bar Association to express its serious concerns, the Secretary of the St. Maarten Bar Association, Attorney at Law Mr. Remco M. Stomp stated.Only recently the Bar has learned that in a period of at least 8 months holding cells for undocumented persons should be realized, at the moment St. Maarten does not have separate holding cells for the group mentioned. People who are found without papers must share their cells with criminal suspects of all categories. The only holding cell capacity on St. Maarten is to be found in Philipsburg at the police station.
Criminal suspects and undocumented persons are cramped in small cells where they sleep either on the concrete floor or on unhygienic thin mattresses. There is no natural light and rodents and cockroaches are frequent guests. In addition some detainees burn toilet paper to create smoke in order to scare away the mosquito's, creating a very unhealthy environment for the people that are held in those cells as well as police personnel that is expected to keep an eye out for their well being, Stomp said. In short the cells are not fit for any human being. The above mentioned is no news and the St. Maarten Bar has expressed its concerns many times. Several judges have ruled in very clear terms about this unlawful situation.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)(The Secretariat of the CPT forms part of the Council of Europe's Directorate General of Human Rights also became aware of the situation on St. Maarten.
It was only in 2002 that a CPT committee visited the police cells of Philipsburg St. Maarten for the first time and reported:
"Each cell measured some 10 m2 and, in principle, was designed for single occupancy. Despite this, up to four detainees were being accommodated per cell. The cells were equipped with a concrete platform and a semi-partitioned lavatory and shower. However, many sanitary annexes were in an advanced state of dilapidation; toilet-flush and water supply for the showers did not work properly and buckets had to be used. Moreover, none of the cells was equipped with mattresses or bedding or any piece of furniture, and detainees had to sleep on the concrete platform or on the floor, using some clothes to protect them from the cold at night. Further, the cells had no access to natural light and artificial light was weak. Ventilation in the cell complex was also poor; a fetid smell emanating from the toilets permeated the whole detention area. In addition, the cells were filthy and full of rubbish; as a consequence, small rodents were said to be found in the cell complex at night. The cells were not equipped with call bells and staff was not continuously present within the cell complex. This being said, a police officer entered the cell area at least every hour (a fact registered in the log book). No activities whatsoever were offered to the detainees on remand or the illegal aliens. Access to the existing semi-outdoor exercise yard (70 m²) was only granted when the cleaning team was working once a week in the cell area."
In their letter of 11 July 2002, in response to the immediate observation, the Netherlands Antilles authorities informed the Committee that the renovation activities planned for Philipsburg Central Police Station and scheduled to last approximately eight weeks were taking place and that police detainees were in the meantime being held in Pointe Blanche Prison. Furthermore, they indicated that measures would be taken after the renovation of the cell complex to comply with the above recommendations"
Five years later, in June 2007, a CPT commission visited the local police cells once again, only to find that things got even worse.
In March of last year Secretary of State Anke Bijleveld reported to the Second Camber of the Netherlands that the situation is very worrying.
Yet Minister Jacoba seems to be ready to conduct great scale operations against undocumented people on St. Maarten. Meanwhile no new cells have been constructed. Particularly at a time that the few hard working police and VKS personnel St. Maarten has are working overtime to put a halt to the ever increasing crime on our island, the planning seems awkward. Flying in temporary assistance from Curacao may result in the arrest of more individuals however the question remains where they are going to be held. For one has to keep them in humane conditions providing them with food and shelter and last but not least guaranteeing their legal right to an attorney. The impression is sometimes given that only criminal suspects have right to an attorney. The Bar wants to make clear to the public that everyone who is being detained by the authorities has the right to consult an attorney, provided (and paid) by the State if needed.
Another reason the Bar is concerned, is with regards to the population of Haitian descent on St. Maarten. At a time that our community is engaged in an unprecedented effort to collect money and goods for the disaster struck people in Haiti chances are that a good part of the people that are going to be held after March 1 will be of Haitian descent. Is the minister going to send them back to a country that lies in ruins? President Obama has just declared a stop to the deportation of Haitians that will last for many months to come.
Controls will be most likely be conducted in the form of traffic controls and nighttime raids on various establishments know for their immigrant clientele, causing additional traffic jams and people literally fleeing up the hills of St. Maarten. More importantly great scale operations on an island of which the population consist for the greater part out of immigrants will create an atmosphere of fear.
The Bar understands the need for immigration management but it has to be done in a human and lawful manner for which one has to prepare properly. Organizing a quick general pardon for which many do not qualify (and if qualified do not have the means to pay for their license), followed by massive raids is certainly not the answer to manage illegal immigration. Proper functioning institutions with well trained (and paid) civil servants and management in combination with basic but reasonable holding facilities are needed to deal with immigration in a civil manner. Harsh measures may yield some popular votes on the short term but will lose all credibility when the efforts end up in chaos and (human) suffering.
