PHILIPSBURG – Internet access, an active Facebook page with nearly two thousand friends, mostly living in St. Maarten, the ability to make or smuggle weapons, and to threaten others physically or virtually: this is the reality in the Pointe Blanche prison. Videos made by detainees of litter in corridors have been brought to court as evidence of the unsanitary situation in prison. Read our extensive review exclusive for subscribers…
The 37 detainees who filed a lawsuit against Country St. Maarten for them to be transferred to a safe and clean prison in the Netherlands, or to the Judicial Institution Caribbean Netherlands Bonaire (JICRB), had created the heaps of waste in the cell complex themselves. They filmed and photographed the unsanitary situation with a telephone. The images circulated on the internet.
The sabotage did not have the desired effect. The detainees, thirty in total, after seven prisoners had been released just before the trial, were declared inadmissible by the judge. In a letter from their lawyers dated February 17, 2020, the detainees had asked the Minister of Justice to accommodate them in other penitentiary institutions within the Kingdom. On behalf of the Minister, lawyer Aernout Kraaijeveld referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 30 September 2016 that states that the government cannot be brought to trial in a civil case. The prisoners’ lawyers are preparing new summary proceedings, this time before the LAR judge.
Lawyers Geert Hatzmann, Sjamira Roseburg and Shaira Bommel demand on behalf of the detainees that the Country of St. Maarten complies with its duty of care. It is beyond dispute that the situation in the Pointe Blanche prison is extremely unsafe. Prisoners and guards alike feel threatened, and some are actually targets of personal attacks. Invariably, half of the prison staff are on sick leave.
The Voluntary Korps Sint Maarten (VKS) continues to deploy soldiers to guard the prison, but with a maximum of eight guards during a shift, enforcing security is a discouraging task. One of the VKS members, who wants to remain anonymous, says that he witnessed drones fly over the prison several times. “I shot a drone from the tower.” Drone deliveries typically occur in the evenings and at night, on weekends, when there are fewer guards. “Last weekend there were three guards for seventy prisoners,” Roseburg attorney said indignantly. “That’s ludicrous!”
The detainees’ defense demands that the Minister of Justice makes use of the Mutual Arrangement, whereby prisoners can be transferred to another prison within the Kingdom for their safety, as has happened with dozens of prisoners in the past. The judge remarks: “Theo Heyliger’s transfer to Bonaire has been labeled by him as inhumane because his family could not visit him regularly.” The General Court found Heyliger to be right and awarded him a six-month sentence deduction when he was convicted for taking bribes.
Transferring the prisoners from Pointe Blanche to Bonaire or the Netherlands mean that they would all miss out on visits from family. “There is now a judicial decision that they can appeal to,” the judge said.
The transfer of prisoners requires the cooperation of the Netherlands. According to lawyer Roseburg, the government does too little to persuade The Hague to make cells available. “The Dutch government has shown willingness,” said Roseburg. Just before and during the lockdown on St. Maarten, however, the Netherlands sent five prisoners back to the island. One of them had been put at the disposal of the Dutch government, as part of his sentence for murder, but was sent back to St. Maarten without having received treatment under the measure of youth-TBR. The Justice Department in St. Maarten pleaded for treatment of this young man in the Netherlands, but the government in The Hague refused. Law enforcement is and remains the responsibility of the State of St. Maarten, according to Dutch State Secretary Raymond Knops.
Minister of Justice Anna Richardson responded to the case, announcing that the government is preparing to build a new prison on the island. “The new facility will include consistent positive development programs aimed at rehabilitating the minds and attitudes of inmates,” Richardson said. The minister has not announced when and where a new prison will be built.
Since the lockdown on St. Maarten, the tension in prison has risen. Various violent incidents have occurred. According to lawyer Kraaijeveld, detainees’ injuries were limited. “None of them had to be transferred to St Maarten Medical Center for treatment.” The Country’s lawyer points to two detainees as instigators of vandalism. According to Roseburg, Hatzmann and Bommel, representing the St. Maarten Inmate Association, the prisoners’ living conditions are so bad that it is not surprising that they rebel. “Several detainees packed in a cell, no daytime program, only airing for an hour, it is inhumane.”
the prison has an exorbitantly high water bill
Meanwhile, the money literally flows out of prison. Hurricane Irma has not only caused major damage to the buildings, underground water pipes have also been destroyed, StMaartenNews.com knows from a reliable source. Since September 2017, the prison has an exorbitantly high water bill, with tens of thousands of dollars of water leaking annually, despite government improvement plans.
Lawyers Hatzmann, Roseburg and Bommel are bringing a new lawsuit on behalf of detainees this week.
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