Jaarverslag 2016
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Monitoring issues
No one should be treated in a humiliating or degrading manner. This also applies for
those detained, cared for or treated under non-consensual conditions or whose
freedom has been restricted by the government in any other way. As a part of the
UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (OPCAT)1, the Netherlands has appointed various organisations as
members of the ‘National Preventive Mechanism’ (NPM). This 2016 annual report
features the NPM assessment of detention conditions and the treatment of people
restricted in or deprived of their freedom.
According to the annual report, the rights of those whose freedom has been
restricted are generally respected in the Netherlands. The NPM has worked to
monitor and issue recommendations on the aspects of care, detention and the
repatriation of irregular migrants. Based on the outcomes of these monitoring
efforts, the NPM concludes that people whose freedom has been restricted are
generally cared for in an adequate and conscientious manner. However, a number of
reports and recommendations do call for the further strengthening of human rights
at legislative, policy and practical level. The following sections outline the three main
focal points of NPM monitoring.
Tension between the need for security and the
preservation of liberties
The NPM is continually vigilant about the tension between security and the
preservation of internal liberties and leave opportunities for detainees in
penitentiary facilities or forensic institutions. Detainees must have the opportunity
to prepare for their return to society. However, there is also a need to ensure
security within and outside of the institution. A penitentiary facility or forensic
institution must thus continually weigh these two principles when awarding internal
liberties and leave to detainees. This causes risks in terms of the smuggling of
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According to Article 3 of the OPCAT, member states are obliged to ‘set up, designate or maintain [...] one
or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment’. These bodies, responsible for conducting site visits within the member state, are referred to
as the NPM.
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