The Law Enforcement Council has expressed a positive opinion regarding the detention of juveniles in Bonaire and the progress made in juvenile detention legislation for the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. This was highlighted in a new re­port published by the Coun­cil on Thursday.

The report assesses the current state of juvenile detention at the Judicial In­stitution Caribbean Nether­lands (JICN) and the prog­ress made following recom­mendations from both the Council and the European Committee for the Preven­tion of Torture and Inhu­man or Degrading Treat­ment or Punishment (CPT).

In May 2014, the CPT vis­ited the JICN and published a report in 2015, outlining several recommendations concerning the detention of juveniles and young adults. At the request of the King­dom’s ministers of justice and security, the Law En­forcement Council took on the responsibility of moni­toring these recommenda­tions.

Follow-up investigations in 2017 and 2019 revealed that many of the CPT’s recommendations had yet to be fully implemented. The 2021 review did not specifically address juvenile detention. However, signifi­cant steps have since been taken, particularly with the completion of the new JICN facility in August 2018 and the implementation of the BES Juvenile Criminal Law in August 2020. This legisla­tion laid the foundation for a structured legal approach to juvenile offenders, em­phasising rehabilitation and education.

As part of its 2024 annual plan, the Law Enforcement Council examined whether the recommendations from 2015 had been addressed.

The Council noted that the implementation of juvenile criminal law marked a ma­jor milestone and acknowl­edged the significant efforts made by the JICN to estab­lish a well-structured juve­nile detention system.

Since 2016, the Council has incorporated CPT recom­mendations into its annual detention reviews. For 2024, the Council’s primary focus in the Caribbean Nether­lands is juvenile detention.

The Council reviewed the JICN’s progress in imple­menting key CPT recom­mendations, focusing on rehabilitation programmes, detainee separation and the establishment of juvenile-specific detention facilities.

To provide an adequate rehabilitation programme, the JICN developed a struc­tured approach emphasis­ing education, social de­velopment and vocational training. Each juvenile and young adult detainee re­ceives an individualised rehabilitation plan, incor­porating literacy education and vocational training in fields such as landscaping, construction and hospital­ity. Higher-level education, including secondary and vocational training, is also available through a partner­ship with Scholengemeensc­hap Bonaire (SGB).

To ensure the separation of juvenile and adult de­tainees, the JICN created a dedicated juvenile deten­tion unit following the in­troduction of juvenile crimi­nal law. Juveniles are not housed with adults, except for young adults ages 18-24 who were sentenced under juvenile law. Each juvenile detainee is assigned an in­dividual cell with a private bathroom. Although lim­ited supervised interaction occurs during structured activities, strict separation is maintained in housing ar­rangements.

Regarding legislation for juvenile-specific detention facilities, the Kingdom government concluded that establishing a stand-alone juvenile institution was not feasible. Instead, the 2020 amendment to the Criminal Code of BES formally intro­duced juvenile criminal law, ensuring that juvenile de­tainees are held in designat­ed JICN facilities. This legal framework aligns with inter­national standards while ad­dressing the region’s unique circumstances.

While the Council com­mended the improvements in juvenile detention, it highlighted some challeng­es. The report notes that the four juvenile detention cells at JICN are primarily used for short-term pretrial detention. Authorities re­main uncertain whether the current juvenile detention regime is fully equipped to handle long-term sentences or detainees with complex psychological needs.

The Council emphasised that while the milestones achieved in the JICN’s de­velopment are commend­able, coordination and over­sight of policy implementa­tion could have been more structured. It welcomed the minister’s recent initiative to assign a single department to oversee recommen­dations and ensure contin­ued progress.

The Council concluded that all three CPT recom­mendations — regarding rehabilitation programmes, separation of juveniles from adults, and legislative re­forms — have been imple­mented successfully. Over­all, the Council expressed confidence in the JICN’s approach to juvenile deten­tion and acknowledged the substantial progress made in the treatment and reha­bilitation of young offend­ers in the Caribbean Neth­erlands.

The Daily Herald.