THE HAGUE - The complexity of the Kingdom of the Netherlands being a single treaty state comprised of four autonomous countries often attracts international attention. Consequently, the Netherlands is frequently called upon to address the actions or lack thereof in Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten. 

Hanke Bruins Slot, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, acknowledged this in her response to inquiries from the Dutch Senate regarding the Universal Periodic Review, during which other UN member states provide commentary on the human rights situation within the Kingdom. The minister emphasized that the Netherlands does not consider itself directly implicated by criticisms aimed at the constituent countries of the Kingdom, as each country is responsible for its own human rights matters. 

Bruins Slot dismissed the notion that there is "tension between the Kingdom government, which commits itself to human rights treaties, and the governments of the countries that sometimes fail to respond to recommendations for implementing these treaties. Does this mean that, in addition to the well-known democratic deficit, there is also a deficit in the rule of law, at least when it comes to human rights treaties?"