WILLEMSTAD - There are several things not right with the treatment of arrested foreign nationals. Foreign nationals are detained without a mandate, a so-called 'arrest' is not laid down in an explicit regulation, personal data is not sufficiently recorded, and the 30-day period is regularly exceeded.

The Law Enforcement Council (RVR) has also included the treatment of a detained foreign national as part of the annual monitoring of the trials at Sentro di Detenshon i Korekshon Kòrsou (SDKK) prison. A far from flourishing picture emerges from this.

Among other things, it appears that an unauthorized person decides whether or not to place a foreign national in custody. The Minister of Justice is authorized to detain aliens in accordance with Article 19 of the National Admission and Deportation Ordinance. The minister may authorize the police commissioner serving him or his deputy to exercise these powers on his behalf. In practice it appears that this does not happen.

The authority of police officers to ask a foreign national to identify himself is regulated in the National Ordinance on Identification Obligation. The authority to 'detain' is derived from this provision. The Council is of the opinion that an explicit regulation should be created for the arrest.

Furthermore, the RVR notes that the detention of the foreign national is not regulated by law.

The interrogations of a foreign national are not recorded, which according to the RVR should be. The policy for detention of foreigners is laid down in the Revised Instructions to the Lieutenant Governors from 2006. A draft is ready and, according to the RVR, should be adopted in the short term.

Personal data of a foreign national in custody is not adequately recorded. In the opinion of the RVR, a program for the registration of foreign nationals should be introduced. The term of 30 days for detaining a foreign national is also regularly exceeded.

Finally, the RVR concluded that at the time of the investigation there was a shortage of personnel in the SDKK, the situation of the barracks leaves much to be desired and foreign nationals in detention are not informed of their rights.