On 1 and 2 October, the Director of Human Rights, Clare Ovey, and a representative of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, visited Aruba, an autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands*.

The visit was organised by the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Strasbourg in cooperation with the Government Agent. Discussions were focussed on the developments and progress made in the implementation of the Murray judgment, concerning the de facto irreducibility of the life sentence imposed on the applicant who suffered from a mental illness and at the time had no assessment of his treatment needs and no access to treatment. The visit was also an opportunity to raise awareness about many other aspects of the Council of Europe’s work and relevance to Aruba as well as the future opportunities for technical cooperation and assistance. 

The delegation met, amongst others, with the Minister of Justice, Minister Dowers; the Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs and Elderly Care and Addiction Care, Minister Wyatt-Rass; members of the Parliament’s Commission of Justice; members of the Ministry of Justice’s Committee on Life Sentences (“levenslanggestraften”) as well as the Ombudsperson. The delegation also visited the Aruba Correctional Institution, the KIA, and held a meeting with the Director, the Head of the Medical Unit as well as the medical and social work teams. Finally, the delegation met with representatives of the Respaldo Clinic, the mental health facility on Aruba, who have a contract to provide psychiatric care in the KIA.

The delegation also participated in a Human Rights Conference, held at the University of Aruba and moderated by the Ombudsperson, in the lead up to the Dutch Presidency of the Committee of Ministers which will take place between May and November 2027. The Conference was opened by the Minister of Justice and included presentations on the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the system of implementation of its judgments as well as active panel discussions on various human rights topics of particular relevance to Aruba.  At the end of the Conference, the first translation of the European Convention on Human Rights into Papiamento was officially handed over to the Minister of Justice and is now available for everyone in Aruba to ensure that the rights set out within the European Convention are more accessible.