2020/015 Investigation into a raid on a private residence by the Dutch Caribbean Police Force (KPCN)

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The complaint concerns the way in which officers of the Dutch Caribbean Police Force (Korps Politie Caribisch Nederland, hereafter referred to as the KPCN) acted upon entering the complainant’s home on 8 July 2016. The complainant states that the officers shone bright lights in his eyes, punched him so hard in the face that he lost consciousness, left him lying naked on the floor for a long time with a hood over his head and pulled him up by the handcuffs.

In addition, the complainant states that, after entering his home, the KPCN officers did not make it clear, or made it insufficiently clear, that they were police officers, as a result of which the complainant was under the impression for an hour and a half that he was the victim of a robbery.

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Koninklijke Marechaussee, hereafter referred to as Kmar) received information from the Criminal Intelligence Unit about a possible stash of drugs and firearms at a residential property on Bonaire. KMar responded to this information by launching an investigation, as part of which the public prosecutor granted permission to enter the house in question. Because the information made reference to the possible presence of firearms on the premises, the KPCN was asked to deploy its Special Assignments Team (Groep Bijzondere Opdrachten, GBO) to enter the property. The suspected possession of drugs and firearms centred on two people. In addition to these two individuals, the complainant, his partner and his partner’s cousin were also present in the house at the time of the raid.

The official report drawn up by KMar does not meet the requirements of Section 163 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the BES Islands. For example, KMar’s official report does not state what took place during the SA Team’s raid, the state in which the persons in the house were found, whether they were handcuffed and many other relevant details. Due to the fact that no full official report was drawn up, the facts can no longer be established. This restricts the complainant’s position in the complaints procedure and makes it impossible for the National Ombudsman to investigate the complaint. By neglecting this duty, KMar has acted contrary to the requirement of professionalism. The National Ombudsman views this as grounds for making a recommendation.

The National Ombudsman refrains from making a decision on the complaint about the raid by the KPCN on a house on Bonaire. And it states the official view that KMar acted contrary to the requirement of professionalism. The National Ombudsman advises KMar to draw up a full report after each and every raid or entry into a home, in compliance with the requirements set out in Section 163 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the BES Islands.