No one should be treated in a degrading or humiliating manner. This aim also applies in the Netherlands to those detained, cared for or treated under non-consensual conditions, or whose freedom has been restricted by the government in any other way. Under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT)1, organisations with a supervisory or advisory role in the area of people whose freedom has been restricted in the Netherlands together form the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). In this annual report for 2020, the NPM reports on the conditions and the treatment of detainees or people whose freedom has been restricted. This annual report was published after the usual date on account of the exploratory study into the implementation of the NPM.
According to the annual report, the rights of those whose freedom has been restricted in the Netherlands are respected. Based on the outcomes of these monitoring efforts, the NPM concludes that people whose freedom has been restricted are cared for in an adequate and conscientious manner. There are, however, recommendations to further strengthen human rights at the legislative, policy and implementation level.
The following sections contain the main findings of the NPM’s monitoring activities in 2020.