BHRO challenges the Dutch at UN Human Rights Committee
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GENEVA--The Bonaire Human Rights Organization (BHRO), represented by James Finies and Davika Bissessar, presented concerns about the situation in Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius during the 78th Session of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in Geneva on 16–17 September 2025.
According to BHRO, this was the first time a human rights organization from the islands directly participated in a UN treaty body review of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The group submitted documentation and made oral statements addressing what it described as systemic discrimination, structural poverty, lack of democratic representation, and insufficient cultural recognition in the Caribbean Netherlands.
During the session, the Committee asked the Dutch delegation about issues raised by BHRO, including the implementation of health care policies such as euthanasia without what the organization described as cultural adaptation or local consultation. The Chair of the Committee, Ambassador Preeti Saran of India, posed a question on how the Dutch government ensures that health care laws applied in the islands respect cultural and religious freedoms.
Specifically: “ ….𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢, 𝘦𝘵𝘤., 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴?"
BHRO noted that the Dutch delegation did not provide a substantive response to this question during the session. The organization interprets this as highlighting the gap between policy implementation and the lived realities of people on the islands. "Despite a 10-minute recess and online support from ministries in The Hague, the Dutch representatives were unable to respond—marking a rare moment of silence and visible confusion in an otherwise tightly controlled Dutch state presentation," the BHRO said.
For BHRO, participation in the hearing marked an important opportunity to bring local perspectives to an international platform. The organization stated that it will continue to raise concerns related to self-determination, non-discrimination, and socio-economic rights, with the aim of ensuring that policies affecting Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius are shaped with greater attention to local input and cultural considerations.
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