4. The Government of the Republic of Suriname has carefully reviewed the 148 recommendations received during its Universal Periodic Review in 2016. The current responses reflect Suriname’s continuing endeavors, in consultation with civil society and NGOs, to better protect and guarantee the human rights of all present within the territory of the Republic and under its jurisdiction.
5. After acceptance of the recommendations, several ministries have implemented the recommendations in collaboration with NGOs and civil society. The Government installed a commission consisting of governmental and non-governmental representatives, to prepare for the third UPR cicle and its follow-up. The results of the work of the commission are reflected in this report. This report addresses the recommendations by theme.
Acceptance of international norms
6. The ratification of the 2nd Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) will be considered after the abolition of the death penalty in the Military Penal Code has been approved.
7. The ratification of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) is in the final stage of approval, which is the approval by Parliament, who may decide to accede to this treaty either tacitly or explicitly.
8. In 2002, Suriname signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and started the ratification process. The latter has to be completed by submitting to the Depositary the mandatory declaration under article 3 paragraph 2 of the afore-mentioned Optional Protocol, that sets forth the minimum age at which it will permit voluntary recruitment into its national armed forces and a description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced. The current Government initiated steps towards finalizing afore-mentioned ratification process in 2021.
9. Article 9 of the Compulsory Military Service Act (G.B. 1970 no. 98, as last amended by G.B. 1975 no. 75) states that as far as the law provides otherwise, all males, holders of the Surinamese nationality, residing in Suriname and between the ages of 18 and 35 years, are
obliged to serve in the armed forces. According to this Act, Suriname is in compliance with the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
10. Ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide requires further national consultation and amendments to national legislation and policies to comply with the obligations contained in this instrument.
11. Suriname became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination on 15 March, 1984.
12. Suriname acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 29 March, 2017.
13. Suriname complies with the obligations under the Statute of Rome and reports as follows:
(a) In the Penal code (G.B.1911 no.1, as last amended by S.B. 2020 no. 42) article 5 sub 1 under I states;
(b) The Surinamese Penal Code is applicable to any Surinamer, who commits, outside Suriname:
(i) Any of the crimes described in Titles I en II of the Second Book, and in articles 334, 334a, 334b, 258, 279 and 288, 332 and 333 as well as– insofar as it concerns against the administration of justice of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as referred to in article 70 sub I of the Rome Statute of 17 July 1998, establishing the ICC - in the articles 229 untill 232, 241, 252, 259a, 345a and 425;
(ii) An offense which is regarded as a crime by Surinamese Criminal Law and which is punishable, by the law of the country where it was committed;
(iii) Any of the crimes described in the articles 292 untill 305 and article 339, insofar as the offense was committed against a person who has not yet reached the age of eighteen years;
(iv) Any of the crimes described in the articles 292 and 293, insofar as the facts falls under the description of articles 2 untill 10 of the Budapest established International Convention on Cybercrime of 23 November 2001;
(v) A terrorist offense or a crime in preparation for or facilitating a terrorist offense.
Cooperation with treaty bodies
14. Suriname will continue to make all efforts to meet its reporting obligations originating in the human rights instruments to which it is a party, including the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
15. The newly elected Government initiated further steps towards the compilation and submission of the periodic national report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
16. In the period 2016-2019, Suriname continued its cooperation with the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations through several capacity building activities, including:
Capacity building training sessions and workshops in collaboration with the local UN country Office and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in regard to the following treaties: CAT, CESCR, CRPD and CEDAW.
Constitutional and legislative framework
17. The Republic of Suriname has already integrated most human rights enshrined in the conventions of which it is a party, in its legislation and will continue to do so where necessary.
However, the Government is aware that the legal provisions, do in and of itself not suffice in resulting effective practices and or efficient legal procedures.
18. On 30 August 2019, the Act establishing the Constitutional Court (S.B. 2019 no. 118) was adopted by Parliament and entered into force on 11 October 2019. The execution of this Act was on 14 January 2020 (S.B. 2020 no. 12). This Court is impartial and independent as are all courts in this country. On 7 May 2020, the chair, vice-chair, members and alternate members were sworn in. In accordance with the respective provisions of the afore-mentioned Act, the Constitutional Court consists of 5 full time members and 3 alternate members, all with appropriate qualifications. This court is tasked with reviewing laws on their contradictory nature with the Constitution and international human rights conventions. It also has the authority to review and decide on challenged decisions of Government bodies on the grounds of incompatibility with basic rights and freedoms.
National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)
19. The newly elected Government of Suriname is committed to establish and operationalize a National Human Rights Institute in accordance with the Paris Principles and initiated steps in this regard. A general Ombudsman will also be linked to this Institute. The Office of the Ombudsman will be divided into two divisions, one for children and one for adults.
Human rights education in schools
20. Human rights education is being incorporated in the national curriculum, over the past 10 years. Textbooks are being produced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (MinOWC) for the primary level, grades 4–6 (10–12 years) mainly in the subject area History. The curriculum department is still working on developing new course material for the higher levels incorporating human rights issues.
21. MinOWC’s policy is also linked to the conventions, but the translation into education is not always visible. The subject “Orientation on yourself and the World” has themes such as: Human Rights, further in the subjects “Social Studies and Law”, the rights are also emphasized. There are also projects that are in line with the specific treaties.
Professional training in human rights
22. The Government continually makes efforts to adapt its policies to the human rights standards. In this context it has also organized a number of training courses for relevant stakeholders, such as Government officials, correctional officers, the police, prosecutors and judges, to raise awareness and strengthen skills to apply human rights issues in practice.
23. Education on human rights is incorporated in the curricula of the Law Enforcement Officers training. In this context seminars in identifying discrimination and violence against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community were organized by the LGBT Platform Suriname.
Equality and non-discrimination
24. The prohibition of discrimination is stated in the Constitution. There are also provisions in several other laws which prohibit discrimination such as in the Penal Code of the Republic of Suriname, specifically the articles 126 sub a, 175, 175 sub a, 176, 176 sub b, 176 sub c and 500 sub a.
25. The Government of Suriname (Ministry of Labour, Employment Opportunity and Youth Affairs) has submitted the Bill on Equal Treatment in Employment to The National Assembly (the Parliament) in 2019. This Bill prohibits among others discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBT individuals in the labour market and related labour issues.
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution
26. In 2000, the Office of the Public Prosecutors, imposed a stay on the statute of limitations in the case concerning the so-called “8 December 1982 murder case”.
27. In November 2007, the trial in the so-called “8 December 1982 murder case” against Desiré Delano Bouterse, the former Commander of the Armed Forces, and 24 other defendants commenced. The trial has been halted a number of times, lastly by the Amnesty Act 1989 (S.B. 1992 no. 68, as last amended by S.B. 2012 no. 49). In 2016, the High Court of Justice deemed this Act to be in conflict with the Constitution, which eventually led to the re-start of the trial. In November 2019 the verdicts were rendered, resulting in sentences ranging from ten to twenty years; a number of defendants were acquitted. Mr. Bouterse, who at that time was President of the Republic of Suriname, was convicted in abstentia to twenty years imprisonment. The Court has not ordered his imprisonment, and he is currently appealing the verdict before the Military Court.
28. The implementation of the Moiwana judgement concerning the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators by the prosecutor Office proved challenging in the period 2012–2020.
In commencing the process of prosecution according to article 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (S.B. 1977 no. 94, as last amended by S.B. 2008 no. 21) the Prosecutor Office has not been able to interview witnesses as part of the preliminary investigation; this, since no witnesses came forward. However, the obligation to investigate the case and to prosecute and punish those responsible will continue to exist until the next of kin have obtained satisfaction.
Death penalty
29. In 2015 the death penalty was abolished with the adoption and entering into force of the amended Penal Code. This was not the case in the Military Penal Code.
30. On 21 April 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the Bill amending the Military Penal Code (G.B. 1975 no. 173) as well as the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.
The Bill has now been submitted to the State Council and after approval it will be tabled in Parliament.
Conditions of detention / Juvenile justice
31. There are three prisons countrywide: one in Paramaribo, one in district Wanica, and one in District Nickerie. There is one detention centre (house of remand) in the district Wanica.
There is a designated police unit for the oversight of all the detention centers. At the end of 2019, some of the detention centers in Paramaribo were partially rehabilitated. Currently most of the detention centers are in fair condition. These centers have the most detainees, because the largest part of the detained population resides in Paramaribo.
32. Minors in pre-trial detention are separated from adults. These minors are in ‘Opa Doeli’.
In prison minors are separated from adults with regards to males. There are two youth detention centers:
(a) Youth Pre-Detention Centre; Jeugd Doorgangscentrum "Opa Doeli".
(b) Youth Detention Facility; Jeugd Opvoedingsgesticht (JOG).
33. ‘Opa Doeli’, a pre-trial detention facility for minors offers adequate shelter, housing, education and pedagogical guidance to juvenile detainees aged 12/17-18 years. It should also be noted that there are some challenges with regard to separate prison facilities for women and minors. These women and girls are in the same facility. When the conviction of these juveniles has taken place, they are transferred to the Youth Detention Facility (JOG). JOG is located within the walls of the adult prison Santo Boma, which means that contact between the juveniles and adults is not excluded. In order to improve this, the Ministry of Justice and Police has established the Youth Correction Center (JCC) to provide the juveniles with an adequate residence, which meets the requirements according to the ratified treaties and national laws and regulations, during their posting. By building another prison facility the
girls can be separated from the women, which is one of the future plans. With regards to the number of detainees from 2015–2020 (see Annex 1).
34. The construction and completion of the JCC is in progress. The school in JCC was inaugurated on 21 November 2019. The construction and furnishing of the school was done in partnership between the Ministry of Justice and Police, the MinOWC, the business community in Suriname and UNICEF. On 15 December 2020, a mini sports field, was donated by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (the Dutch Football league) and local partners.
35. The juveniles are not staying in the JCC yet, because the renovation and construction of the various housing units is ongoing. For their education, the juveniles are transported daily to and from JOG to JCC.
Prohibition of slavery, trafficking
36. In 2015, the State revised its Penal Code with regard to Trafficking In Persons (TIP).
The revised Act is aligned with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (especially Women and Children) and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
37. With this amendment both sexes are protected against trafficking and the penalties have been extended, especially when under-aged victims are involved. In addition to the sexual exploitation other purposes of trafficking are included in the Act, such as labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery and removal of organs.
38. The maximum penalty for traffickers in and outside Suriname is life imprisonment according to the revised Penal Code. These penalties are made sufficiently stringent with respect to sex trafficking, commensurated with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Article 334 of the Penal Code criminalizes sex trafficking and labour trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to nine years’ imprisonment and a fine of SRD 100,000 for offenses involving a victim 16 years of age or older, and up to 12 years’ imprisonment and a fine of SRD 100,000 for those involving a victim under the age of 16.
39. Within the police force there is the designated police anti-trafficking unit responsible for investigating such crimes.
40. In 2019, the Government of Suriname renewed the mandate of the inter-ministerial Trafficking in Persons Working Group for three years and launched a National Plan of Action for the prevention and response to trafficking in persons under the pillars of “Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Partnership and Policy’.
41. According to the TIP 2019 Action Plan, the following activities, among others, have been undertaken to date:
(a) A TIP conference with Embassies and other stakeholders was organized. On international and regional level there are bilateral plans to widen cooperation against trafficking between Suriname and other States.
(b) The extensive media awareness campaign is continued, addressing, among others, the following issues:
(i) Spots that serve as information are broadcast via radio and television.
(ii) Docutainment/ sketches, specially recorded for awareness purposes, have been broadcast on various television channels.
(iii) Bill Boards were placed in locations that are classified as risk areas, where many foreigners reside.
(iv) TIP posters have been placed at all police stations, border posts (Albina and Nickerie) and the Johan Adolf Pengel Airport.
(v) Awareness programs on trafficking are being carried out for Maroon People and women and girls in the interior.
(vi) A total of 325 police officers from police stations throughout the country were trained including 1 doctor, 2 health workers and 10 members of the Military Police from Nickerie.
(c) Furthermore, a new 24-hour trafficking hotline was launched. The TIP hotline 155 was evaluated and a protocol will be developed for the hotline.
(d) With regard to the TIP Unit of the Suriname Police Force, there is a protocol in place for first response in case of TIP, which entails among others:
(i) Special care for minors, foreign victims often victims of loverboys.
(ii) Counseling and other services to trafficking victims in partnership with the country’s psychiatric institute.
(iii) A shelter, which is gender-neutral with 24 hours protection.
42. To make migrant workers more resilient to exploitation, the Labour Ministry is in a progressed stage of preparing mandatory courses for migrant workers entering the labour market focused on language, workers rights and duties (including trafficking in persons and labour exploitation) and the protection and supervisory system in Suriname. This training program is based on the Ministerial Decree Certificate of Language and other Societal Skills (S.B. 2020 no. 205).
Domestic violence / Advancement of women
43. The State continued to take active measures to ensure the effective implementation of the 2009 Law Combating Domestic Violence, for instance:
(a) Since 2015, sexual violence/rape within marriage is recognized and sanctioned in the Penal Code.
(b) In June 2017, the National Council on Domestic Violence (NCDV) was established for a period of 3 years to evaluate the National Policy Plan for the Structural Approach to address Domestic Violence 2014-2017. The mandate of the Council was extended to 15 March 2022 to, among others, update the Plan. The NCDV includes governmental and non-governmental representatives.
(c) In 2018, the NCDV carried out the following activities:
(i) Training on the standard domestic violence registration form as a pilot project was conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Women’s Rights Centre (WRC). The pilot project was intended to measure the effectiveness of the registration form and identify the obstacles. In this pilot project 12 agencies participated. On 3 December 2018, this pilot project was evaluated. The standard domestic violence registration form was adopted and is being implemented.
(ii) In October 2019, an information session on domestic violence was held for the staff members of the Paramaribo-South hotline and a delegate from the Police Corps.
(iii) In November 2019, the launch of the Women's Health Report took place. This study was done by the IDB. The NCDV made its contribution in this process.
(iv) Activities carried out between 2015 to 2020 include public awareness raising activities on gender and domestic violence for communication officials, priests and youngsters from different religious denominations, civil servants, high level Government officials and Community Based Organizations.
(v) The students of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, who participated in domestic violence training in November 2016 were nominated as Ambassadors of Domestic Violence by the minister of Home Affairs.
(vi) Since the COVID-19 pandemic special attention has been given to domestic violence. Noteworthy, in this regard is the implementation of the project “Gender Based Violence (GBV) interventions in response to COVID – 19 measures”.
• This project commenced in June 2020 and is a joint effort of the Ministries of Home Affairs as well as Justice and Police, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Program and implemented by Women’s Rights Centre.
(d) The judiciary has specifically appointed judges to deal with protection order appeals in cases of domestic violence, besides their existing regular duties.
(e) There are also programmes initiated for perpetrators. Psychological help is being offered by psychologists, religious leaders, and NGOs such as The Foundation Stop Violence Against Women. Counseling is also offered to perpetrators of all forms of violence -including domestic violence- in prison. Data of the various programs are regularly gathered and the programs are evaluated.
44. Currently, there is only one Government shelter for female victims of domestic violence and their children up to 12 years.
45. The services provided by the shelter are evaluated regularly for improvement. There are two Government bureaus for Victim Aid (one in the district of Paramaribo and one in the district of Nickerie).
46. There is also a shelter operated by an NGO called “Stichting Tehuis voor Vrouwen in Crisis Situaties”, where women and children in crisis situations can find a temporary safespace.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment
47. The Republic of Suriname continues to promote women’s empowerment through different activities.
48. During the period 2016–2020, as a follow-up from a Training of Trainers by WRC (a project organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and UNDP) the Ministry of Home Affairs
48. During the period 2016–2020, as a follow-up from a Training of Trainers by WRC (a project organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and UNDP) the Ministry of Home Affairs