The Netherlands has settled in a case that was brought by a Zimbabwean asylum seeker to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). This was reported in a court order on May 24, 2017.

Forced search

The applicant, an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe, argued that a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) had occurred when she was subjected to a full-body search in a detention center for asylum seekers.

The applicant was transferred to a detention center in Zeist, the Netherlands, in 2012, after she applied for asylum at Schiphol Airport. When she arrived at the center, she had to undress for an inspection of her body for any prohibited items.

The applicant - previously a victim of rape - refused to cooperate during the personal search. She was undressed by staff, including two male staff members. Because of her lack of cooperation, she was put in isolation following the search.

A complaint about this incident was declared unfounded by both the Supervisory Committee of the detention center and by the Council for Criminal Justice and Youth Protection (RSJ). RSJ did offer a compensation of €15, because there had been no report ("violence report") about the incident.

The incident led to questions in Parliament in 2013, after the TV show "De vijfde dag" dedicated an episode to it, in which the events were re-enacted.

Settlement

In an order announced on May 24, 2017 (L v. the Netherlands, appl. no. 68613/13), the European Court of Human Rights reported that the applicant and the Netherlands have reached a settlement. Taking the settlement into account, the Court has decided to strike the case from its docket:

"[The Court] takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list."

The order states that the Dutch government issued a statement on December 29, 2016, in which it admitted that the applicant was subjected to a violation of Article 3 ECHR on March 7, 2012, in the detention center:

"The Government notes that the attempt to secure a friendly settlement of the matter has failed. In view hereof, the Government, by means of a unilateral declaration, acknowledges that, in the light of the applicant’s individual circumstances, the full body search that the applicant had to undergo on the 7th of March 2012 during immigration detention, by two female staff members in [sic] the assistance of two male staff members, amounted to treatment in violation of Article 3 of the Convention."

The Government regrets this course of events and is willing to offer the applicant an amount for just satisfaction of € 3.600 and to reimburse the costs made in relation to both the domestic proceedings and the proceedings before the Court, provided they are specified and reasonable and were necessarily incurred and in line with domestic tariffs as laid down in the Legal Aid Payments Decree (Besluit Vergoedingen Rechtsbijstand)."

The order also notes that the Court received a letter on February 3, 2017, from the applicant in which the applicant indicates that she is prepared to agree with the statement of the Dutch government, on the condition that the statement becomes part of the decision of the Court or is made public in another manner.