No free speech in Bonaire

H.E. Ambassador Mr. Irwin La Rocque

Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Community

Caricom Secretariaat

Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana

September 11, 2019

Call to the Caribbean peoples to condemn “violation of freedom of speech” and the unlawful arrest of Human Rights Activist- James Finies on Bonaire

Excellency,

Meanwhile the Caribbean nations and peoples are aspiring integration and reparations, the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire is under a continuing Dutch colonial rule and moving towards dictatorship by oppression and violation of freedom of speech. Take note of our previous attached letter of March 15, 2019 to our governor Mr. Rijna where we reported and denounced the Dutch State and Dutch media - violation of human rights freedom of free press.

On the 6th of September 2019, Bonairian Human Rights Activist James Finies was arrested with excessive use of force. Charges were described as: “For not following the orders of the police”. Mr. Finies did not break any rules. Mr. Finies was not protesting nor blocking the traffic or harming anyone. He was at the time displaying his newspapers on a tiny table along with 2 flags - a Bonaire and United Nations Flags. There was a mannequin and one volunteer with T- shirt displaying the logo "Re-list Bonaire on the Non-Self Governing Territories (NSGT) List". Mr. Finies, president of the foundation We Want Bonaire Back prior to this unlawful act notified the authorities according to the local regulations and received affirmative confirmation from the governor Mr. Rijna without a specified location to stand, so he chose a spot out of the way of everything on the day of Bonaire Celebrations, but in the view of the day's presentation. Note, Mr. Finies demonstrated with protest-boards, 24/7 – nonstop- day and night, without leaving and sleeping outside the same Government Office in 2014 - 2015 for 8 months as protest and demand for a referendum without ever being arrested or removed. Why do they arrest him now?

James Finies sacrificed himself for his country and the people to get a referendum on the illegal Dutch annexation and integration of Bonaire in which he succeeded. On the 18th of December 2015 the government of Bonaire held a Referendum. The people voted overwhelmingly, a 66 percent rejecting the present Constitutional Status of Bonaire. Instead of respecting the wishes of a nation, Holland parliament decided unilaterally to embed - anchor Bonaire and its people into the Dutch Constitution with unequal rights in 2017.

James Finies, on behalf of the Foundation NKBB and the 66 percent of the people who voted in the December 18th 2015 referendum, is lobbying to the United Nations and the world to re-inscribe and relist Bonaire on the Non-Self Governing Territories “protective list” of the United Nation's. The people of Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean, did not choose to be embedded in the Dutch Constitution, and are being governed in a status not of their choosing while not being granted equal rights as the Dutch Citizens in Europe.

This was a dark day in the history of our beautiful island of Bonaire. The unlawful and shameful arrest of Human Rights Defender and Activist James Finies is a clear violation of the "Freedom of Speech" of the people of Bonaire in the 21st Century. We demand that the Dutch Government and Bonaire Police Force will be held accountable.

We count on the support from Caricom and our fellow Caribbean peoples to condemn this act of cowardliness and abuse of power with the aim to silence the voice of our peoples struggle against re-colonialism and institutionalized reemerging of Dutch-Apartheid in the Caribbean region. Please support us by disseminating our petition: http://chng.it/sGHxtD7HGV  among your member states.