Eduardo Mathew

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Eduardo Alexander Antonio Mathew (born 1973) is a Netherlands national who now lives in Providence, Rhode Island. He is a kickboxing instructor by profession. In 2004 and 2005, Mathew campaigned against alleged racism against black inmates in the Caribbean island of Aruba (off the coast of Venezuela), which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On September 29, 2005, Mathew won a judgment in his favor in the European Court of Human Rights.

[edit] Court Opinion

The following facts are taken from the Chamber Judgment or Opinion of the European Court of Human Rights

On October 9, 2001 Mathew was arrested on Aruba on a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm. From October 2001 until the end of April 2004 he was detained on remand in the Aruba Correctional Institution (Korrektie Inrichting Aruba), (KIA). During most of that time, he was in solitary confinement.

On November 29, 2001 an incident took place in which the acting KIA governor was very seriously injured (broken eye socket, cheekbone and skull) and for which the applicant was subsequently convicted of inflicting serious bodily harm.

Following the incident, the Mathew was placed in solitary confinement for 35 days. Thereafter, on January 4, 2002, a special detention regime was imposed on him, aimed at keeping him away from the other prisoners. He was not allowed to leave his cell without handcuffs around his wrists and fetters around his ankles (the use of fetters was discontinued after a certain time). Contact with the outside world was also limited. On two other occasions after the Mathew had, among other things, assaulted prison staff, he was also denied visits or use of the telephone for 28 days.

From the time when the Mathew was first detained there until some time between August and October 2002, there was a large opening in the roof of the applicant’s cell through which the rain penetrated. The cell was located on the second and top floor of the KIA prison building and exposed its occupant to the heat of the sun. Iced water was provided; there was, however, no air conditioner or other cooling system. There were no lifts.

As from June 2002 the applicant was found to be suffering from a serious spinal condition. Aruba’s only neurosurgeon found that the applicant had a lumbar discal hernia and considered surgery to be appropriate. He asked for the applicant to be examined by another neurosurgeon for a second opinion, which did not happen. The applicant was provided with a wheelchair on August 14 2002, but permission to use it was withdrawn following an incident on 13 February 2003, when he ripped a piece of metal off his wheelchair and used it as a weapon against prison staff.

On February 19 2003 Mathew began court proceedings requesting more comfortable detention conditions. Among other things, he complained that his cell was unsanitary and that he was made to walk down two flights of stairs to meet visitors, take outside exercise or go to hospital, and that he was denied physiotherapy and a wheelchair. A local court ordered the prison to review the need for continuing the special regime at regular intervals.

On April 14 2003 Mathew was found guilty as charged on appeal by the Joint Court of Justice for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, which stated that it had imposed a considerably lower sentence (three years and six months instead of five years) than would normally be justified by the applicant’s crimes, in view of the unusual severity of the regime imposed on him while on remand.

Mathew received physiotherapy in hospital from 23 May until 13 June 2003. It was intended he should continue to receive physiotherapy as an outpatient. However, his physiotherapy sessions were discontinued. The applicant maintained that his physical condition prevented him from walking from his cell to the vehicle which was to take him to hospital and from sitting up straight in the vehicle.

Mathew would normally have been eligible for early release on 27 January 2004. This, however, was refused him on grounds related to his behaviour in prison.

A physiotherapist who examined Mathew on 6 March 2004 described him as able, despite going nine months without treatment, to walk a distance of at least 90 meters and carry out complex physical actions such as twisting his body and walking stairs.

Mathew was released by order of the Minister of Justice of Aruba on April 30 2004 (by which time his application before the European Court of Human Rights had been communicated to the Netherlands Government).

The Court considered photographs and assessed the facts in detail in its Chamber judgment.

On September 29, 2005, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) of the European Convention on Human Rights, in that:

  • the applicant was detained in solitary confinement for an excessive and unnecessarily protracted period;
  • he was detained for at least seven months in a cell which failed to provide adequate protection against the weather and the climate; and,
  • he had had to endure unnecessary and avoidable physical suffering in order to gain access to outdoor exercise and fresh air.


Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court awarded the applicant 10,000 euros (EUR) for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 3,000 for costs and expenses

[edit] External links

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