At a minimum, visits last one hour and take place once a week (Article 38 of the PBW).

The duration of visits varies according to the facility. In May 2022, the CPT noted that in the prisons it had visited, untried prisoners could have one-hour visits, and convicted prisoners could have two-hour visits. At Aruba Correctional Institution (Korrectie Instituut Aruba – KIA), visits were authorised for people in remand detention and sentenced individuals, for a total of one hour and fifteen minutes per week. Plexiglass partitions used on the tables were a source of frustration and complaints. At Centre for Detention and Correction Curaçao (SDKK), prisoners were allowed one hour of unpartitioned visiting time every two weeks. At Point Blanche Prison in Sint Maarten, prisoners were allowed one 30-minute visit per week.¹

The prison governor grants conjugal visits under the following conditions:

• The incarceration lasts more than six months (pre-trial and convicted prisoners)

• The visit is helpful in maintaining family ties and important for the prisoner’s reintegration

• The visitor and the prisoner can provide evidence of a lasting relationship

• The prosecutor views that the conjugal visit does not pose any risk to the investigation

The prison governor decides on how correspondence is to be checked. Prisoners shall be informed in advance of the procedures for such checks.
The governor may restrict correspondence on the grounds of public order and security (Article 36 of the PBW).

Prisoners are allowed to make phone calls lasting 10 minutes, at least once a week.

In May 2022, the CPT received a high number of complaints from individuals in remand detention at Dordrecht Prison, relating to the insufficient time they could spend outside of cells to make calls and keep in contact with their families. The insufficient number of payphones exacerbated the issue. At Vught Prison, 20 untried prisoners shared a single telephone for the whole wing. In all of the prisons visited, the prisoners could make video calls to their loved ones.
At Aruba Correctional Institution (Korrectie Instituut Aruba – KIA), both remand and convicted individuals could make 10-minute calls to their loved ones several times per day using payphones in the yard or indoors.
At Centre for Detention and Correction Curaçao (SDKK), the prisoners had access to payphones in the yard and could make calls during time spent outside of the cells. Some of the telephones were out of service.
At Point Blanche Prison in Sint Maarten, the telephone lines were destroyed by hurricanes in 2017 and were undergoing repairs. In the meantime, the prisoners could call their loved ones from a telephone in the prison offices once per week, for 5 minutes.¹

Call charges are borne by the inmate (Article 39, paragraph 1, of the PBW).
Teleo is the private telecommunications provider. Its prices are inflated.
During its visit in 2016, the CPT received numerous complaints from prisoners about the prices of calls.