At the end of a week of rioting in The Hague, the Dutch justice minister has asked experts investigating the death in police custody of a 42-year-old Caribbean man to examine the use of neck holds – also known as "choke holds" – which are prohibited in many states in the United States.
The request, which could lead to a ban on the use of the controversial holds by police in the Netherlands, came as the mayor of The Hague insisted that his officers were "not institutionally racist", and the chief of police said anyone guilty of discrimination "did not belong" on the force.
The number of suspects arrested during and after the rioting – which was concentrated in the central district of Schilderswijk, where more than 90 per cent of the residents are of Turkish, Moroccan or Surinamese origin – has now risen to 250, an extraordinary 83 of whom are minors.
The trouble began after a visitor from the Dutch island of Aruba, who was visiting relatives in the area, was arrested as he emerged from an outdoor concert by UB40 last Sunday evening, and died after being handcuffed and thrown into the back of a police van.
The public prosecutor in The Hague, Kitty Nooy, said the man, named Mitch Henriquez, probably died from a lack of oxygen as a result of a neck hold – after friends and onlookers posted pictures and videos online showing a group of policemen dragging him away, apparently unconscious.
National police chief, Gerard Bouman, said the neck hold was not taught during police training – although he confirmed that officers were allowed to use it when they needed to “subdue” a suspect.
Too dangerous
New York was one of the first cities in the world to ban neck holds or choke holds in the 80s as too dangerous, defining them as “any pressure to the throat or windpipe that may hinder breathing or reduce intake of air”.
However, they hit the headlines in the city again last year after the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner, an unarmed man who died after a policeman wrestled him to the ground while arresting him for selling loose cigarettes – in an episode eerily reminiscent of the Dutch arrest last week.
Five officers have been suspended and are being treated as “official suspects” in the investigation into Mr Henriquez’s death. His remains were flown home on Tuesday and were buried yesterday.
