Our Team

James Finies – Indigenous Leader and Human Rights Advocate

In his thirties, James Finies made the remarkable decision to abandon a promising professional career in banking to dedicate his life to defending the right of self-determination for the native people of Bonaire. This decision came in response to the constitutional changes that followed the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, when Bonaire was integrated into the constitutional structure of the Netherlands without the explicit consent of the Bonairean people through a constitutional referendum.

Deeply concerned about the unequal rights and subordinated political status that resulted from this disputed process, Finies dedicated his life to advocating for justice, dignity, and the political rights of the Bonairean people.

James Finies is an indigenous Bonairean leader and human rights advocate, and the founder of the Bonaire Human Rights Organization (BHRO), which engages with international institutions including the United Nations. For more than two decades, he has worked to raise awareness about the political, social, and human rights concerns affecting Bonaire.

He led a historic eight-month non-stop peaceful protest demanding the right of the Bonairean people to determine their own political future. Through his advocacy, he has brought Bonaire’s case to international forums, including the United Nations, where efforts are underway to place Bonaire back on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Today, James Finies continues to work with UN Member States, international experts, and human rights advocates to advance a renewed process toward self-governance, equality, and decolonization for the people of Bonaire.

Davika Bissessar-Shaw is a writer, community advocate, and President of the Bonaire Human Rights Organization (BHRO). Through her leadership, she works to promote human rights, dignity, and self-determination for the people of Bonaire, while raising international awareness about the island’s political and social challenges.

She has contributed to regional publications including Focus Caribbean, Arco Newspaper, and The Bonaire Affair, using her writing to highlight issues affecting the Caribbean and the people of Bonaire. In addition to her advocacy work, she is the founder of the We Dare To Care Foundation, a community initiative dedicated to improving the well-being of Bonaire’s residents.

One of her most notable community projects was leading the development of a public playground in Bonaire, after the island had gone more than 21 years without a playground for children. The initiative brought together community members and volunteers to create a recreational space for families and young people.

As President of the Bonaire Human Rights Organization, Bissessar-Shaw has been actively involved in international advocacy, calling attention to human rights concerns and promoting the relisting of Bonaire on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Her work focuses on advancing the principles of human rights, self-determination, community empowerment, and the protection of Bonaire’s identity and future.

Through public engagement, advocacy, and community initiatives, Davika Bissessar-Shaw continues to support efforts aimed at strengthening the rights, opportunities, and voice of the Bonairean people.

Sedney B. Marten (5th of June, 1962, Curaçao) is a creative mind who conveys feeling and reason - contradictory perspectives - in the right dose.

As the youngest of eight brothers and sisters, he had the opportunity to move to The Netherlands after secondary school to study and turn his hobby into his career: introducing and guiding young minds into the interesting world of arts and creativity.

As a teacher of Cultural and Artistic Education, Art and Cultural History and Papiamento, he already had the ability to think out of the box, as a visual artist, illustrator, poet and author that became his way of life. From an early age on he became aware of his cultural identity and understood the power of excellent knowledge and command of his own mother tongue. It became the basis for broadening his interest in other (foreign) languages.

In 2000 he published the collection of poems Entre Sintí i Sintimentu, un Lucha, a collection of poems that expresses the constant human inner struggle between emotion and intellect. His good command of wordplay and his love for his native language, Papiamento, is particularly evident in critical pieces about sensitive issues (thoughts, as he prefers to call them) that he regularly publishes in various local newspapers since 2005. In addition to his intention to challenge the reader to think and to make him (more) aware of social developments around him, the articles and thoughts serve as a kind of outlet for him personally. Releasing a selection of these thoughts, a collection of these thoughts, is on the agenda.

After a period of teaching, he was an inspector of education and coordinator of the Department of Education of the former Netherlands Antilles, on Bonaire. He was also a part-time coordinator for the University of Curaçao (UoC, formerly known as University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA)) at the beginning of the teacher training course on Bonaire and study career counsellor at the Second Degree Teacher Training course of the UNA on Bonaire.

He is co-founder and a board member of Fundashon Akademia Papiamentu, a foundation that strives for the protection, promotion and reinforcement of Papiamento. 

Currently, he is a senior policy officer at the Department of Education, Culture and Science of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland on Bonaire and is responsible for assigned tasks regarding examinations, culture and media.

Because of his intrinsic objection to injustice, in any form what so ever, to both employees and citizens, he affiliated to Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba section of the STrAF labour union, as a member of the steering committee.

On the question of what he would like for future generations of Bonaire, he is very emphatic with his answer: “I want to see Bonaire on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, with a democratic government, as a result of the right of self-determination for all citizens, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

It is also with coming generations in mind that he is part of the NUKEB committee that strives to get Bonaire back on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories (NSGT).

Phenice “Marbi” Frans Piar is a Bonairean educator, human rights advocate, and community leader. She is a member of Muhernan Fuerte, the Women’s Wing of Partido Pueblo Progresivo, and serves as an Ambassador of the Bonaire Human Rights Organization. Deeply rooted in Bonaire’s Afro-Indigenous heritage and the Papiamentu language, she advocates for cultural preservation, parental rights, and  education. Her work focuses on protecting the identity, dignity, and future of Bonaire’s children while advancing community-led development and human rights for the Bonairean people at the local and international level.

Joseline Thielman is an Ambassador of the Bonaire Human Rights Organization and a member of Muhernan Fuerte, the Women’s Wing of Partido Pueblo Progresivo. She is also a mother, veteran policewoman, and human rights advocate from Bonaire with over 30 years of service in law enforcement.

Speaking first as a parent and second as a police officer, she has courageously brought international attention to the systemic discrimination faced by Bonairean children within the education system. At the United Nations, Thielman exposed the bullying, psychological abuse, and marginalization suffered by children—including her own—due to policies that suppress their native language and equate intelligence with Dutch fluency.