This sounds like a warning. in a “communication to public authorities”made public on Thursday, November 7, rights defender Claire Hédon elaborates “an alarming observation” about the situation in French prisons. she demands “urgent responses” while making a list of recommendations. This work accompanies the publication, on the same day, of a “practical guide for prisoners”to help them know and assert their rights.
In a thirteen-page document, Mme Hédon recalls that recommendations had already been made in 2013 “so that the rights of detainees are fully respected.” But, the Defender points out again, “More than ten years later, the situation in French prisons has worsened, in particular due to prison overcrowding.”
The conclusions and suggestions formulated by Claire Hédon are the same as those formulated every year by Dominique Simonnot, general auditor of places of deprivation of liberty (CGLPL), in her annual report. Each time, prison overcrowding is pointed out as the main (but not the only) cause of a catastrophic situation. It is true that at 1Ahem In October, 79,631 people were imprisoned in 62,279 operational places, that is, a prison density of 127.9%. A record. More than 3,800 detainees are forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor, compared to 2,480 in 1Ahem October 2023. The occupancy rate is, on average, 155% in pretrial detention centers, where detainees awaiting trial and therefore presumed innocent, as well as those sentenced to short sentences, are imprisoned. It reaches or exceeds 200% in fourteen prison establishments or districts.
Strong measures
The Rights Defender highlights that this overpopulation “leads to unworthy detention conditions, in all its dimensions: infestations of rodents, cockroaches and bedbugs, sanitary and electrical installations that are sometimes obsolete and deteriorated, “walks” limited to one hour per day, lack of integration of prison staff and conditional release which compromises the work on the facts and the sentence, as well as the preparation for the release, insufficient number of surveillance personnel that leads to the establishment of a climate of violence. »
Beyond the issue of respect for the dignity of detained people, the Rights Defender calls for the application of strong measures to combat overpopulation. She advocates – like the CGLPL, but also like many elected officials from all political sides and most specialists on the subject – for the establishment of a mechanism. “binding” of penitentiary regulation. A path that is not the one defended by the government of Michel Barnier or the Minister of Justice, Didier Migaud. Without closing himself off from the discussion, the latter prefers to favor the completion of the construction of 15,000 new prison places, initiated by his predecessor Eric Dupond-Moretti. The Minister of Justice also highlights the use of alternative sentences to imprisonment such as community service.
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