That evening, the words of Paul-Olivier Delannois marked the spirits: “on sometimes puts three people in nine square meters, on bunk beds with a complementary mattress. This is the minimum area that regulations determine for a circus animal. ” All elected officials have embraced, including the bourgmestre, which believes that the work of the staff is “extremely hard on a daily basis.“
What if we give him the floor, to the staff? A penitentiary supervisor testifies: “Prison is a hidden world. Two or three years ago, the conditions were bearable. Today, they become abominable. Prisoners sleep on the ground and the staff are not numerous enough to act correctly“, Loose our interlocutor.
This one points to the will of the management, “to set up as a model in discipline, to the detriment of the conditions and the well-being of the guards.“A observation nuanced by a second source not part of the staff.”The management is very demanding on the internal regulations, for prisoners and guards. We had a more lax era. Today, absenteeism is a reality, for good and sometimes less good reasons. Fewer guards means fewer outings in the courtyard, yet a blessing when you are locked up between four walls.”
Our goalkeeper resumes: “We are fighting for claims dedicated to failure. The impression of the lack of means is glaring“, Using our supervisor. The prison is not the court of miracles. Let’s say the paradise of bedbugs. The epidemic has been going on for more than a year, according to our interlocutor.”The company that intervened worked only from cell cells. The detainees have sometimes changed 4 or 5 times of cells and no longer have access to their business for 24, 48 or even 72 hours. By force, they no longer even warn when they see the presence of bedbugs on their mattress and we understand them.”
A year after the first traces of the parasite, Tournai’s prison passed the high speed and put the means to eradicate the presence of these bugs. “”It is difficult to eradicate them, despite the measures to fight against them. Professional companies intervene and the prison scrupulously follows the protocol. This protocol requires that contaminated cell affairs be frozen for a while. We suck, wash the laundry, shower prisoners, etc.“, Specifies the spokesperson for the SPF Justice.
The means were modest, they are now more developed. It remains to be seen whether the prison will be able to get rid of these pests and the resulting tensions. “”They participate in deplorable conditions and insecurity climate, it is certain“, testifies the goalkeeper. Official response from the SPF?”The agents explain the procedure to the prisoners to avoid misunderstandings. The detainees include the interest of these measures to stay in a healthy space.“
A healthy space … and overcrowded. 232 detainees are incarcerated in a prison which theoretically has 185 places. “”Tournai is no exception. The majority of penitentiary centers are old and dilapidated. Some prisoners have a bucket as a toilet. But the management and the supervisory committee do everything to ensure that the management of buildings acts and performs urgent work. Everything takes a crazy time. We are talking about arrangements that drag for years“Resumes our second source.”It is also a prison with 50 % defendants awaiting a judgment, sometimes for several months. It is an element of stress and nervousness.“
Everyone alerts this overcrowding and the tensions that follows. However, the prison could accommodate up to 250 detainees. But impossible to push the walls of the cells. “”Prisons do not have a catch on incoming and outgoing flows of prisoners. Overcrowding does not drop at the national level. In Tournai, mattresses on the ground had to be placed for incoming prisoners“Indicates the spokesperson for the SPF Justice.
-Our sources evoke the arrival of containers. A mortgage that the SPF does not confirm. The spokesperson simply indicates that “If new structures are developed, it seems coherent to recruit new agents“A half-word confirmation? You always have to read between the lines.
A complaint commission exists and serves as safeguards to regulate penitentiary life, from the actions of an inmate to those of management. But for overcrowding and respect for human dignity, only structural reforms can make you forget bedbugs, floor mattresses, buckets as a toilet and insecurity …
Bedbugs: parasites that remain cloistered to cells?
Obviously, the versions differ. The penitentiary supervisor we met specifies that a summary equipment is provided to search the cells. “”That’s wrong. Agents have gloves in particular“, Answers the SPF Finances.
He specifies that bites have already been noted on a staff member, such as the presence of these parasites in a room reserved for supervisors. “”False and false. This tends to indicate that the bedbugs do not affect only prisoners. These two rumors are not correct.“
When we submit the official response to our interlocutor, he insists: “I know what I saw …“
As for the risks for visitors, the spokesperson specifies that the professional companies that intervene “do not recommend inherent measures vis-à-vis visitors.“
Two dissonant voices that hope for the same purpose: the end of proliferation.
