In an order dated June 28, 2024, the court noted the abusive conditions of confinement and ordered the administration to urgently make improvements.
The applicants highlighted in particular significant prison overcrowding (occupancy rate of 227% in the men’s remand centre with 126 people sleeping on a mattress on the floor) generating a lack of living space, privacy and violence; the dilapidated state of the premises and the lack of furniture; the presence of numerous pests; the poor quality of the food; nauseating odours; the exceptional intensity of the heat in the cells; the behaviour of certain prison officers and the hindrance to access to the rights of detainees, particularly foreigners; the lack of proper medical care, particularly for psychiatric illnesses; and the attacks on private and family life with restricted access to visiting rooms.
The organisations welcome this strong position and point out that a prison sentence should only impact the freedom of movement of detainees and no other rights.
Link to the order
[1] The French Section of the Prison Observatory, the Association of Lawyers for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, the National Council of Bars, the Union of Lawyers of France and the National Federation of Unions of Young Lawyers.
(c) JC HANCHE / CGLPL
Author: Overseas Region
