Valais wishes to call on the private sector to manage part of its prisons. It thus intends to address the shortage of places in penitentiary establishments, particularly in terms of institutional therapeutic measures.
The Department of Security, Institutions and Sport (DSIS) has submitted for consultation a draft bill aimed at better regulating the delegation of mandates to private or semi-private actors in the prison sector.
He considers that the current wording of the law is “insufficiently clear and precise” on outsourcing and the scope of tasks relating to the execution of sentences, even though these “can seriously undermine fundamental and human rights of detained persons.
However, Valais wishes to privatize certain services, in particular to compensate for the lack of places in closed institutions for people with mental disorders, a service in serious shortage throughout French-speaking Switzerland.
>> Read about it: The absence of places for psychiatric care in prisons worries Valais
Thus, for the DSIS, this preliminary draft “presents itself as necessary”, in particular for “adequate care of people sentenced to an institutional therapeutic measure (MTI) in a closed environment”.
The Council of State wishes to be able to delegate the operation of a dedicated center entirely to private entities. A priori, the preferred legal model would be that of a private foundation.
Legitimate use of constraint
However, this type of outsourcing remains rare in Switzerland. (read box) and, according to the canton of Valais, there is currently no private prison establishment offering MTI in Switzerland. On the French side, Neuchâtel has also just launched a reflection on the question.
Geneva took a step in this direction in 2015 by delegating the transport of detainees to the company Securitas. But five years later, the Grand Council had backpedaled.
“It is considered that the transport of detainees is a sovereign task which involves the use of force and which must be able to be supervised. These are also tasks which must be carried out by specialized agents, so that they have the legitimacy to use means of restraint if necessary”, explains Léna Strasser, socialist deputy and member of the Geneva Grand Council commission responsible for examining detention conditions.
“So it is up to the State to implement it, and not to a private company,” she continues.
Supervise the practice
Conversely, for the co-president of the Conference of Directors of Cantonal Departments of Justice and Police (CCDJP) Alain Ribaux, the Valais proposal goes in the right direction. However, the Neuchâtel minister emphasizes that it is above all a question of regulating external mandates and not of opening the door to greater privatization.
“We have an article in the Penal Code which gives general authorization to have a certain number of things carried out by the private sector,” he underlines. “The idea is to urge the cantons to provide a formal legal basis, so as to be sure that the fundamental rights of detainees are respected. This provides a legal framework and that seems important to us, in an area which is quite sensitive, that things are well framed.”
In Valais, the consultation ended on Sunday and on this basis, it is now up to the Council of State to propose a bill which will be debated in the Grand Council. And already, opinions differ, some seeing it as a pioneering proposal, others fearing that it opens a Pandora’s box.
>> The Forum debate:
Radio subject: Diana-Alice Ramsauer
Web text: Pierrik Jordan
