A new historical peak was reached in French prisons on April 1 with the unprecedented level of 73,080 prisoners, further accentuating prison overcrowding and the pressure on the executive to try to remedy it.
This is the third month in a row that the number of detainees is on the rise in French prisons. The previous peak, in December 2022, was 72,836 detainees. Their number fell slightly in January before rising again in February.
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On April 1, French prisons had 60,899 operational places. With 73,080 prisoners, the overall prison density is 120% against 117.1% a year ago and 118.7% on March 1.
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The occupancy rate even reached 142.2% in remand prisons, where prisoners awaiting trial – and therefore presumed innocent – and those sentenced to short sentences are imprisoned.
Contacted by AFP, Prune Missoffe, an official at the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), deplored a “situation that keeps getting worse, month after month”despite warnings about “dramatic conditions of overcrowding” in French prisons.
“The government cannot continue to remain indifferent to the indignity of the conditions of detention and deaf to repeated calls by national and international observers to reduce the number of detainees”reacted officially the association in a press release.
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This chronic evil of French prisons had earned France a conviction before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in January 2020.
The government wants to build 15,000 additional prison places by the end of the five-year term. But if the implementation of this plan progresses, it “is lagging significantly behind”underlined the Court of Auditors in its annual report published in April. “The 7,000 places that were to be delivered before the end of 2022 have not been built in full”noted the Court of Auditors.
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In 2023, ten new establishments currently nearing completion, representing 1,958 places, should be delivered, indicated the Court of Auditors. A total of 24 establishments, i.e. half of the initial forecast, should be operational in 2024.
The Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti must present Wednesday in the Council of Ministers his bill of programming and orientation of justice which ratifies in particular the construction of these new places of prison.
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Sleep on the floor
According to ministry figures, 55 prisons have a density greater than 150%. This occupancy rate reaches or even exceeds 200% in eight establishments. Nearly 22,000 detainees are in structures whose density exceeds 150%.
More than 15,000 detainees are currently in excess of the places available in penitentiary establishments. Due to this overcrowding, 2,151 are forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Among the detainees, 19,773 are defendants, imprisoned awaiting trial.
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A total of 89,376 people were in prison on April 1. Among them, there are 16,296 non-detained persons subject to placement under an electronic bracelet (15,538) or placement outside (758).
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The number of female prisoners (3.6% of the total prison population) and that of minors (0.8%) are stable.
To remedy these record occupancy rates, in addition to the construction of new prison places, the government is also counting on the effects to be expected from the extension of release under duress, which since January 1st allows the early release of detainees sentenced to less than two years’ imprisonment and who have less than three months left to serve.
