Temperatures of up to 50°C were recorded at the Aix-Luynes prison center at the end of June. To the point of causing discomfort for prisoners and outside workers.
“It is very, very, hot in prison at the moment. Whether it is for us guards, or inmates”, notes Antoine Henry, regional delegate of the prison guards union of Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur. At the penitentiary center of Aix-Luynes (Bouches-du-Rhône), the prison guard, wearing his rangers, a trellis, a thick polo shirt and a blade-guard vest, has his eyes riveted on the thermometer . “We are on high alert every day,” he notes, worried about the high temperatures announced for the days to come: the Bouches-du-Rhône have been placed on heat wave orange vigilance by Météo-France from Wednesday July 19.
“We recorded temperatures of up to 50°C”, assures Antoine Henry. These extreme heats were reached at the end of June in the new building of the penitentiary center, “glazed, with small box”, he describes. “The heat gets in there quickly and it’s very difficult to get it out.” Son union alerted, in an open letter published Friday, July 7 (PDF), on the “incidents” related “directly to high heat”. So, “two detainees were taken to vomiting” and “a lawyer was taken ill and forced to leave her cubicle urgently”. Since then, air fresheners have been ordered, according to the union representative.
Fans to buy in the canteen
The supervisor fears for his safety and that of his colleagues. “Thursday, July 13, in the morning, an inmate forgot his circulation card, which is compulsory to go for a walk. Enraged, he attacked three guards, causing head trauma and two broken ribs. Two of them are on sick leave.laments Antoine Henry.
“It’s a whole. Even if we know that there are a lot of settling of accounts linked to the outside, the inmates rarely take it out on the guards in our establishment. When they do, the climatic and life have a lot to do with it.”
Antoine Henry, regional delegate of the prison guards union of Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azurat franceinfo
To fight against oppressive temperatures, the inmates tinker. By placing ice cubes behind fans that they can canteen, according to the prison administration, they try to refresh the air in the cells. The administration also ensures that they can buy “including caps, high protection sun creams and soothing after-sun creams”. In this recent establishment, they can above all take showers in their cell, which is not the case everywhere.
Thus at the Limoges remand center (Haute-Vienne), prisoners are entitled to three showers per week. Even if, during episodes of high heat, this number can be exceeded, specifies the prison administration.
Sometimes dilapidated buildings
The Comptroller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberties (CGLPL), Dominique Simonnot, regularly denounces the conditions of detention in this remand center. In a report dated January 2022 (PDF), it alerted on the state of the premises and more particularly the men’s quarters, which comes under “the indignity”. She denounced in particular the smallness of the places and the overcrowding: cells of 7 square meters for three prisoners, spread over a bunk bed and a mattress on the floor.
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Supervisor in the Limogeaud establishment and union representative Ufap / Unsa justice, Vincent Duroudier knows that the heat is one more hardship to manage for prisoners and guards. Even if the temperatures are not as extreme as in the Bouches-du-Rhône, in the Limoges remand center the thermometer can show more than 30°C during the day and hardly drops below 26°C at night. In question: a dilapidated building, commissioned in 1853, “with thick walls that retain heat for several days”.
Narrow and overcrowded cells
Not to mention that within the walls of the prison, the courtyards are very mineral and devoid of vegetation. For these spaces where the heat accumulates and stagnates, the heat wave plan of the prison administration provides “watering floors and walls”THE “shifting of the times for walks and sports sessions towards the ends of the morning and afternoon time slots” And “the extension of the duration of the walks if the walks allow refreshment”.
But in the cells, it is impossible to follow the basic recommendations to protect yourself from extreme heat, such as creating drafts, taking regular showers or choosing a cool place. “The cells are equipped with aa small window located two meters high, with openable leaves measuring 55 by 75 cm”describes Vincent Duroudier. Also impossible to close the shutters. When the inmates spread wet sheets at the windows, blocking the view of the guards, the latter close their eyes until the temperature drops. “In order to be able to ask detainees to respect their duties, it would already be necessary to be able to accommodate them in dignified conditions”he says.