The number of prisoners reached a new record in France on December 1. The general controller of places of deprivation of liberty denounces prison overcrowding, unsanitary conditions in prisons and a “lack of political will”.
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“Behind these figures, there is a reality” in which “people have less than one square meter per person to move around” and are “locked up 22 hours a day in places so unsanitary that you have to see it to believe it”declares Dominique Simonnot, general controller of places of deprivation of liberty on franceinfo Friday December 29.
The number of prisoners reached a new record in France on December 1, with 75,677 people incarcerated compared to 75,130 the previous month, according to figures published Friday December 29 by the Ministry of Justice. The occupancy rate reached 123.3%.
A “lack of political will”
“When we say that there are 2,748 people who sleep on a mattress on the floor, that means putting toilet paper in their noses and ears to prevent cockroaches from entering”, she continues. THE “Windows and sinks are leaking” and some inmates can only take “three showers per week”, according to the general controller of places of deprivation of liberty. The life of supervisors is also “impacted” by overpopulation with “monstrous absenteeism rates of 40%”.
She denounces a “lack of political will” For “develop sentences outside the walls like in Germany”. This consists of “complete the end of your sentence in a place from which you do not leave but which teaches you life in society and work again”, explains Dominique Simonnot. Nothing is planned for “unclog” prisons in the justice programming law, denounces the general controller of places of deprivation of liberty.
