The Martinique administrative court on Saturday April 4 ordered the prison administration and the Minister of Justice to provide masks to prisoners at the Ducos prison center in Martinique, and to acquire screening tests.
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In an order made on Saturday, the judges of the administrative court, seized in summary proceedings by the Bar Association of the Martinique bar, " consider that the promiscuity induced by prison overcrowding does not allow detainees, notwithstanding the measures taken by the prison administration to limit contact between them, to respect the rules of social distancing ”.
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" The risk of spreading Covid-19 is significantly higher in the Ducos prison than for the rest of the population ", note the judges, who stress that " under these conditions, having regard to the particular vulnerability of detainees, the failure of the prison administration to put masks at their disposal constitutes a serious and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms ”.
However, they add, " the limited nature of the stocks available requires prioritization of this availability ". The court thus enjoins the Minister of Justice and the director of the Ducos penitentiary center, " as soon as possible to distribute masks to detainees so that they have them, as a priority, during situations leading them to be in contact with several detainees from other cells ”.
The court made an identical finding on screening: considering that " the failure of the prison administration to obtain tests for Covid-19 constitutes a serious and manifestly illegal attack on fundamental freedoms ", the court " enjoins the prison administration to acquire sufficient screening tests to allow, as a priority, the screening of people who have been in direct contact with a person showing symptoms of Covid-19, in order to allow, in the event that this screening occurs would reveal positive, their distancing and their health care. "
In addition, the court ordered the prison administration to " distribute masks and gloves " to the auxiliaries in charge of distributing meals at the prison center.