Rats in cells, wastewater in the promenade courtyard ... The Council of State has ordered the administration to act at the Faa'a Nuutania penitentiary center, in French Polynesia, to guarantee dignified and humane conditions of detention .
Read also: The Constitutional Council again seized of the unworthy conditions in prison
In its order, consulted on Friday by AFP, the highest administrative court in France asks the administration to intervene "
as soon as possible
" in this penitentiary center, opened in 1970 on the island of Tahiti.
In January 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned France for the inhuman and degrading conditions in several penal establishments including that of Faa'a Nuutania.
In his request, a prisoner of the penitentiary center, supported by the French section of the International Prison Observatory (OIP), maintained that the building in which his cell is located "
is infested with rats
".
He also indicated "
that part of the promenade (of the building where his cell is located) is frequently covered with wastewater, including human excreta
".
In its decision, the Council of State ordered the prison administration to ask its service provider in charge of rat control to modify the methods it uses in order to "
strengthen the effectiveness of the fight against rats
" .
The Council of State also ordered the prison administration to ask a specialized company to "
carry out a weekly cleaning of the sewage drainage pipes
".
Finally, it is necessary to "
modify the layout of the visiting rooms in order to allow a correct quality of communication between the detainees and their visitors
", asked the Council of State.
