The International Prison Observatory (OIP) on Thursday asked the administrative justice to force the state to improve the conditions of detention in the Toulouse-Seysses prison,
recently
deemed "
unworthy
" by the general controller of places of deprivation of liberty (CGLPL).
Controller Dominique Simonnot notably noted in July that this remand center alone concentrated "
nearly a quarter of the number of mattresses on the ground
" in French prisons.
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“
Seysses is prison overcrowding, with 2 m² per inmate - while the law provides for 5 m² per dog in a kennel - overcrowding, lack of hygiene, difficulties in accessing healthcare and a climate of violence,
”said Thursday, on behalf of the OIP and the Toulouse Bar Association, Me Justine Rucel, before the Toulouse Administrative Court.
State representatives, the interregional deputy director of penitentiary services, Arnaud Moumaneix, and the deputy director of Seysses, Isabelle Gerbier, recognized the difficulties, without however sharing the diagnosis of the OIP, and put forward present and future improvements.
Various measures: on hygiene, access to health or violence
The OIP and the Bar Association have requested the application of around thirty measures. In particular, they would like the State to allocate more resources to the judicial and penitentiary services in order to develop sentence arrangements and alternative measures to imprisonment. In terms of hygiene, they are asking for the end of mattresses placed on the floor for detainees, an “
effective
”
fight
against rats, mice or cockroaches, or the repair of the doors separating the toilets from the rest of the cells. For access to health, they ask for a reinforcement of the means of the medical team and of that ensuring the transfer of detainees to be treated outside the establishment, or the development of telemedicine.
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Regarding violence, they would like any allegation of aggression to be identified, supervision to be reinforced in detention quarters or for supervisors to intervene immediately in the event of an incident between detainees. In this regard, Isabelle Gerbier notably recalled the installation of 140 new CCTV cameras. She also denied any "
omerta
" in the event of violence by supervisors. Regarding care, she and Arnaud Moumaneix explained the operation of the contract with the service provider Sodexo which provides part of the services to Seysses, which until now only provided for a vehicle to transport detainees to be treated outside the hospital. 'establishment. There will now be two vehicles providing this transport.
