The administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise ordered the Ministry of Justice to take eight immediate measures to improve the conditions of detention in the prison of Nanterre, in an order consulted this Tuesday, December 6 by AFP.
The measures ordered by the judge in chambers concern in particular the material conditions of reception (repair of defective windows), hygiene (rat control and daily collection of garbage cans) and safety (repair of electrical installations).
"Illegal" attacks on the fundamental freedoms of detainees
The Chancellery is also asked to ensure “
as soon as possible
” that prisoners with psychiatric disorders that could make them aggressive benefit from an individual cell.
The interim relief judge noted in his order, issued at the beginning of the month, several "
manifestly illegal
" attacks on the fundamental freedoms of detainees, in particular "
the absence of windows that close properly in several cells
" at the approach of winter and the proliferation of rats and insects which "
affects the dignity of detainees and creates a health risk
".
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The International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), the Association of Lawyers for the Defense of the Rights of Detainees (A3D), the Bar Association of Hauts-de-Seine and the Union of Lawyers of France had seized the administrative justice last November, denouncing the "
unworthiness
" of the Nanterre prison, "
dilapidated and particularly overcrowded
".
At the end of November, Nanterre prison housed 942 prisoners for a theoretical capacity of 592 places.
The OIP said it was “
satisfied
” with these measures to be taken, signs according to it of an “
awareness of the deplorable state in which these people are detained
”.
"
However, we regret that more structural measures have not been taken, particularly on overcrowding
," Nicolas Ferran, head of the OIP's litigation department, told AFP.
The applicants notably asked the administrative courts to put an end to the three-way confinement in a “
definitive and unconditional
” manner.
Promiscuity and lack of privacy
Recognizing a "
promiscuity
" and a "
lack of privacy
" undermining a fundamental freedom, the judge in summary proceedings nevertheless recalls that "
a remand center is required to accommodate, regardless of the available space it has , all the people imprisoned
”.
Nearly three years after the condemnation of France by European justice for its prison population, the number of detainees in the country had reached a new record in November at 72,809 people.
