Following visits to Strasbourg prison, inspectors noted the conditions of detention seriously affecting the health of detained persons.
During the visit to the Strasbourg remand center from March 9 to 13, 2015, the General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) noted individual situations and conditions of detention highlighting serious violations of the fundamental rights of people detained in this establishment. In set of recommendations published on Wednesday, this independent authority calls for emergency measures to be taken.
The physical integrity of detainees neglected
There, the controllers learned of the situation of a detained person who declared to the medical service that he was the victim of violence by his fellow detainee. A doctor made an urgent report to the establishment for him to be changed cells. A officer would then immediately go to the cell of the person concerned to request, in the presence of the accused fellow detainee, details of the reasons for his concern. But he did not change the victim’s cell. As a result, the next day, the person concerned indicated that he had been a victim of rape during the night.
Sanitary facilities in a deplorable state
In addition, at the Elsau remand center (south-west of Strasbourg), the water points and the sanitary facilities for the walking courses are, as they were five years ago (first visit controllers), “in a deplorable state of filth and for many out of use. “
Thus, even if the shower rooms have been renovated, one of them is degraded and does not include any partition wall. Worse still, the shower water is freezing cold and there is still no hot water in the cells.
Source: CGLPL (http://www.cglpl.fr)
Respiratory pathologies
And the condition of the equipment is not better in the collective cells of the prisoners where many mattresses are devoured by mold, testifying to the high degree of humidity. This humidity, which is the cause of numerous damages to walls and ceilings, can lead to respiratory and dermatological pathologies.
These diseases are also caused by the cold that reigns in the cells (17 ° C during the day in a cell in the juvenile ward).
“Many people leave their hotplates on permanently, at the risk of causing burns or fires”, underline the controllers.
Another example of this icy atmosphere, in the disciplinary district, where the temperature of the cells was 14.6 ° (outside temperature: 10 ° C). “In one of them, a person, chilled with cold, was equipped with emergency protection equipment consisting of tear-off pajamas and a tear-proof blanket,” say the authors of the report.
Conclusion of the report, “these conditions of detention seriously undermine the dignity of individuals and represent inhuman and degrading treatment. “
Source: CGLPL (http://www.cglpl.fr)
An administration that hides things
But beyond this damning observation on the conditions of detention, the administration of this remand center is also accused of hiding things. “CCTV cameras have been installed in premises dedicated to the therapeutic activities of the psychiatric service. The nursing staff who masked these cameras to contest their presence, had their authorization to practice in the establishment withdrawn. The use of video surveillance means in a care space constitutes a serious breach of medical confidentiality and the independence of caregivers in prisons ”, underlines the report.
Finally, “there has been a recurring and concordant report of humiliations and provocations on the part of prison guards against the penal population. Many detainees have hesitated to speak out for fear of reprisals, ”the report’s authors conclude.
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