The International Observatory of Prisons (OIP) and several associations of lawyers have filed a motion for interlocutory relief with the administrative court of Lille to demand urgent work at the Bethune detention center, denouncing an “inhumane” situation and an overcrowded prison.
Submitted for interlocutory relief before the administrative court of Lille, the justice system must rule by the end of the week on the situation of the Bethune detention center, denounced by the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP) and several lawyer organizations for conditions of detention deemed “indignity.”
Lawyer Julien Bocquet, representing the OIP, highlighted “inhumane conditions” known for several years in this prison: mold, water leaks in showers, lack of shelves in cells, open toilets, etc.
In addition to a personal space of “less than three square meters per prisoner,” the OIP also deplores the recurrent presence of “pests” – rats and bedbugs – in this overcrowded detention center, which houses men awaiting trial or serving short sentences.
“The Bethune detention center has been abandoned by the Ministry of Justice,” said lawyer Nicolas Vanden Bossche, representing the National Council of Bars (CNB) and the Bar Association of Bethune, who supported the OIP’s motion, along with other lawyer associations.
As the theoretical capacity of the Bethune detention center is 177 places, it regularly exceeds an occupancy rate of more than 200%. As of April 20, it housed 406 prisoners, as stated by its management during the hearing.
The decision of the administrative court is expected by the end of the week. According to the latest figures published by the Ministry of Justice, as of March 1, the average occupancy rate of detention centers in France was 137.5%. In detention centers, it rose to 168.4%, with 60,382 detainees for 35,855 theoretical places.
In recent years, several administrative courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have condemned the French state following appeals related to the living conditions in prisons.
In response to this record prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice plans to create an additional 3,000 places in modular, prefabricated prisons by 2027-2028.
