2023-04-18 11:45:22
They had asked to “safeguard the dignity of the detainees”, they were heard. The administrative court of Versailles asks the State to take emergency measures “to preserve the security and the fundamental rights” of people imprisoned in the Bois-d’Arcy remand center (Yvelines), a-t- announced on Monday.
The judge in chambers called for twelve measures, to be applied “at the latest within 10 days”. He had been seized at the beginning of April of a summary-freedom by the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), the Association of Lawyers for the Defense of the Rights of Detainees (A3D) and lawyers at the bar of Paris, Versailles, Val-d’Oise, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Meaux, among others.
The latter had enjoined in unison the Ministry of Justice to serve hot meals, equip the cells with furniture, to have clean showers and hot water or even the cleaning of the exercise yards. “We come to ask you for the essentials”, had notably pleaded last week Me Juliette Chapelle, president of the A3D.
A still overcrowded prison, but a slight improvement
Unworthy conditions against which these lawyers had stood up after the visit to Bois-d’Arcy of the senator from Paris Esther Benbassa (ex-EELV), on April 3. That day, the parliamentarian had pointed out shortcomings in the maintenance of this penitentiary center which has not been renovated since its commissioning in 1980. The associations had also mentioned shortcomings in fire safety, food hygiene and sanitary.
What justice recognized on Monday, also calling on the State to “respect the dignity of the human person during so-called integral excavation operations”. The administrative court also recognized that the space allocated to each detainee was insufficient, “mechanically”, due to an estimated occupancy rate of 152.5% on March 1. Is a clear progress since the beginning of the year: on January 1, this figure was 176.5%, with then 888 detainees for 503 places. With three prisoners in single cells. The Supervisor of Prisons had also recommended in mid-December to “suspend incarcerations”.
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