Could the tragedy have been avoided? This Friday morning, a 16-year-old committed suicide in the closed educational center of Cambrai (North), where he was placed. He hanged himself with a telephone wire. The Cambrai public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the causes of the young man’s death. According to our information, educators and unions had already listed serious dysfunctions within this establishment, which depends on the judicial protection of youth in the North, a directorate attached to the Ministry of Justice.
In a letter dating from the end of 2021, which we were able to consult, the educators write a three-page letter to the unions to recount “the many institutional dysfunctions”, and alert them to “the urgency of the situation”. Regarding their working conditions, they say: “We are currently unable to protect minors who are constantly being attacked and harassed by part of the collective. »
Educators are themselves taken to task “either by tags, or by harassment, insults, threats, provocations. They note “a great feeling of insecurity and abandonment” within the team. The lack of personnel also leads to a disorganization of schedules, activities and “impossible quality care”.
Several failures in the security of the establishment
Regarding the state and safety of the establishment, the educators point out several shortcomings: windows that are easy to force and “permanently open”, others impossible to open, an electrical panel “freely accessible by young people”, or even a “more than dangerous” terrace.
In the past, a Force Ouvrière leaflet distributed in 2017 deplored a threefold management “with limited managerial capacities”, “deplorable” working conditions in an “unsafe” structure and a “trivialization” of attacks on educators. “Beyond the dilapidation of the premises, the limited resources and the chaotic HR situations, the accommodation system is going through an unprecedented crisis”, is alarmed by the union for the Judicial Protection of Youth.
Contacted by email, the territorial direction of the judicial protection of youth in the North did not wish to respond to our requests. The FO union is asking for a judicial inspection investigation. “Today we see that the various alerts have not led to a real reaction from the management of the PJJ and we deplore this, he reacts. A suicide always has an individual dimension, but the degraded reception conditions may have impacted colleagues in the prevention of this type of behaviour. An inspection must be carried out as soon as possible to shed light on the circumstances of the tragedy. »
The autopsy will be performed early next week. According to our information, the victim was placed in this center by the Béthune public prosecutor’s office as part of a judicial investigation opened for serious facts. This evening, young people from the Cambrai closed educational center are sleeping in the establishment, while the teenager’s room has been sealed. According to the chancellery, help for victims as well as a psychologist and a psychiatrist have been set up this afternoon in the center.