2023-08-01 15:30:05
Three detainees share a cell in Gradignan prison (Gironde), October 3, 2022. THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP
The months follow each other and resemble each other. In any case, in terms of imprisonment. The number of detainees reached a new record in France, with a total of 74,513 people incarcerated on July 1, against 73,699 on June 1, according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice on Monday July 31. This represents 2,500 more detainees than on July 1, 2022. This is the sixth time that France has broken its record number of detainees. But it is also a sad “first”: the bar of 74,000 detainees had never been exceeded.
The accumulation of numbers makes you dizzy. France has 60,666 operational places in its prison establishments. This therefore gives an overall prison density of 122.8% against 118.7% a year ago. In some establishments, this rate even exceeds 200%. This is the case in Majicavo (Mayotte, 278.1%); Perpignan (212.2%); Nimes (212%); Rochefort (Charente-Maritime, 205.8%); Foix (nearly 205%). Due to this overcrowding, nearly 2,500 detainees have to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Approximately 27% of incarcerated persons are awaiting trial.
Problem: the situation is expected to get even worse in the short term. Indeed, the incarcerations following the riots triggered after the death of the young Nahel M., killed by the shooting of a policeman on June 27, are not all counted. Indeed, the urban violence took place over eight days, between June 27 and July 5, with the peak occurring between June 30 and July 2. However, Eric Dupond-Moretti, the Minister of Justice, had requested a criminal response “quick, firm and systematic” after these events.
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July 19, interviewed on RTL, the Keeper of the Seals claimed that a total of 1,278 judgments had been delivered. In 95% of cases, a conviction was pronounced. That is 1,056 people sentenced to imprisonment, including 742 to a firm sentence (the average sentence is 8.2 months). The contingent of detainees should therefore, logically, still beat the records.
Almost impossible reintegration work
The issue of prison overcrowding is a recurring debate both in France and on a European scale. On several occasions, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has considered the subject. Including quite recently. Thus, on July 6, the Court of Strasbourg rendered a judgment once again condemning France for unworthy conditions of detention.
While some use these figures of incarcerated people as proof that justice is not lax, the Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL), Dominique Simonnot, continues to warn of the explosive situation the over population. In its annual report, published in May, the CGLPL painted an apocalyptic picture of French prisons. In this document, Ms Simonnot thus considers that “our society tolerates what, in many respects, is akin to ancient corporal punishment” et was pointing «an abandonment of l’Etat».
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