Rats, windows that do not close, exposed electrical wires, faulty heating: the "overwhelming" state of the Nanterre prison is once again pinned in a visit report of the bar of Hauts-de-Seine transmitted this Monday to AFP. This is despite measures to improve detention conditions ordered by the administrative courts. "The state does not respect court decisions, it's a shame," Fabien Arakelian, vice-president of the bar, told AFP. We must ask ourselves the right questions in the face of these undignified conditions of detention, in particular by encouraging alternatives to pre-trial detention."

955 prisoners for 592 theoretical places

Seized by the Bar and the International Observatory of Prisons (OIP), the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise had ordered, in December, the Ministry of Justice to take eight immediate measures to improve detention in this prison where, in March 2023, 955 people were detained for 592 theoretical places. Among these measures to be taken urgently: repair windows, electrical installations, deratize, carry out the daily collection of garbage ...

Four months later, the bar visited the prison and found that cells and showers were still in an "overwhelming" state: "generally unsanitary, overloaded, windows that do not close, degraded walls, visible and hanging electrical wires, lack of door to the toilets"... "We note despite the effort and goodwill of the management of the establishment that the injunctions ordered to the Keeper of the Seals have not been followed up to date," write the lawyers, according to which "rubbish still litters the ground despite the daily cleaning that the establishment claims to implement".

Management is waiting for funding

For rats, a "curative treatment" takes place once a week (compared to once a month or quarter previously according to the report). But "despite the reinforced curative treatment, rats are present in outdoor spaces, we have seen them at each visit to the courses," laments the bar. "No repairs" have been made to the electrical installations and "the heating problem is not solved," he adds.

Contacted by AFP, the director of the prison said she had launched the upgrading of the cells, in connection with a private provider. "We bought furniture, cabinets, set up benches in the walks," Anne Drouche also argued. The court decision has "accentuated an approach already underway", she assured, citing in particular a selective sorting put in place "before the decision". Regarding the change of windows, "at our level, we will be able to change 40 this year, but there are more than 500. Funding is still awaited."

  • Nanterre
  • Prison
  • Paris
  • Ile