PRISON GUARDS CALL STRIKE TO PROTEST SUICIDES

Radio France Internationale
2008-10-21 17:34 TU
France

An alarming increase in jail suicides in France, including four inmates
over the past three weeks, has led prison guards to call a strike in
an effort to press the French government to act immediately. A total
of 90 people have committed suicide in one of France’s 200 jails this
year, close to last year’s total of 96 people, but down from 2005,
when 122 people killed themselves in French prisons.

A 45-year-old man hung himself in his cell last Friday in Ensisheim
in eastern France, while another, an Armenian, hanged himself in a
Strasbourg jail using his shoelaces.

This month two 16-year-olds in jails in Metz and Strasbourg killed
themselves in separate incidents.

Three main prison guard unions have repeatedly complained of
overcrowding and lack of resources, and are now calling for a
nationwide strike on 13 November.

There are currently 63,185 inmates throughout the country in jails
designed for 51,000 prisoners.

The unions accuse Justice Minister Rachida Dati of overloading the
prison system with a "tough on crime" stance that does not allow for
reinforced rehabilitation efforts.

"The penitentiaries are in agony and the minister doesn’t see this,"
said union official Christophe Marques. "If this continues, there
will be big trouble," he added.

Rights groups have harshly criticised the French prison system. The
Council of Europe calls France’s treatment of convicts "inhumane and
degrading", while the watchdog group the International Observatory
of Prisons said France needs to change its approach.

The OIP reccommends that authorities drastically reduce the use of
isolation cells as punishment.

Meanwhile, Dati has come up against problems within the French system
as magistrates have balked at her judiciary reform plan. The plan
itself has led to protests across the country.

The Justice Ministry says it is putting more than 1,000 jobs in the
prison system over the next year, and is in the process of creating
a new bill on prison reform.