Prison overpopulation: France on the podium of the worst students in Europe

It is a bronze medal that we would have gone well. France is the 3rd poorer European student in terms of prison overcrowding, according to the 2024 annual report on criminal statistics of the Council of Europe, published this Friday, July 18.

With 124 detainees for 100 prison places, France ranks just behind Slovenia (134) and Cyprus (132), while it is ahead of Italy (118), Romania (116) and Belgium (113).

In total, on the continent, the number of persons detained per 100 places available increased, from 93.5 early 2023 to 94.9 to January 31, 2024 while the median prison population rate rises to 105 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.

This level remained stable in 24 out of 51 prison administrations studied, but it has particularly increased in Slovenia (+ 25.4 %), Sweden (+ 15.5 %), Malta (+ 11.1 %) and fell into Bulgaria (-14.5 %), Luxembourg (-14.5 %), Turkey (-12.9 %).

“Overcrowding compromises reintegration efforts”

In Turkey precisely, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to multiply the arrests of opponents, knows, despite this drop, the highest rate of incarceration with 356 detainees per 100,000 inhabitants, far ahead of Azerbaijan (264) and Georgia (261), which are also on this podium.

“Violent crimes represented approximately a third of the prison population sentenced, including homicides (11.9 %), sexual offenses (8.7 %), factory routes (6.7 %) and flights (6.3 %)”, also points the report which also notes that “Infractions that the most common for whom people served a prison sentence were drug -related offenses (16.7 %) and theft (12.3 %)”specifies the report.

Besides that the average age of detainees is 37 years and that women represent 4.9 % of this population, a proportion “Remarkably constant” In all countries, the Council of Europe notes, in its press release that the “Foreigners represent a significant part of the prison population”.

Before adding: “But their distribution is very uneven depending on the country, due to migratory flows, legal frameworks and geopolitical geography”. An assessment to be put into perspective with regard to the 84 % of prisoners who are national nationals, according to the data collected.

But this report is also an alert on the worrying question of prison overcrowding of which France is a champion with 84,447 detainees on June 1 and an average rate of overhaul of 160 % in remand homes where almost 70 % of detained persons are imprisoned.

“Overcrowding seriously compromises the living conditions of the prison population and the reintegration efforts of prison administrations”, underlines Professor Marcelo Aebi, head of the research team of the University of Lausanne, who compiled this data for the Council of Europe.

“In addition to promoting alternative sanctions to imprisonment, reducing the duration of sentences, in particular for non -violent and low -risk offenders, can be a powerful tool to reduce imprisonment rates”he adds.

Far from the prison escalation promised by the justice ministers, Gérald Darmanin, ranging from the rental of prison places abroad, to the creation of a penitentiary police, including the contribution of detained persons at penitentiary costs, or the reduction in the use of sentence.

No matter the unworthy treatments that the system inflicts and that Estelle Carraud, secretary general of SNEPAP-FSU recalled, on the occasion of the presentation to the assembly of the working group report on prison regulation in early July: “There are more than 5,000 mattresses on the ground, some prisoners are forced to take cold showers in the middle of winter, some establishments are no longer able to provide meals to any person detained, because the kitchens have been sized for a well -defined number. »»