A prison in Vezin-le-Coquet, western France, on July 16, 2018. SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / AFP
France's prisons risk transforming into "human warehouses," the Council of Europe said on Thursday, January 22, as overcrowding, poor conditions and violence strain a system at record inmate levels.
The warning follows a 2024 visit to four French detention centres, where the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee reported filthy cells, a lack of clean bedding and, at one prison, infestations of rats, cockroaches and bedbugs.
Since the visit, overcrowding has only worsened, committee head Alan Mitchell said in a press release, calling conditions in the country's incarceration system "extremely" concerning. Last month, France reported a record 86,229 inmates, with a national average of 136.5 prisoners per 100 beds, according to figures from the French Interior Ministry. "This situation can turn a prison into a human warehouse, seriously compromising human dignity," Mitchell added.
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