I)
Article analysis
:
Of
the 4 articles retained for this work, each one shows the significant points of
the Council of Europe’s report. They
stress in particular the terrible conditions of detention in French
prisons, which undermine the prisoners’ dignity . They
also underline the lack of means for health, hygiene, education and for the
prisoners’ work. The police and legal system are also mentioned: they refer to
a "esprit de corps" which obstructs any seeking for the truth
concerning the cases of police brutality, endowed with a " sense of impunity, " and "the lamentable state"
of the cells of police custody concerning the police precincts.
Concerning justice, these articles highlight the lack of financial means as well as
a legislative proliferation which has led the magistrates "to devote more
time to the examination of the questions of form" than to the "basic
treatment". Moreover, these articles excerpted from the Anglo-Saxon press
are interesting to study because they highlight the paradox of the situation well : France wants to be the country of human rights and
give lessons to certain large countries (like Turkey) but does not do anything
to improve the conditions of its penitentiary system and its overcrowded prisons This is not the first time
that France has been condemned concerning the state of its prisons. However,
this time two establishments have been more particularly designated: the
prisons of “la Santé” in
Lastly, these
articles highlight well the very few reactions by certain French politicians on
the subject. The French justice Minister, Pascal Clément qualified this
report as being unfair about the situation in French prisons. It
contains according to him" some undeniable "elements but also “ excessive elements ". These reactions in any case display a sensitivity to the problems
arising.
II)
Personnal
analysis
The report by Gil De-Robles is only the logical continuation of the many
earlier reports which were written in previous years on the situation in French
prisons. The outdatedness and the
terrible conditions of detention of the penitentiary establishments have indeed
been well known for many years, but no government has engaged any reforms in
this field. This report perfectly illustrates the lack of financial means
for French justice and especially the low esteem that the government holds it
in.
Moreover, I think that this report reveals the role that
I think, to
conclude, that this report unfortunately has only a symbolic value since
its author only makes recommendations. However, the symbol is strong, since it
is
Blog this (link to Master Forum)
My sources
:
The Council of Europe found prisons were overcrowded and police operated
with a sense of impunity, according to excerpts from a report due next week.
The council's human rights commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles said there was
a "widening gap" between the "text of law and what is actually
practiced".
The report comes months after many French cities were rocked by riots.
The report makes 50 recommendations to improve
They include faster and more effective access to legal assistance for
detainees, separating convicts and people awaiting trial and shortening the
maximum allowed 45-day solitary confinement.
Details of the report were leaked to Le Parisien newspaper, and
confirmed by Mr Gil-Robles.
'System of justice'
The findings are based on Mr Gil-Robles inspection of seven prisons and
five police precincts last September.
He said
He found prisons were overcrowded and dirty, jail cells in police
stations were in a terrible state and the justice system was too slow.
He criticised the treatment of minors in prisons and warned that a
"hardening of immigration policies... risks violating the rights of
genuine asylum seekers".
He said there was a weak reaction to anti-Semitic and racist crimes and
called on
"What is most important for me is that the penitentiary system is
not a system of vengeance but a system of justice - for punishing criminals
and, afterwards, permitting them to reintegrate into society," Mr
Gil-Robles told France-Info radio.
"Today, this is not possible given the current
state" of the French system.
The Council of Europe is intended as the guardian of human rights,
democracy and the rule of law in all its 46-member states.
· Overcrowded jails
and police brutality exposed Kim Willsher in Paris and Nick Watt in
Guardian
The 200 pages of damning criticism produced by the influential Council
of Europe, due to be released on Wednesday, were
leaked to Le Parisien at the weekend.
According to the leaked extracts, the report warns there is a "very
large gulf" between what the law requires and common practice in
The report, by Alvaro Gil-Robles, the council's human rights
commissioner, is based on inspections of French prisons and police stations in
September 2005. According to Le Parisien, Mr Gil-Robles said the difficulties
in
French media, which ran extracts, said the report reserved some of its
strongest criticism for the police, who were apparently described by the
Council of Europe as operating with a "sense of impunity".
Le Parisien said the report denounced a culture among officers that
hindered investigations into cases of police brutality and violence.
Highlighted abuses included claims that arrested suspects were not being
automatically allowed legal representation during police interrogations and
cited the numerous restrictions that made the lawyer's role "very
limited".
"A democratic society has nothing to fear from the presence of
responsible lawyers ... during [a suspect's] detention," read one extract
from the report.
Mr Gil-Robles said he was "shocked by the lamentable state" of
certain police cells where "detainees even sleep on the floor and are not
given any mattress or bed linen". He said it was a "sad fact"
that chronic overcrowding and a lack of money in French prisons "deprived
a large number of detainees from exercising their basic rights" and made
their incarceration a "double punishment".
A spokesman for Mr Gil-Robles said the French media reports were
accurate: "This is an accurate copy based on our draft - though not final
- report. It reflects the tenor of the report accurately."
The report is due to be presented on Wednesday to the committee of
ministers.
Le Parisien said the council's report also criticised the fact that
prisoners who misbehaved could be placed in punishment cells for up to 45 days.
The Council of Europe is a 46-member international body founded in 1949
and based in
Mr Gil-Robles told France-Info radio: "For me the most important
thing is that the prison route is not a route of vengeance but a route to
obtain justice - to give criminals a punishment and afterwards allow them to be
reintegrated into society ... In France that is not possible."
Mr Gil-Robles had harsh words for
"The very fact of announcing quotas is a shocking practice,"
Mr Gil-Robles said.
Only last week French government ministers considered new proposals from
Mr Sarkozy to establish immigration quotas based on a points system. According
to Le Monde, the report denounced the "penalisation" of foreigners in
The report also criticised the fact that those demanding asylum had to
fill in forms in French. Detention centres for foreigners awaiting expulsion
were said to be of varying quality, but the one in the Palais de Justice in
Guardian
Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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