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Ref. DC 057(2016)

Council of Europe's anti-torture Committee calls on Belgium to tackle prison overcrowding and the adverse impact of strikes on inmates

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Strasbourg, 31.03.2016 – In a report published today, the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee (CPT) calls on Belgium to solve its chronic problem of prison overcrowding and to take measures to ensure that strikes of prison staff do not have a negative impact on inmates.

During its visit to Belgium in 2013, the CPT visited the prisons of Antwerp, Forest, Merksplas and Tournai, where it found that overcrowding was still a major problem despite the "Masterplan" for renovating and constructing new prisons.

In the establishments visited, many prisoners held in multiple-occupancy cells had only 3 m² of living space per person, or even less, with some having to sleep on mattresses on the floor.  Prisoners at Forest and Tournai Prisons did not have toilets in their cells and had to use a bucket at night.  Further, most of the prisoners spent 21 hours a day in their cell because there were too few activities on offer.  The CPT recommends that the Belgian authorities provide at least 4 m² of living space for each prisoner, improve detention conditions, and increase the number of activities and work opportunities available to prisoners. 

The CPT expresses its concern – as it had already done in previous reports - about the adverse effects of strikes by prison staff on prisoners’ daily lives, such as the cancellation of visits and activities, limited health care, interrupted transfers or even ill-treatment, sometimes of a serious nature. The CPT believes that a guaranteed minimum service should be implemented in prisons while respecting the rights and freedoms of prison staff.

The report also calls upon the authorities to initiate an independent inquiry into the substantial number of allegations of provocations, insults and even physical ill-treatment received by the CPT at Forest Prison, carried out in particular by a group of custodial officers in Block D of the establishment. Staff-prisoner relations appeared to be appropriate in the other three prisons.

The situation of inmates held in the psychiatric annexes of Belgian prisons has once again given the CPT cause for concern because of the detention conditions and the lack of adequate treatment. The CPT points out that these facilities are not suited, in principle, to prolonged care for psychiatric patients and calls upon the Belgian authorities to fully revise their policy on the detention of inmates accommodated in this kind of annex.

In the eight police establishments visited, in general, the detained persons did not allege physical ill-treatment during their deprivation of liberty and the conditions of detention were satisfactory. There were many allegations, however, notably by minors, of excessive force being used by police officers, particularly upon apprehension.

With regard to the circumstances surrounding the death of Jonathan Jacob at Mortsel Police Station in January 2010, the CPT deplores the fact that this person was not looked after in a health-care establishment and notes shortcomings in the intervention method chosen by the special police units. The report recommends that measures be taken to prevent that similar incidents occur in the future.

The report has been published at the request of the Belgian authorities together with their response, where they provide detailed information on the measures taken to implement the CPT's recommendations.

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The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) organises visits to places of detention, in order to assess how persons deprived of their liberty are treated. These places include prisons, juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees, psychiatric hospitals, social care homes, etc. After each visit, the CPT draws up a report which includes the CPT’s findings and its recommendations.

Contact : Jaime Rodriguez, Spokesperson/Media officer, Tel. +33 3 90 21 47 04