OPINIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FRENCH CGLPL activity of supervising prisoners using the fitness apparatus or boxing bouts gets few candidates - there were eight changes in 2012. There are certain permanent cultural activities available, run by some very devoted external people, (‘cyber-base’ in the women’s wing, a ‘multi-media centre’ for the men, ‘mysterious places’ for creativity). But financing these activities is not guaranteed. Some exceptional shows have been put on. However, there is no position for a coordinator and the remarkable theatre that the women’s wing boasts will disappear when reconstruction begins (the “Baumettes 2” project). Given all this, the only real ‘activity’ for all is exercise - up to six hours a day. 12/ But exercise can be far from relaxing. For another characteristic of this institution is the rising level of violence, which often occurs in the exercise yards. Violence is directed towards the staff - fortunately proportionally less than in other institutions - and frequently occurs between fellow prisoners. Although the list clearly cannot be regarded as exhaustive (only violence in the exercise yards has a real chance of being identified), since the beginning of this year, doctors have recorded fourteen cases of multiple bruising, eight deep wounds, seven diverse wounds and fractures, three traumatic skull injuries and one case of rape. Not all of the cases known to the medical staff are necessarily communicated to the State Prosecutor’s Office. An explanation for this violence is often cited - it reflects life in Marseille, in particular in the ‘northern districts’. It is also the result of the rivalry between gangs of youths or delinquents from different cities (“if the guys from Marseille get done in Avignon, then those from Avignon get done in Marseille“). This is however only a partial explanation. Moreover, residents of the northern districts of Marseille are not particularly numerous in this prison. On the other hand, the institution is a veritable souk for goods and services where everything can be bought and where everything is sold at elevated prices. Access to a telephone, for example: as a senior staff member says, “here, there are two telephone providers, company X (the exclusive official provider) and the gang bosses”; telephone calls are payable, but so is access to the telephone, facilitated and made more expensive by the fact that the majority of telephones are in the exercise yards and are regularly vandalised (organised supply limitation). This all generates loans and debts, demands for payment, racketing and threats. Violence is meted out to those who cannot or who refuse to pay. However many of these are simply indigent (about 15% of prisoners “lack sufficient resources” 146