Recommendations of 23rd February 201018
concerning the Mulhouse prison facility
Five controllers from the Contrôle général des lieux de privation de
liberté (CGLPL) inspected the Mulhouse prison facility (Haut-Rhin)
from 20th to 24th July 2009.
The factual observations made during the inspection were sent to
the prison director on 18th September 2009. The head of this facility
responded to these observations on 2nd October 2009.
The complete report was sent for comment to the Minister of State,
Keeper of the Seals, Ministry of Justice and Liberties, and to the
Minister of Health and Sport on 30th October 2009. Their responses
were received 23rd and 28th December 2009, respectively.
Further to this procedure and in accordance with the law n°2007-1545
of 30th October 2007, the Contrôleur général makes the following
recommendations:
1/ Serene and peaceful relations must be restored in a facility where
internal divisions between management and personnel under its
authority have become predominant. Constant internal disputes
seriously disrupt the operation of this facility. The inmates are well
aware of this situation and know how to work it to their advantage in
order to undermine the internal regulations. The usual inter-prisoner
violence, noted in this prison, is one of the consequences of this
uneasy and unhealthy climate. It should be mentioned that the French
Contrôleur général has never encountered such a deplorable situation
in a penal institution since the beginning of his mission. Nevertheless,
he did note that an audit was commissioned in a very timely manner
by the Interregional Directorate of Prison Services regarding the
operation of this facility.
2/ The conditions in which the inmates are forced to live are unacceptable:
the premises are run down, the floor is degraded, the paint chipping,
and the furniture in the cells is in poor condition; the toilets are so small
that it is impossible for the majority of people to sit down correctly.
Hygiene suffers owing to the presence of many “pests” (cockroaches,
18
Published in the Journal Officiel de la République française n°0053 of 4th March
2010, text n°96.
35
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