4. Report on managing Islamist radicalisation in prisons: dedicated units opened in 2016 On 7 June 2016, the CGLPL published a report on the opening of dedicated units associated with Islamist radicalisation in prisons, with respect to fundamental rights. The Minister of Justice submitted a reply on 6 July 2016. This report followed on from both a previous report on the management of Islamist radicalisation in prisons, published on 11 June 2015, to which the Minister of Justice had replied on 26 June 2015 on the Government's behalf, and an opinion publi shed on 30 June of that year in the Journal officiel (Official Gazette). On 25 October 2016, the Minister of Justice unveiled to the public a system on prison safety and action against radicalisation, the measures of which are due to be carried out betwee n the end of 2016 and first half of 2017. In 2015, the CGLPL had investigated the setup by the management of the Fresnes prison in the autumn of 2014 of a wing for prisoners facing charges or convicted for acts associated with a terror undertaking. In the opinion of the institution's management, this setup was justified by the need to prevent proselytism. An on-site inspection had been carried out. The measures specific to the prison administration announced on 12 January 2015 in the counter-terrorism plan (PLAT) had been examined – particularly the setup of five dedicated units (UDs) in four prisons (Fresnes, Fleury-Mérogis, Osny and Lille-Annœullin), where a personality assessment of the prisoners and supervision programmes were due to be organised. The CGLPL had spoken out against this system, particularly because of the risks incurred by grouping together prisoners and the creation of a specific detention system where no appeal would be possible because it was not governed by any legislation. In his reply, the Minister of Justice agreed that "the grounds of detention should not remain the only criterion for assignment to a dedicated unit" and that people detained for other reasons could be transferred to them in the future. He objected to the idea that there was a specific detention regime in UDs. Dedicated units were gradually opened across the selected prisons from late January to late March 2016. A team of three inspectors was dispatched to these five units designed to accommodate 117 people at the same time. With the exception of three of them, the 64 people detained at the time of the visits were able to speak in complete confidentiality with the inspectors. It was possible to meet with all staff categories, some of the external professionals and the prison administration department during the visits, which were carried out between February and May 2016. Judges and lawyers were also interviewed. The CGLPL noted that the radicalisation phenomenon had been acknowledged fairly late in the day, and that the decision to set up these UDs made in all urgency, following the events of January and November 2015. It found that the local teams had been granted a significant degree of independence, the result being stark disparities in the approach to and setup of assessment methods and supervision programmes and unequal treatment between prisoners. Given the question of grouping together, the procedure, the selection of prisoners and the detection and supervision programmes as observed by the inspectors during their mission, the CGLPL had a lot of reservations about the plan and its implementation – as there seem to be more disadvantages to the very principle of grouping these people together than advantages. It appears paradoxical to intentionally group together people facing charges for conspiracy. The interviews 45