the supervisors of the Toulouse Seysses prison mobilized, the situation there is “particularly serious” according to the general controller
that prison staff are mobilizing on September 7, 2022 in front of the Seysses remand center near Toulouse to demand more staff, the general controller of places of deprivation of liberty recalls that efforts must still be made there against overcrowding .
The prison guards of Seysses, south of Toulouse, are mobilizing this Wednesday, September 7. They have been gathered in front of the penitentiary center since 6 a.m. this morning to demand additional staff.
According to David Mathieu, local secretary of the prison staff union, 30 guards are missing for the proper functioning of the prison.
Currently, there is one guard for every 130 inmates. Staff work an average of 50 overtime hours per month. Sometimes even 90 hours/month. This causes fatigue and tension. Insults and attacks are daily. The safety and health of agents are in great danger.
David Mathieu, local secretary of the union of prison guards
Dominique Simonnot, general controller of places of deprivation of liberty, visited Seysses prison in 2021. Accompanied by nine other rapporteurs, she went to the remand center from May 31 to June 11, 2021, and noted “a significant number of serious malfunctions”.
The Toulouse-Seysses prison center must be the subject, on the one hand, of urgent measures concerning penal overcrowding, the renovation of cells, demand, access to somatic care and, on the other hand, of a recovery in hand of the operation of the establishment, in particular in order to put an end to the climate of violence as well as to guarantee to the personnel normal conditions of exercise of their mission and to the prisoners the respect of their dignity, their physical integrity and their rights fundamentals. The Ministers of Justice and Health are asked to carry out an in-depth inspection of the establishment and to inform the CGLPL of their conclusions as well as the follow-up of the resulting action plan.
Dominique Simonnot, general controller of places of deprivation of liberty
A year after this official visit, the Comptroller General notes “a slight improvement”. “Efforts have been made. We have gone from 175.5% overpopulation to 155.7%” advances Dominique Simonnot. In Seysses, there are 1,000 prisoners for 692 places.
But the conditions of detention remain unworthy. As well as the working conditions of prison staff.
In his report, the CGLPL Remark : “the establishment is chronically short of surveillance personnel and the processing of requests from detainees is not guaranteed. Violence reigns within the establishment, as everyone knows. Violence between inmates has been proven and A member of the management delegated to the controllers feared that a tragedy could occur.
According to David Mathieu, the situation is likely to get worse. “Out of ten staff who left, only eight arrived. Knowing that there is a lack of supervisors, if the management does not replace the current positions, it is a disaster”.