French prison guards are on strike, and across the country the same scene is being seen: burning barricades of tires and wooden pallets in front of prisons. And even in front of the prison at Fleury-Mérogis, the largest detention center in Europe, located about 20 kilometers south of Paris.
The prison's 4,300 inmates can no longer be visited, walks have been cancelled, and daily showers have also been cancelled. Police officers took over the work of security guards and limited themselves to such basic things as distributing food and medicine.
“A complete blockade of all prisons” is the slogan of prison guards, who complain about dangerous working conditions and demand better conditions and greater compensation, but ultimately want public recognition for work they describe as overwhelming. Two-thirds of France's 186 prisons are now on strike, many into their second week. The end of the conflict is still near.
The strike by guards began on January 11 at the prison for high-risk criminals in Vanden-le-Vieilles in northern France, near the Belgian border. German Islamist Christian Gancharski attacked three guards with a dull knife and a pair of children's scissors, slightly wounding them. Gancharski was arrested and convicted in France in 2009 as the mastermind of the suicide bombing of a bus at the El Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba.
When the guards opened his cell, he attacked them shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Although the prison governor resigned immediately, the incident sparked a nationwide strike by 28,000 prison guards.
Christian Gancharski
After this attack, there was a series of attacks on prison guards by radical prisoners. Three of them in the south of France, where a prisoner in Mont-de-Marsan attacked seven guards. A security guard was beaten in Tarascon. In the Corsican prison in Borgo, an Islamist with knives attacked two guards who are still in hospital. The latest attack took place in northern France over the weekend when a prisoner attacked guards with an iron table leg.
“We can’t take it anymore,” union member David Besson told a French television channel, “our working environment is becoming more dangerous, we are completely overburdened due to lack of staff.”
Despite Justice Minister Nicole Belloube's promise to create new jobs, no agreement has been reached on this issue. Nobody wants to risk their life for a nominal salary of 1400 euros per month. The offer of a special annual bonus for some prison officers was seen as an "insult" by unions and was described as an "aggression bonus".
Conditions in French prisons have been criticized for years by European institutions and human rights organizations. Chronic overcrowding, lack of privacy, hygienic conditions like in the 19th century, lousy mattresses, rats in the cells, garbage in the yard, lack of staff - the list of criticisms is long.
With an occupancy rate of almost 114 prisoners per 100 prison beds, France ranks second in European statistics after Greece. Due to chronic overcrowding, sometimes up to four people must share a ten square meter space. Currently, 1,547 prisoners sleep on the floor on mattresses.
France's fiasco in the fight against Islamists
Recently, another problem has been added: the growing number of people convicted of terrorism - currently 500 people - and the rapid radicalization of Muslim prisoners in prisons, of which there are 1,200. Unlike Sweden and the UK, France has not yet found an approach to solving this problem, which will only increase in the foreseeable future with people returning from Syria and Iraq.
They tried to isolate radicalized prisoners in separate places. But it soon became obvious that this created ideological strongholds where hatred and fanaticism flourished even more, and it was the prisoners who determined the law and rules.
« French prisons are in a structural crisis. “Jihad is one aspect of the overall problem, exacerbating all the others,” analyzes sociologist Farhad Khorohavr in a recent commentary for Le Monde.” As an expert on radicalization who has worked extensively in prisons, he criticizes the degrading conditions: “It’s inhumane for the detainees and inhumane for those guarding them.”
High suicide rate
Conditions of detention are the cause of regular violence in French prisons and twice as many high level suicides among prisoners compared to European rates. Every day, on average, ten prison guards are attacked by detainees, sometimes sustaining serious injuries. 4,000 attacks are reported annually, increasingly carried out by convicted Islamists or radicals.
“French prisons are like suburbs of lost territories,” says Frédéric Ploquin, a legal specialist at Marianne magazine. France has been pushing its social problems into prisons for years, and now wants to hide behind high walls. There, the prison guards feel alone with their problems. They are hopelessly overburdened with their responsibilities and face an explosive mixture of growing radicalism and inhumane conditions.
Where do juvenile killers end up? In France, teenagers can go to prison from the age of 13. The sentence he imposes is half the possible sentence that would be imposed on an adult offender for a similar crime. But there is one exception.
If a teenager is over 16 years old and is tried by a juvenile jury who finds that the mitigating circumstance of being a minor does not apply, the youth will be tried as an adult.
But juvenile prisons are completely different from similar institutions for adults. Although institutions for minors are part of the country’s penitentiary system, they are managed by representatives of a special organization called “Judicial Protection of Youth” (JPM). SZM is an integral part of the Ministry of Justice. The priority in the execution of punishment for minors is education.
Young criminals can be held in three types of specialized institutions.
Departments for minors in pre-trial detention centers. Inside French prisons there are specially equipped sections for minors. The internal rules in such departments are more relaxed, and the prisoners held there are under the joint control of guards and educators. Attendance at school is compulsory for everyone under 16 years of age. Young criminals attend not only school classes, but also various vocational training courses (industrial training).
Such special departments are not available in all prisons, and where they are, according to experts, they are not suitable for serving sentences for minors, since one way or another they are still surrounded by a criminogenic atmosphere with the inherent cruelty of prisons for adults. That is why, following numerous recommendations, special juvenile detention facilities (PJI) were created in 2002. But there are few such institutions, there are not enough places in them, and therefore many juvenile convicts are forced to serve their sentences of imprisonment in specialized departments of pre-trial detention centers.
Juvenile Penitentiary Institutions (PYI), as stated above, were created in 2002 under a bill passed by Parliament called the Perben I Law.
There are six such institutions in France. These prisons are entirely reserved for minors and do not allow adult offenders to be housed there. The very first PUN was opened in 2007, that is, five years after the adoption of the relevant law. According to then-Minister of Justice Pascal Clément, PUNs were to become “just schools surrounded by fences.” These institutions are run entirely by representatives of Youth Justice and have continued education as a priority. Sports events, studies, getting a profession... Unlike adult prisoners in PUN, young offenders are constantly engaged in useful activities.
Closed training centers (CLCs) do not belong to penitentiary institutions. They are educational institutions alternative to imprisonment. ZUCs are subordinate to the Ministry of Justice.
Established in 2002, these small institutions, designed to house between 8 and 12 (maximum) young people, are in principle intended for young repeat offenders, but can also house juvenile offenders. There are a total of 51 such institutions in France. Minors are required to live here, but prison paraphernalia in these institutions is sharply reduced: for example, instead of prison walls there is a simple fence.
Is the French juvenile criminal justice system optimal? According to Domin Juf, a scholar specializing in juvenile justice, “in last years Considerable efforts have been made in this direction." The separation of minors and adults in prisons is now mandatory, and with the formation of PUNs, prisons appeared in general, intended only for young criminals.
However, since their creation, these juvenile prisons have come under constant criticism. A number of experts, considering them ineffective and expensive, accuse PUNs of being nothing more than a new incarnation of previously existing “correctional houses”. Various human rights organizations indicate that a significant number of suicides among minors occur in PUNs every year.
Belgium: Fifteen prisoners demand euthanasia
After a Belgian court recognized the right to euthanasia for repeat sex offender Frank Van Den Bleeken, fifteen other prisoners demanded the same for themselves.
Is it possible to use euthanasia due to “unbearable mental suffering” in prison? After Belgian justice agreed to hospitalize repeat sex offender Frank Van Den Bleeken for euthanasia, Ulteam, a specialist medical team offering advice to end-of-life patients, reported that 15 more prisoners had done the same. choice. “I don’t think euthanasia among prisoners will become widespread,” said Jacqueline Herremans, a member of the Commission for Monitoring the Application of the Law on Euthanasia (ECPE) and president of the Belgian Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, calmly assessing the current situation. “Each such case is unique and must be considered individually.” Former member of the same Commission, Mr. Fernand Keuliner, however, emphasizes: “This situation raises many questions for us...”
During the trial, Frank Van Den Bleeken was found not responsible for his actions. As a result, he was not “convicted”, but “placed” in prison, where he has been for thirty years and which cannot provide him with specialized treatment. Now 52, he is well aware of his condition and claims that if he is released, he will “immediately and absolutely” reoffend. Since he was not allowed to travel to the Netherlands, where he could receive appropriate treatment in one of the clinics, and, according to his lawyer Jos Van Der Velpen, “the doctors who examined him repeatedly admitted that he was experiencing unbearable suffering,” Frank Van Den Bleeken began to court procedure against the Minister of Justice to obtain the “right to die”.
Even supporters of euthanasia are perplexed by so many of these “unusual requirements”. "When mental illness The decision to use euthanasia cannot always be made! - emphasizes Chris, a healthcare professional from Ulteam. - There are already several cases where the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Belgium for not providing its prisoners with proper psychiatric treatment.
Living conditions in prison are terrible: when you see so many suicide attempts, you come to the conclusion that the number of requests for euthanasia will only increase! The chairman of the ECHR and renowned oncologist, Professor Wim Distelmans, refused to euthanize Frank Van Den Bleeken. “Everyone has the right to palliative care,” he said in an interview with the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. - In the Netherlands, for example, therapeutic treatment is possible. From an ethical point of view, we are following the wrong path if we allow this person to receive euthanasia.”
According to Mr. Keuliner, “admission to a psychiatric hospital is often the only solution to ensure: dangerous criminal(even if he is not sick) will never be released again. If he is sent to prison, then we all know that sooner or later he will be released... In addition, you can suffer from a mental disorder at the time of committing the crime, and this makes it difficult to control your actions, and for the next thirty years not experience this mental disorder . And then, who doesn’t have mental disorders? Why then should such a person be considered sick?”
The lawyer protests against this whole “suffering debate.” “It is necessary to look at the specific case of this particular prisoner. "We never asked ourselves whether we could develop new treatments for thousands of other prisoners," he insists. “We simply came to the conclusion that this particular person has the right to demand euthanasia with the participation of doctors...”
As for the relatives of the victims, they are disgusted by everything that is happening. “All these commissions, doctors, experts spend so much time studying the fate of this killer of our sister! - the sisters of Christiane Remacle, raped and murdered in 1989 when she was 19 years old, are indignant. - Not a single commission cared about us and our relatives. This means that we, and not he, must continue to suffer! This court decision to apply euthanasia to him is completely incomprehensible: he should be where he is now, and not quietly die!”
France: first penitentiary Olympic Games
Dozens of prisoners took part in the first national penitentiaries Olympic Games ah, which took place in the city of Var, located in the south of France, between Marseille and Nice. The purpose of these competitions is to improve relationships and assist in resocialization.
The Penitentiary Olympic Games are a sports competition organized for the first time on a national scale by the Regional Olympic Committee of the Côte d'Azur (ROCLB) and the Ministry of Justice. The closing ceremony on September 26 capped a week of athletic testing in a variety of disciplines, involving minor offenders and prison staff. A total of more than 1,500 participants representing forty prison institutions came to the first national Penitentiary Games.
The idea of holding sports games for prisoners was born in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region (PALB). “For quite some time now we have been trying to organize various sports events for unemployed youth,” explains Pierre Cambreal, deputy director of ROCLB, responsible for organizing sports events on the Côte d'Azur.
The regional Olympic Committee is convinced that sport “is the best way social cohesion of people,” and therefore decided to expand their activities by involving prisoners in competitions, since, as ROKLB believes, sports in prison are “the only activity available to prisoners, apart from reading.” The Penitentiary Olympic Games should encourage sports coaches working in prisons to ensure that their activities are not limited to just formal sports events, but actually contribute to the social reintegration of their wards.
At first, in 2012 and 2013, these competitions were held only within one region. But then national authorities drew attention to them, and in 2014 all French penitentiary centers were invited to take part in them on a voluntary basis. As Pierre Cambreal emphasizes, participation is based primarily on a “moral contract”: “The idea is not at all to involve those who do nothing in prisons and do not intend to do anything.” First of all, those who have motivation are selected. And of course, “legal selection” plays a big role.
Regional penitentiary services for resocialization and probation thoroughly studied the personal files of the candidates, and then each, on an individual basis, was granted the right to temporarily travel to the Cote d'Azur. As Pierre Cambreal explains, we are, of course, not talking about those sentenced to, say, 30 years in prison for some “bloody crime,” but about prisoners sentenced to one or two years in prison for minor offenses. And of course, prisoners themselves must strive to reintegrate into society.
About 600 prisoners, men and women, left their prisons for four days and changed into sports uniforms. First, the penitentiary institutions held qualifying competitions in athletics, boxing, gymnastics, table tennis, badminton, basketball, football and fencing. In those sports that involve team competition (football, basketball, etc.), prisoners and prison staff could compete together. This is one way to improve the relationship between those who must serve their sentences and those who are obliged to protect them.
During all the games, not a single incident was recorded. No escape attempts, no “showdowns” between prisoners or prisoners and staff. Meals for the participants were provided at the tourist center, next to the place where the competition was held. Moreover, all participants - both prisoners and prison staff - sat at the same tables and ate the same food. Dozens of volunteers from the penitentiary administration took part in the competition. The total cost of hosting the first National Penitentiary Olympic Games was 120,000 euros, which, according to Pierre Cambreal, was raised by "numerous partners." A number of stores, for example, made significant discounts for the purchase of necessary materials or provided the necessary funds.
“As in any other competition in which the participants are dressed only in shorts and T-shirts, no one simply knows who is who outside the playing field,” emphasizes Pierre Cambreal. And this, in his opinion, is another way to establish “a different, non-confrontational relationship.” It's also a way to "give those idling in their cells a purpose" by giving them the opportunity to put in some effort and enjoy it. Pierre Cambreal is convinced of this: “Obtaining sports results through their own will, thanks to the lifestyle that we offer them, stimulates these people who will be released in six months or a year, and gives them certain opportunities and hopes.”
In the meantime, after the ceremonial closing of the Olympics, they return to their cells. Many of them will hang the medals they won on the wall.
The Bastille is one of the most famous fortresses in European history, almost exclusively due to the role it played in the French Revolution.
A stone fortress whose main body consisted of eight round towers with walls one and a half meters thick, the Bastille was smaller than it appears in later paintings, but still an imposing, monolithic structure, reaching a height of 73 feet (over 22 meters).
It was built in the 14th century to protect Paris from the British, and began to be used as a prison during the reign of Charles VI. In the era of Louis XVI, this function was still its most famous, and over all these years the Bastille saw many prisoners. Most people were imprisoned by order of the king without any trial or investigation. These were either nobles who acted against the interests of the court, or Catholic dissidents, or writers who were considered seditious and depraved. There were also a noticeable number of people who were locked there at the request of their families for their benefit.
By the time of Louis XVI, conditions in the Bastille were better than usually portrayed. Basement cells, whose humidity accelerated the development of disease, were no longer used, and most prisoners were housed on the middle levels of the structure, in cells 16 feet wide with rudimentary furniture, often with a window. Most prisoners were allowed to take their own property, and most famous example is the Marquis de Sade, who had with him a huge number of devices and parts, as well as an entire library. Dogs and cats were also allowed to kill rats. The Commandant of the Bastille was given a certain daily sum for each rank of prisoner: the lowest of three livres a day for the poor (an amount still greater than what some French lived on), and for high-ranking prisoners more than five times as much. Alcohol and smoking were also allowed, as were cards if you were not alone in the cell.
Considering that people could enter the Bastille without any trial, it is easy to see how the fortress earned its reputation as a symbol of despotism, oppression of freedom and royal tyranny. This is certainly the tone adopted by writers before and during the Revolution, who used the Bastille as a physical embodiment of what they saw as wrong with government. Writers, many of whom were once detained in the Bastille, have described it as a place of torture, burial alive, a place of exhaustion of the body, a maddening hell.
The reality of the Bastille of Louis XVI
This image of the storming of the Bastille during the reign of Louis XVI is now generally believed to have been exaggerated, with fewer prisoners being better kept, contrary to popular opinion. Although undoubtedly the main psychological impact was being kept in a cell with walls so thick that you could not hear the other prisoners - best shown in Simon Lenguay's "Mémoires sur la Bastille" - prison conditions were greatly improved. Some writers saw their imprisonment in the Bastille as a career development rather than the end of their lives. The Bastille has become a relic of the past, and royal documents shortly before the revolution indicate that plans had already been made to demolish the Bastille.
Storming of the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, during the French Revolution, a large crowd of Parisians had just obtained weapons and cannons from the Invalides. The rebels believed that forces loyal to the crown would soon attack both Paris and the revolutionary National Assembly, and sought weapons to defend themselves. However, the weapons needed gunpowder, and most of it was placed in the Bastille for safety. Thus the crowd gathered around the fortress, bolstered both by the urgent need for gunpowder and by their hatred of almost everything they considered unjust in France.
The Bastille was unable to create a long-term defense: although the number of cannons was sufficient, the garrison was too small, and there were only two days' supplies. The crowd sent representatives to the Bastille to demand weapons and gunpowder, and although the commandant, the Marquis de Launay, refused, he removed the weapons from the ramparts. But when the returning representatives were already close to the crowd, the drawbridge incident and the frightened actions of the rebels and soldiers led to a shootout. When several rebel soldiers arrived with cannons, de Launay decided that it was better to try to find some kind of compromise to save his honor and the honor of his men. Although he wanted to explode the gunpowder and destroy the fortress, and with it most of the surrounding area. The defense was weakened and the crowd rushed inside.
Inside, the crowd found only seven prisoners: 4 counterfeiters, 2 madmen and one sexual pervert, the Comte Hubert de Solage (the Marquis de Sade had been transferred from the Bastille ten days earlier). This fact did not destroy the symbolism of the act of capturing the main symbol of the once all-powerful monarchy. And yet, since a large number of the attackers during the battle were killed - as it turned out, eighty-three in the battle and fifteen later died of wounds - compared with just one of the garrison, the anger of the crowd demanded a sacrifice, and de Launay was chosen. He was dragged through the streets of Paris and then killed, and his head was impaled on a pike.
The fall of the Bastille gave the population of Paris gunpowder for newly captured weapons and the means to defend the revolutionary city. Just as the Bastille was a symbol of royal tyranny before its fall, so it later rapidly became a symbol of freedom. Indeed, the Bastille “was much more important in its “afterlife” than ever as a functioning institution of power. It gave form and image to all those vices against which the revolution had defined itself." The two insane prisoners were soon sent to a mental hospital, and by November most of the Bastille had been demolished by feverish efforts. The king, although urged by his confidants, to go abroad and hope against more loyal troops, he conceded and withdrew his troops from Paris.
In addition to the Marquis de Sade, the famous prisoners of the Bastille were: The Man in the Iron Mask, Nicolas Fouquet, Voltaire, Count Cagliostro, Countess De Lamotte and many others.
Bastille Day is still celebrated annually in France.
Chateau d'If
One of the most famous attractions of Marseille is certainly the Château d'If. Interestingly, it owes its fame not to amazing architecture or important historical events associated with it. Built as part of the fortifications of the port of Marseille, the castle almost immediately began to be used as a prison. And it was the prisoner who made this castle famous. Moreover, a prisoner who never existed in real life. We are, of course, talking about Edmond Dantes, the hero of the wonderful novel by A. Dumas “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
The novel, published in 1846, was so popular that when the Château d'If was opened to the public in 1890, crowds flocked to see the place where their beloved hero spent many years of imprisonment. To meet the wishes of tourists, they even hung a sign on one of the cells in the castle: “Edmond Dantes’s punishment cell.” It is alleged that this camera was not chosen by chance. For several years, it contained a man who was one of the prototypes of the hero of the novel (although the validity of these statements is not confirmed by anything).
Unlike Dantes, his cellmate Abbot Faria had a real abbot with the same name as his prototype. Born in the Portuguese colony of Goa, Faria mastered the art of meditation and hypnosis, which he successfully practiced. For participation in the struggle for the liberation of his native land, Faria was sentenced to imprisonment in a prison in the metropolis, in Lisbon. From there he fled and came to France, where he published books on hypnosis and actively participated in the revolution. After the fall of the Jacobin dictatorship, the abbot remained true to his republican beliefs, for which he paid. He was imprisoned in the Chateau d'If, where he spent almost two decades.
Another "tourist" prisoner of the Chateau d'If is the "Man in the Iron Mask". The mysterious character of another novel by A. Dumas also received “his” cell in the castle prison, although there is no doubt that the real prisoner “ Iron mask"(mysterious prisoner from the late 17th century) had never been to the Chateau d'If.
Probably the most famous of the real prisoners of the castle was Count Mirabeau. One of the most brilliant and talented figures of the future French Revolution was imprisoned in the castle in 1774 for participating in a duel. The count stood up for the honor of his sister, and the royal authorities treated the duelists strictly. However, Mirabeau did not stay at the Chateau d'If for long, and was soon transferred to a more comfortable prison.
However, neither Mirabeau nor the Marquis de Sade (whose stay in the castle seems more than doubtful) managed to eclipse the glory of the hero A. Dumas, and it is precisely to get acquainted with the place of many years of suffering of Edmond Dantes that thousands of tourists go to the castle.
Conciergerie
The Conciergerie is part of the Palais de Justice, located on the Ile de la Cité, in the historical center of Paris. This is a stern and impregnable building from the time of Philip the Fair, rising on the banks of the Seine.
The name Conciergerie comes from the position. The position of concierge was first mentioned in the royal charters of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223). In these charters he is designated as a person receiving a salary for performing “small and medium justice” on the palace grounds.
Under Philip the Fair (1285-1314), major construction began during which the royal residence turned into the most luxurious palace in Europe. Philip entrusted all the work to his chamberlain, Enguerrand de Marigny. Special premises were built for the concierge and his services, later called the Conciergerie. These include the Guards Hall, the Hall of Warriors and three towers: Silver, in which the king kept his relics; Caesar, as a reminder that the Romans once lived here; and finally the tower where criminals were subjected to terrible torture: Bonbek.
The fourth, square tower of the Conciergerie was built under John II the Good (1319-1364). His son Charles V the Wise (1364-1380) placed the first city clock on the tower in 1370, and since then it has been called the Clock Tower. John the Good also built a building for kitchens.
For several decades, luxurious life flowed within the walls of the royal palace, of which the Conciergerie is part.
In the Hall of Warriors, which is also called the Hall of the Armed Forces, with an area of about 2 thousand square meters. m., at royal feasts, invited guests were seated at a U-shaped table of infinite length. On normal days, the royal guards and numerous staff (clerks, officials and servants) in the service of the king and his family, totaling about 2,000 people, dined here. Completed in 1315, this grand hall is more than 70 meters long. Its vaults are supported by 69 pilasters and columns.
The huge dining room was heated by four fireplaces. The Hall of Warriors, whose construction began in 1302, is the only example of civil Gothic architecture in Europe.
On the left wall you can see a fragment of a black marble table, which was used during the magnificent receptions that the Capetian and Valois kings held in the Great State Hall, located on the floor above. Spiral staircases led to this hall, some of which remained on the right side of the hall.
From the Hall of Warriors, a wide arched flight leads to the palace kitchen, nicknamed the Kitchen of St. Louis (Louis), although it was built under King John the Good in 1350. The four corners of the kitchen are cut off by four fireplaces, in each of which two oxen were roasting on spits. The bulls, like other supplies, were delivered along the Seine on barges and loaded into the kitchen directly through a special window with a block.
The guardroom is also called the Hall of Guards or the Guards Hall. This vaulted hall in the early Gothic style was also built under Philip the Fair. The area is about 300 sq.m.. The capitals of the central column depict Heloise and Abelard. This hall served as an antechamber to the Great Royal Apartments, which no longer exist today, where the king gathered his council and where Parliament met. The Revolutionary Tribunal pronounced its verdicts there in 1973.
These halls have survived to this day. Under the Conciergerie, there was always a prison inside the palace walls. By an evil irony of fate, one of the first prisoners of the Conciergerie turned out to be Enguerrand de Marigny (the same architect who built this palace). Under Philip's heir, Louis X the Grumpy, he fell out of favor and was executed in 1314.
In the 1370s, Charles V moved the royal residence to the Louvre. Manage the former palace and collect rent from the owners of shops, workshops and other establishments who rented premises in the building former palace was entrusted to a nobleman who was called a concierge. The concierge had numerous privileges and wielded great power. It was then that this part of the palace, which was under the control of the concierge, began to be called the Conciergerie.
In 1391 the building became an official prison. Thus began the dark, centuries-old history of the Conciergerie prison, which became the plague and horror of Paris. It held political prisoners, swindlers, and murderers. In the early days of the prison's existence, there were few prisoners. High-ranking prisoners were usually kept in the Bastille, but thieves and vagabonds were kept here. Of the state criminals, only non-nobles were kept here, and then much later. The Conciergerie housed the murderer of Henry IV Ravaillac, the leader of the Salt Riot during the time of Louis XIV Mandrin and others.
Beginning in 1793 - after the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution - the Conciergerie became a prison for the revolutionary tribunal. Most of the prisoners of this scary prison There was only one way to go - to the guillotine. They had the hair on the back of their heads cut off, their hands tied behind their backs, and they were put in a cart that was driven to their execution along bridges and embankments to the hooting of passers-by to the place where the guillotine stood that day. There were many squares in Paris, but there was only one guillotine, and it was regularly transported from place to place.
Queen Marie Antoinette spent more than two months at the Conciergerie. The prisoners of the prison were: Louis XVI's sister Madame Elisabeth, the poet Andre Chenier, Charlotte de Corday, who killed Marat, and the famous chemist Antoine Lavoisier. Many revolutionaries who unleashed terror and then became its victims themselves also passed through the Conciergerie: the Girondins, Danton and his supporters, then Robespierre.
Queen Marie Antoinette's chamber. A look through the window in the door.
Currently, the Conciergerie is part of the Palace of Justice and houses a museum. Visitors are shown Marie Antoinette's dungeon and the chapel created for her, the prisoners' gallery, with the gloomy prison cells of that time, and the gendarmerie hall, where poor prisoners awaited their fate.
Vincennes castle
Vincennes Castle was built for the kings of France in the 14th-17th centuries in the Bois de Vincennes, on the site of a 12th-century hunting estate. The city of Vincennes, today a suburb of Paris, developed around the castle.
Around 1150, a hunting lodge was built on the site of the castle for Louis VII. In the 13th century, the estate was expanded by Philip Augustus and Saint Louis (it was from the Vincennes Castle that Louis went on his fatal crusade to Tunisia). In the second half of the 13th century, Kings Philip III and Philip IV married in the Château de Vincennes, and Louis X, Philip V the Long and Charles IV died.
In the 14th century, under Philip VI, the castle was significantly expanded and acquired a tower - a donjon 52 meters high, in which royal chambers and a library were built. Around 1410, already under Charles VI, the perimeter of the outer walls was completed. During the French religious wars In the 16th century, the castle became a prison, including for the future king Henry IV.
In the 17th century, the architect Louis Leveau built two pavilions by order of Louis XIV - one was intended for the dowager queen, the other for Cardinal Mazarin. However, after the king’s attention was diverted by a new project - Versailles - work on arranging the new courtyards was abandoned. Builders came to Vincennes again only in 1860 under the leadership of the restorer Viollet-le-Duc.
In the 18th century, the kings left the castle forever. It housed the Vincennes porcelain manufactory (since 1740) and, again, a prison. The Duke de Beaufort, Nicolas Fouquet, John Vanbrugh, the Marquis de Sade, Diderot and Mirabeau sat in Vincennes. In 1804, the kidnapped Duke of Enghien was executed in the moat of the fortress. In the 20th century, the French executed Mata Hari in 1917 and the Germans executed 30 peaceful hostages in the castle in 1944.
Hard labor in Cayenne
The history of French Guiana begins in 1604, under Henry IV. The first exiles appeared on the islands of salvation in 1852, at the beginning of the reign of Napoleon III. The prisoners were transferred here after Napoleon decided to close three camps on French territory in Europe - in Brest, Rochefort and Toulon. At the beginning of the Second Empire, a total of 5 thousand prisoners were held in these three camps. It is clear that the arrival of thousands of prisoners on the Salvation Islands immediately raised the problem of overpopulation.
By transferring prisoners to Guiana and New Caledonia, France pursued two goals: to clear French territory of convicts and to colonize new territories. It took 10 years to transfer prisoners to Guiana. Eight months after the first exiles arrived in Cayenne, a second camp was opened.
On the territory of Guiana, following the camp on the Salvation Islands, a second camp was opened - “îlet de Cayenne” - in the north of Cayenne, with an area of 50 hectares. In addition, the French brought two old ships. Moored in the port, the ships turned into a port floating prison. Two years later, in 1854, the third penitentiary base was opened - “Silver Mountain” (Montagne d "Argent), on a small peninsula in the Oyapok River delta.
In March of the same year, 1854, a law was passed that enshrined a terrible principle that deprived the exiles of the hope of returning home. Anyone sentenced to a term of less than 8 years was obliged to remain after release in Guiana for a period equal to the term of the sentence. Those sentenced to 8 years remained in prison for life. In reality, only a few returned home. Most, after years of hard labor, did not have the means to pay for the crossing of the Atlantic. Among the rare returnees is Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was unfoundedly accused of being a prisoner for the benefit of the German Empire.
The most famous prisoners were sent here - those who were difficult to deal with on the continent. Dreyfus was one of the most famous among them. Before him, the oppositionist of Napoleon III, De Lecluse, was exiled here. Dreyfus will spend four and a half years on Devil's Island (or Devil's Island, French île du Diable). For an innocent person, this is a very long time. He would be released only in 1906. Almost 12 years after the conviction. Those close to Dreyfus, an officer of the French General Staff, had to fight hard for him to be acquitted.
From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, anarchists operated in France. They killed the President of the Republic, Sadi Carnot. After which disciplinary punishment cells were introduced in all camps - in Guiana and New Caledonia. The worst in Guiana was on the island of Saint-Joseph (St. Joseph). There were 4 blocks of 30 punishment cells each. The prisoners called these 120 cells “the dressing room of death.” They were sent there for attempting to escape. Because escape was one of the worst crimes.
Cameras size 4 square meters, with bars over a single window high above the ceiling. Prisoners were subjected to severe moral and physical tests.
In the punishment cell they were fed especially poorly, they were forbidden to talk, they were kept in the dark, and they were allowed into the light only once a day. the grille instead of the ceiling allowed the guards, shod in soft shoes, to sneak up unnoticed to pour a bucket of sewage on top of the prisoner. This prison was called the “eater of people.” Life expectancy in a punishment cell. Saint Joseph did not exceed 1-2 years.
Where every day people fought for survival, where cruelty was the norm and the system, tormented souls found salvation from reality in madness or suicide.
In these cases, military doctors wrote in the medical report the same cause of death - heart attack. The prisoners who arrived in Guiana were divided into 3 categories. These, firstly, were prisoners sentenced to hard labor for a certain term or for life. They were the first to arrive here. Since 1885, small but incorrigible recidivists began to be sent to Guiana. Finally, there were political and military prisoners. These included Dreyfus and another military man, Benjamin Hulmo, a naval officer. Hulmo tried to sell secret documents to the German military attache in Paris. The latter was not particularly interested in the secret, saying that he already had such information. Then the officer tried to contact the German Ministry of Navy. He was easily caught doing this, like a boy.
Witnesses said that the most dangerous for the prisoners were their own fellow sufferers, assigned to them for supervision. If one of these prison guards was suspected of a tendency to treat prisoners humanely, then they themselves were shackled and sent to the most terrible jobs.
The building material was stone of volcanic origin. Half of the convicts worked in the quarries. Another category was in the service of the camp's leadership and security. The guards were very well served. The museum is located in the camp commander's house. 5 people worked for him - a cook, a gardener and other servants.
The exiles worked in the quarry and garden. Large cattle regularly delivered to the islands by sea. Every week, in order to feed from 600 to 700 people on the island, 5-6 heads of cattle were brought.
Petit Chatelet
Petit Châtelet is a castle in Paris, built at the end of the 9th century to guard the Petit Bridge laid in the southern part of the Ile de la Cité across the Seine River.
Like the larger fortress of the Grand Chatelet, built in the north of the Cité at the same time as the Petit Chatelet, it performed the strategic task of protecting crossings to the center of the capital of France - which was especially important after the Norman raids on Paris in November 885. The Petit Châtelet was founded in February 886 and throughout its history it consisted of two fortress towers that framed and protected the gate leading to the Petit Bridge. Rebuilt in 1130, under King Louis VI. It was destroyed (like the Petit Bridge) during the flood on the Seine on December 20, 1296. Restored and reconstructed by King Charles V in 1369, who established a state prison in it. King Charles VI, by decree of January 27, 1382, transfers the Petit Châtelet to the administration of the Parisian provost. At the same time, the castle remains a state prison. On November 14, 1591, during the confrontation between the Catholic League and royal power in France, the Chairman of the Paris Parliament Barnabe Brisson, advisers Claude Lorche and Tardif, suspected of sympathizing with the royal party, were imprisoned in the Petit Chatelet.
By royal decree of April 22, 1769, the Petit Châtelet prison was abolished, and the building itself was destroyed in 1782, with the participation of numerous crowds of Parisians. The prisoners of the Petit Châtelet were transferred to the La Force prison. Nowadays, on the site of the Petit Chatelet there is Place du Petit-Pont (5th arrondissement of Paris).
Salpêtrière
Salpêtrière Hospital or Pitié-Salpêtrière is a French ancient hospital in Paris, in the 13th arrondissement; now a university hospital complex covering a vast area.
The hospital inherited its name from the gunpowder factory on the site of which it was built, nicknamed “salpetriere” - “saltpeter warehouse”.
It was created, starting in 1656, by order of Louis XIV, as an almshouse (hospital for the disadvantaged). Since 1684, a prison for prostitutes was added to it.
On the eve of the revolutionary year 1789, it was already the largest almshouse in the world, providing shelter for 10,000 people and housing 300 prisoners. On September 4, 1792, a mob massacred 35 women there. Since 1796, the mentally ill began to be placed in the hospital. Dr. Charcot worked in the department of mentally ill people, who used an innovative contrast shower technique to treat them. In the 19th century, it was the largest women's hospital in Paris, accommodating up to 4,000 patients.
Temple
Temple Castle - it was originally medieval defensive structure in Paris, which was located on the territory of the modern first and second Parisian arrondissements. It is believed that the castle was founded in 1222 by a man named Hubert, who was treasurer of the Knights Templar. The Templars - often also called the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon - are an ancient spiritual-knightly Catholic order, founded in 1119 in the Holy Land by a small group of knights led by Hugh de Payns. It was one of the first religious military orders in world history, along with the Hospitallers.
No more than a century passed after the completion of construction, and in 1312 Philip the Fair (1268-1314), king of France since 1285, unexpectedly took away the palace and imprisoned Jacques de Molay (1249-1314) - the twenty-third and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
Philip the Long (1291-1322) - King of France (1316-1322), the second son of Philip IV the Fair, gives the castle in exchange for Vincennes Castle to Clementia of Hungary (1293-1328) - Queen of France and Navarre, wife of King Louis X, and later the widow of Louis. The new owner loved the Temple Castle very much, she lived in it for a long time and at the age of 35 she died in the castle.
IN XVIII century The castle was rebuilt again, and its owners changed again. One of them was the young Prince Conti, later a famous military leader of France. Another resident of the castle is the little Duke of Angoulême, a representative of the senior Bourbon line. The castle-palace often hosted various meetings of noble and rich people, balls, theatrical performances, concerts, and once Mozart himself played there.
At the end of the French Revolution, the Temple replaces the Bastille as a prison. Moreover, the castle was a prison for more than one French royal family. From members of the royal dynasties in the Temple to different time contained: King Louis XVI (on January 21, 1793, he was executed by guillotine on the Place de la Revolution, today the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris); Queen Marie Antoinette (wife of Louis XVI, from here on August 1, 1793 she was sent to the Conciergerie prison, from where she also went to the guillotine); Madame Elisabeth (was imprisoned in the castle for 21 months, after which she was sent to the Conciergerie prison and was beheaded the next morning); Louis XVII (son of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, died in the tower on June 8, 1794, he was only 10 years old; he is considered the king of France, because upon learning of the execution of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette knelt before her beloved son and swore allegiance to him as her own to the king); Princess Maria Teresa ( eldest daughter King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, stayed in the tower for 3 years and 4 months, then the Austrians bought it).
In the eyes of the people, the Temple Castle became a symbol of the “execution” of the French monarchs and turned into a place of pilgrimage. In 1808-1810, by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, the fortress was razed to the ground. Currently, on the site of the fortress there is a square and one of the metro stations.
It was a castle with very high walls, surrounded by a deep moat, the castle was the personification impregnable fortress. In the courtyard, parallel to the walls, there were stables, barracks for an entire French army. On the territory of the inner fortress courtyard there was a parade ground for military exercises. Also in the castle there was a small but neat and beautiful garden with many different medicinal plants.
Above all these buildings rose seven towers and a cathedral. The main tower of Temple Castle was very high, about the size of a 12-story building, and the thickness of the tower walls reached eight meters. The main tower was not connected to any other part of the castle, and was the residence of the Grand Master. The tower could be reached via a special drawbridge, which began on the roof of one of the military barracks and led directly to the door, located high above the ground. The system of levers and blocks in controlling the drawbridge made it possible to raise or lower the bridge in just a few seconds. There was also a special system in the castle that opened and closed massive oak gates and placed a mighty iron grille behind them.
In the center of the main corridor there was a spiral staircase, it led to a small underground church, which was the site of the tombs of Jacques de Molay's predecessors. Masters were buried under the floor, under huge stone slabs. The coffin of Molay's close friend and predecessor, Guillaume de Beaujeu, was transported to the Temple from Palestine for reburial. The castle, under the main tower, had several underground tiers where the treasury of the Templar Order was kept. They say that the cauldron was very large, but only the Grand Masters and the Grand Treasurer of the Order knew about the size.
The countless riches, gold, jewelry and other treasures of the Templars did not allow the French monarch to live in peace. And on the night of October 13, 1307, armed royal guards burst into the Temple. Grand Master Jacques Molay and 150 other knights do not offer any resistance and allow themselves to be captured, they are taken to prison. Afterwards, the Parisians hurried to the castle to become participants in the general blasphemy. In one night, the Temple Temple was sacked.
The trial of Jacques de Molay and other members of the Order ended very quickly; they were charged with heresy. All participants were sentenced to be burned alive. The execution took place on one of the islands of the Seine, it was watched by King Philip the Fair and his entire family, and later he supervised the confiscation of all the treasures of the Order. Oh, what was the disappointment of the French king when there were not as many treasures as he thought. It is said that the bulk of all the Templar treasures were well hidden, and all the king's attempts to find them were unsuccessful. To this day, no one knows the secret of the treasures of the Templar Order, which were once kept within the walls of this castle.
Fontevraud Abbey
Fontevraud Abbey is located 15 km southeast of Saumur, 60 km southeast of Angers.
This famous abbey, associated with the family of the Angevin dukes, was founded in 1101 by the hermit Robert d'Arbrissel. It is curious that this was a rare “double” abbey - with a male and female monastery separated by a fence. Priority in management, however, belonged to the nuns. In the 12th century, the abbey began to prosper thanks to numerous gifts and benefits, and also became the tomb of the Plantagenet dynasty - Richard the Lionheart (photo of tombstones), his parents Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (photo of tombstones), as well as the widow of his brother John the Landless were buried here Isabella of Angoulême. (Their surviving polychrome tombstones are the only reliable portraits of these monarchs - and the remains themselves, alas, have not survived: they may have been destroyed during the French Revolution).
By the 12th century, the wealthy Fontevraud Abbey controlled about 120 priories in France, England and Spain. It was in a privileged position, reporting directly to the Pope.
However, in the 14th century the situation worsened - the original patrons of the monastery, the Plantagenets, were expelled from France, the bloody Hundred Years' War was going on, and in addition, the plague was devastating Europe. The revival of the monastery began when the aunt of Louis XII of France, Marie of Brittany, took vows and took up the affairs of the order, reforming the charter and finding support from the Pope. In the 16th century, three princesses from the Bourbon family were abbesses, which contributed to its strengthening, and the fourth princess, the daughter of Henry IV of Navarre, was remembered for a real “golden age” in the reign of the abbey, in which spiritual and intellectual growth again occurred. (In total, there were 14 princesses as Abbess of Fontevrault, 5 of them were from the Bourbon family. The post of Abbess of Fontevrault was considered an honorable place that could be given to a royal daughter).
By the 18th century, the monastery fell into decay, like the entire Church; in 1789 it was declared a national treasure and put up for sale. However, there was no buyer, and the plundered monastery began to slowly collapse, until in 1804 Napoleon turned it into a penal prison, which existed until 1962. Only then was the Society of Historical Monuments of France able to begin a complete restoration of the famous abbey, although thanks to Prosper Mérimée, Inspector General of Historical Monuments, starting in 1840, individual buildings of the abbey were released from utilitarian use and gradually restored.
The abbey had several buildings: the Great Monastery (Grand-Moûtier), the main abode of the nuns, then the monastery of penitents (la Madeleine) and monastery St. John's (Saint-Jean-de-l'Habit, destroyed during the Revolution), as well as two medical institutions: St. Benedict's Hospital for Nursing Sisters (Saint-Benoît) and the Leper Colony of St. Lazarus (Saint-Lazare).
The most luxurious was the main convent, the layout of which follows the customs of the Benedictines: in the north there is a church, in the east there is a sacristy and chapter hall, in the south there is a refectory, and in the west there is a dormitory. The cloister is made in the Gothic style. The monastery cathedral of Our Lady was consecrated in 1119 and probably restored in the 2nd half of the same century. This is a great example Romanesque style, whose nave was later rebuilt into a canteen for prisoners and cells, and the choir and chapels were walled up. 5 out of 6 domes were destroyed, and significant efforts were required to return the abbey to its original appearance. The chapter hall (photo) was restored in the 16th century. Its interior features thin columns supporting the vault. The walls were painted around 1563 by an Angevin artist named Thomas Poe.
St. Benedict's Hospital was originally the front courtyard of the abbey. It was built in the 12th century and rebuilt in 1600. In the center of the eastern gallery there is a funeral chapel, in which remains of the Last Judgment fresco of the 12th century are preserved. In the northern part stands the Chapel of St. Benedict, which is a fine example of Gothic architecture from the Plantagenet era.
Of the monastery buildings, the kitchen is especially famous, covered with a giant hipped roof made of slate “scales” (photo). Since Fontevraud was a very influential abbey, the influence of its style can be found in many other architectural monuments.
This monastery entered the history of literature thanks to its mention in Jean Genet’s novel “The Miracle of the Rose”.
France is rightfully considered a country with a developed penitentiary system and long traditions in this area. French prisons have long been considered exemplary not only in Europe, but throughout the world. However, recently the penitentiary system of the Fifth Republic has begun to malfunction. The history of the famous Parisian prison "Santé" is a clear confirmation of this.
By decree of the emperor
The Parisian prison "Santé" is located in the south of the French capital in the Montparnasse area - on the street of the same name. It is one of the oldest operating French prisons.
"Santé" was built in 1867 according to the design of the famous architect Emile Vaudremer during the Second Empire. Then France was ruled by Emperor Napoleon III, who came to power as a result of a coup d'etat and fiercely fought the republicans who hated him. The emperor had so many political opponents that 45 prisons (the number of places of deprivation of liberty there were in France at that time), designed to hold 25 thousand prisoners, could no longer accommodate all the prisoners. Therefore, by order of Napoleon III, 15 new prisons began to be hastily built throughout France.
In order to save money, the new prisons had huge common cells that accommodated 100-150 prisoners at a time. But an exception was made for “Sante”; it was built according to the classic chamber-corridor type. This was explained by the fact that the most dangerous prisoners were placed in the capital’s prison, over whom total control was established. “Santa” had 1,400 small cells, each containing four people. The building itself had the shape of a trapezoid, and in the middle there was a courtyard for exercise. This type of prison isolation was then called Pennsylvania, since the first such penitentiary institutions appeared in the USA.
Prison for poets and artists
Throughout the history of the prison, many people have been within its walls. famous people and big names, including the famous French poets Paul Verlaine and Guillaume Apollinaire. Paul Verlaine ended up behind bars after one very unpleasant story. Moving among Parisian bohemia, in 1872 he became friends with the young poet Arthur Rimbaud. The male friendship soon grew into a cruel passion. Paul Verlaine left his wife and children and, together with Rimbaud, went to London and then to Brussels. There, a conflict occurred between the lovers, during which Paul Verlaine shot his young sex partner with a revolver. A Brussels court sentenced the poet to two years in prison. Paul Verlaine served part of his sentence in a Brussels prison, and part of it in “Santa”.
The famous symbolist poet Guillaume Apollinaire ended up in the famous Parisian prison in 1911 for a very exotic reason. The police accused the poet that he and a group of professional thieves wanted to rob the Louvre and steal from there the famous painting “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci. But the “theft of the century” did not take place, since one of the gang members turned the attackers over to the police. The police failed to prove criminal intent during the investigation; Guillaume Apollinaire was released.
>In 1899, after the abolition of the La Roquette transit point, convicts sentenced to hard labor or the death penalty began to be placed in “Santa”. Those sentenced to death were sent to the guillotine.
During the Second World War and the German occupation, in addition to criminals, political prisoners, including members of the Resistance, were kept in Santa. Nine of them were shot by the Nazis, as they now remind memorial plaques on the outer walls of the prison. In the 1950s, young Alain Delon, who later became a famous film artist, served a three-year sentence at Santa. Returning from the army, he got involved with a criminal company and ended up in prison for illegally carrying weapons.
Escapes and scandals
"Sante" has long been considered a model penitentiary institution, but recently it has been constantly rocked by scandals. For the first time in the history of the prison, a person was committed from it.
On December 26, 2000, serial killer Guy Georges, who was awaiting trial on charges of seven rapes and murders, tried to escape from Santé. He sawed through the bars on the windows of his cell, got out into the prison yard, but was captured by the guards.
On August 22, 2002, Ismael Berazategui Escudero, a Basque terrorist from the well-known ETA organization, managed to escape. During the date, he swapped clothes with his younger brother, who was exactly like him, and calmly left the visiting room. The guards learned about the fact of the substitution only five days later, when the escaped Spaniard was already far away.
A little later, the first modern history France demonstration of prison guards working in "Santa". They demanded a raise wages and improving their working conditions. At the same time, the guards behaved quite impudently, knocking over garbage bins, burned car tires and even entered into hand-to-hand combat with the attacking police. The police had to use tear gas and batons to disperse a demonstration by prison officers.
But the real scandal broke out when it was published in the press Personal diary the former chief physician of the Santé prison, Veronica Wasser, which she led for seven years. In her diary, the doctor spoke about such horrors that made the hair on the heads of civilized French people stand on end.
Firstly, it turned out that all the cells in “Santa” were constantly overcrowded and instead of the four people allowed by the state, there were six to eight prisoners there. The showers on the floors have fallen into complete disrepair and it is almost impossible to wash properly in them. In addition, prisoners are only allowed to shower twice a week. This leads to unsanitary conditions, infection with fungal diseases and lice.
Another problem is eating low-quality and rotten food, which is purchased cheaply by the prison administration from dubious suppliers. As a result, prisoners suffer from stomach diseases. There are so many rats in the prison that prisoners are forced to keep their belongings suspended from the ceiling. As a result, the prisoners began to ironically call their prison the “Palace of Health,” since “sante” in French literally means “health,” “hygiene.” Plus, the supposedly model European prison has become a place of violence, depravity and atrocities, with weaker prisoners turning into slaves of their fellow inmates.
The guards also treat prisoners extremely harshly. For example, Veronica Wasser cites in her diary the story of one prisoner who, before her eyes, resisted the guards, and two weeks later was admitted to the infirmary in an extremely dehydrated state. The guards put the poor fellow in a punishment cell and did not allow him to drink. The doctor also talks about the brutal rape of one 21-year-old prisoner, who was placed in a cell with three inveterate repeat offenders with an acute form of AIDS. The guards also didn't like this guy for some reason.
As a result, in 1999 alone, 124 prisoners committed suicide at Santa. The public outcry that the publication of the diary caused forced the French Minister of Justice to admit that “the state of affairs in the Santé prison is unworthy of a country like ours.”
After the publication of Veronica Wasser’s diary, a group of journalists was allowed into prison for the first time in the last fifty years and held necessary repairs. Prisoners are now placed in buildings (blocks) depending on their nationality. Thus, block A contains people from of Eastern Europe, in block B - black Africans, in block C - Arabs from the Maghreb, in block O - people from other countries of the world.
“Santa” also has a VIP block for rich and high-ranking prisoners. Russian businessman Mikhail Zhivilo “rested” there for some time, whom Russian investigative authorities accused of organizing an assassination attempt on Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleyev.
According to Zhivilo’s stories, the conditions there were excellent. In solitary confinement there is cozy furniture, a coffee maker, a microwave oven, and a TV with thirty channels. High-ranking prisoners have the right to receive food from a restaurant, subscribe to any press, including foreign ones, visit the computer and gyms, take courses French. They say that it is under such conditions that the famous international terrorist Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, is serving a life sentence in “Santa”. And in one of these comfortable single rooms I celebrated Christmas and New Year son former president France Jean Christophe Mitterrand, arrested in a corruption case. But ordinary French prisoners seem to only dream of such luxurious prison apartments.
Based on newspaper materials
"Behind Bars" (No. 6 2012)
Screenshot of a video report about the prisons of Madagascar and the risk of infection.
Conditions for prisoners vary significantly around the world. In this article I would like to focus on two states and conduct a comparative analysis of the prisons of Madagascar and France. A large number of blogs and social media highlight prison conditions in the two countries, criminal sentencing and corrections policies, and their real-world consequences. These sites also give voice to daily witnesses of prison life: prisoners and their relatives whom they see in the meeting room, those whose profession is related to the correctional system and those who work in the field of criminal law.
It is easy to imagine that prison conditions in the two selected countries differ significantly, but they also have some similarities. Many websites provide descriptions of life in Malagasy prisons. Virginie de Galzen is a freelance photojournalist who was able to visit several Malagasy prisons in 2012 (as part of a Doctors Without Borders mission). She says the following [French]:
Des espaces surpeuplés datant le plus souvent de la colonisation, des odeurs d'urine qui vous prennent à la gorge et vous imprègnent à peine la porte des “dortoirs” franchie, la menace récurrente de la peste en raison d'une forte présence de rats (voir vidéo ci-dessous) et de puces, un nombre important de décès faute d'alimentation suffisante et de soins, des droits humains non respectés… Telle est la situation insupportable des prisons de Madagascar
In most cases, these are crowded premises, often built during colonial times; As soon as you enter the “sleeping chambers”, the pungent smell of urine hits your nose. There is a constant threat of the spread of infection due to the huge number of rats (see video below) and fleas; a large number of prisoners die due to inadequate nutrition and care, human rights are not respected... These are the unbearable living conditions in the prisons of Madagascar.
Les prisons sont surpeuplées. Les détenus dorment à même des sortes de longues banquettes superposées et composées de planches en bois plus ou moins disjointes dont la longueur, bien inférieure à celle d'un homme, ne permet pas de s'allonger. C'est en plus souvent là qu'ils mettent leurs rares effets personnels. Entassés les uns contre les autres, ils doivent parfois faire des tours de sommeil faute de place pour tous. Une des “chambres” de cette prison fait 35 mètres de long et quelques mètres de large. 229 détenus y sont enfermés de 5 heures du soir à 6/7 heures du matin.
The prisons are overcrowded. The prisoners sleep on long benches made of poorly fastened boards, built in tiers, the length of which is much less than human height, so it is impossible to stretch out on them. This is where they most often store their few belongings. Collected in a heap, they are forced to sleep in turns, since there is not enough space for everyone. In one of these “chambers”, 35 meters long and only a few meters wide, 229 people are imprisoned from 5 pm to 6-7 am.
Screenshot of a video report about the prisons of Madagascar, Youtube
A similar situation - neglect of the responsibilities for maintaining prisons and the characteristic structure of the legal system - has developed in Madagascar for a long time. One of the country's most notorious colonies is located on the island of Nozi Lava. Political prisoners and repeat offenders are sent here. Due to successive changes in the political regime and the inattention of the government, many prisoners remain in hard labor for many years and do not know the end date of their sentence. Their stories are told in a report by Régis Michel:
In France, the situation of prisoners is not so critical, but some questions regarding the deteriorating prison conditions have still not been resolved. In 2012, in France there were officially 67,373 prisoners for 57,408 places in correctional institutions.
Le projet est de centraliser toute l’info sur les prisons du monde et la rendre accessible au plus grand nombre. L'information existe mais est disséminée dans de multiples sites sur les prisons. Il reste très difficile d’accéder à une information vulgarisée et dans sa langue. Il y a trois types de besoins auxquels Prison Insider veut répondre:
Un besoin d'informations-service. Pour savoir, par exemple, comment rendre visite à un détenu? comment lui faire parvenir de l'argent ?…
-Un besoin d'informations documentaires. Dans le but de connaître les conditions de détention: combien de détenus par cellule? sont-ils correctement nourris?…
-Un besoin d'un espace pour agir. Pour alerter ou témoigner sur ce que les proches vivent.
The goal of the project is to collect information about prisons around the world in one place and make it accessible to the widest possible public. This information already exists, but it is scattered across many prison websites. It is not easy to find information presented in an accessible way and in a language you understand. Thus, Prison Insider's mission is to provide:
Practical information. For example, what are the rules for visiting a prisoner in prison? How can I give him money? etc.
– Documented information. To give an idea of the conditions of detention: how many prisoners fit in one cell? Are they getting enough nutrition? etc.
– A platform for action. In order to convey information about the life of family and relatives.
International Prison Monitoring Committee [French] a little-known problem of prison life:
Il n"existe en prison qu"un seul lieu, non surveillé, où sont autorisées les relations sexuelles: les unités de vie familiales (UVF). Avoir accès à ces unités est un droit, pour tout détenu. Pourtant, seulement 36 établissements pénitentiaires sur 188 en sont équipés. Les pratiques des personnels penitentiaires sont toutefois très variables. Une ancienne surveillante raconte que les agents en poste au parloir doivent “le vouloir pour vraiment voir.” [..] il y a des surveillants plus compréhensifs, ils ne font pas de ronde pendant les parloirs.” Certains choisissent de ne rien dire: “Une fois, un surveillant nous a surpris.” Mais de la façon dont j'étais habillée, il n'a rien pu voir. Il a juste compris. Il est ensuite parti, rien de plus. Certains surveillants ferment les yeux à partir du moment où c’est discret.” Réussir à voler quelques moments d’intimité dépend ainsi du bon vouloir de chaque surveillant.
There is only one place in the prison that is not under surveillance and in which sexual relations: family department. Access to it is the right of every prisoner. However, out of 188 correctional institutions, only 36 are equipped with such a department. The attitude of prison workers on this issue is very different. One former prison guard said that observers in the communication chamber “have to try to see something.” Some of them are more understanding, they do not walk between prisoners while they are communicating with visitors. Some prefer not to say anything: “One day the warden took us by surprise. Because of my clothes, he didn’t see anything, he just guessed. He turned around and left, and that was it. Some guards simply turn a blind eye when things get intimate." Thus, such moments of furtive intimacy also depend on the goodwill of each individual overseer.
In everyday life, prisoners also try to maintain sexual relationships, even if they are not alone in the cell. Here's what one of the prisoners says:
À une époque, j'étais dans une cellule de cinq personnes, on était entassé. Les codétenus avaient mis en place une organization spéciale. Chacun pouvait avoir la cellule pour lui tout seul pendant quelques heures. Ils m’ont dit: “Tu ne fais pas n’importe quoi en cellule, interdit d’avoir des pulsions la nuit, etc.” En revanche, une fois dans la semaine, on te laisse tout seul et tu fais ce que tu veux, on ne veut rien savoir.”
Then I was in a cell with five people, we had almost no space. The cellmates agreed on a special schedule: each could control the entire cell for several hours. They warned me: “You behave well, don’t make any noise at night, for this, once a week you remain alone in the cell, and you can do whatever you want, we are not interested in that.”
Numerous associations help improve the life of prisoners, as well as facilitate their rehabilitation. The National Federation of Associations for the Social Rehabilitation of Prisoners (Fédération nationale des associations d'accueil et de réinsertion sociale, FNARS) presents its program aimed at [French]:
La peine judiciaire s’accompagne trop souvent d’une peine sociale; elle ne doit pas être un moyen de régulation sociale, par le bias de la mise à l'écart des personnes condamnées. Les coûts individuels et sociaux de l'incarcération dus aux ruptures qu'elle provoque (perte de travail, ruptures familiales, perte de logement, désinsertion sociale) par rapport aux effets escomptés, passent malheureusement au second plan et demanderaient à être mieux évalués.
Judicial punishment is very often accompanied by social punishment, but it should not become a method of social regulation through the removal of citizens convicted of crimes. The consequences of imprisonment for both the individual and society, associated with separation from life (loss of job, severance of family ties, loss of housing, inability to rehabilitate), unfortunately exceed even formal punishment, this needs to be changed.