Question 5959 — places of deprivation of liberty

Summary

Mr. Pouria Amirshahi questions the Minister of State, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, on the announcement made on February 17, 2025 concerning the cessation of “fun activities” in prisons. The Minister announced the cessation of activities not relating to education, the French language or sport. This decision follows a controversy over facial treatments offered to inmates at the Toulouse-Seysses remand center as well as to that which occurred in August 2022, concerning a karting event organized at Fresnes prison. However, these activities are considered by many experts, integration stakeholders and associations as essential tools for the reintegration and rehabilitation of prisoners. According to Ms. Dominique Simonnot, General Controller of places of deprivation of liberty, they allow prisoners to maintain sociability and prepare for their reintegration. This decision breaks with international recommendations on detention conditions. It marks a decline in reintegrative approaches, although they are recognized and regulated by law. The real scandal lies in prison overcrowding - with an occupancy rate reaching 208% at the Toulouse-Seysses remand center - and in unworthy conditions of detention, where mattresses are placed on the floor and where incarcerated people are treated inhumanely. By qualifying certain practices as “fun” without giving a precise definition, the Minister introduces a vagueness which gives rise to serious concerns about the criteria used and the risks of arbitrariness. Also, he asks him to please clarify what precisely the notion of “playful activity” in a prison environment covers and to indicate on what basis legal and educational supports this decision, with regard to its consequences on the rehabilitation paths of detained persons.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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