23/12/2012 President
Strasbourg, 23.12.2012 - The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Jean-Claude Mignon, made the following statement this morning
"I am relieved that we finally get out of this intolerable situation of status quo and stagnation hanging over the Baumettes prison in Marseille. To think that, on the eve of the year 2013, we have to take emergency measures by carrying out rodent and insect controls in a prison in France to improve the living conditions of detainees offends me deeply.
I commend the work and success of the International Observatory on Prisons (IOP), which referred the issue to the Council of State, and recall that the IOP has demanded the closure, pure and simple, of the Baumette’s men prison. The Parliamentary Assembly supports the IOP’s actions, which follow the same lines as those of the CPT, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the Council of Europe. The CPT already underlined, as early as 1991, that the general state of prison cells and equipment of the Baumettes prison was in a state of advanced dilapidation and that some of the cells - including the beds - were very dirty.
The living conditions in this prison are a disgrace. They are a serious violation of the fundamental freedoms and dignity of the inmates and the prison staff, and a total violation of the values promoted by the Council of Europe. Unfortunately, ten days of rodent controls will not suffice to bring about a real improvement."