Doctor's book shames French prisons
The publication last month of
the diary of a prison doctor has
shocked the French public and
prompted parliament to vote
unanimously to create a commission to investigate "in depth"
the living conditions of prisoners and working conditions of
prison staff.
Elisabeth Guigou, the minister of justice, has ordered another commission, headed by the
president of France's highest
court of appeals, to report on
the external control of penitentiary administration. "The situation in many of our prisons is not worthy of a country such as
ours," said Mrs Guigou.
The book, Médecin-chef à la
Prison de la Santé, was written by
Dr Véronique Vasseur, who has
worked in the Santé prison for
seven years, the last six as head
physician.
She found the cells filthy
and infested with rats and mice
and the mattresses so teeming
with lice and other insects that
inmates collected them in jars
to protest. Drug dealing was
rampant, with some guards
also being involved. Rape was
frequent, as were self mutilations, suicides, and attempted
suicides.
Guards beat up prisoners,
and seasoned inmates turned
weaker ones into slaves, who did
not dare complain for fear of
reprisals.
Food was often spoiled and
gastroenteritis epidemics were
frequent. Dr Vasseur even identified a disease known only in
wartime - bread scabies, caused
by mouldy bread.
The book has caused an
uproar and triggered investigations by the press. Some of
France's notorious former prisoners, including former minis-
ters and top business executives,
have been interviewed and have
signed a petition deploring
prison conditions.
The daily newspaper Le
Monde carried out its own investigations and published reports
on a number of documented
cases of mistreatment, suicides,
negligence, and rapes.
A high proportion of prisoners in French jails are remand
prisoners, who are awaiting trial
but have not been convicted of
any offence, some of whom are
later found not guilty. In July last
year, 57 844 people were in jail
in France, of whom 20143 were
on remand. Prisoners awaiting
trials and those condemned to
less than one year's imprisonment are kept in prisons called
"maison d'arrêt," which are the
most overcrowded - on average
20% above capacity.
Last year 118 prisoners committed suicide, more than 1000
attempted it, and there were
1362 self mutilations, including
swallowing metallic objects - knives, forks, and even razor
blades (usually taped or
wrapped in cloth).
There were 953 hunger
strikes lasting at least seven days
and 278 attacks by inmates on
guards; mistreatment and beating of prisoners by guards also
took place.
Dr Vasseur writes that at the
Santé prison about a third of
inmates are addicted to some
drug, ranging from cocaine to
concoctions of strange ingredients such as water in which batteries had been boiled. Guards are often involved in drug trafficking.
She estimates that 5-10% of
inmates are HIV positive.
Alexander Dorozynski, Paris
studentBMJ 2000;08:45-88 March ISSN 0966-6494
