France, Italy and Belgium are grappling with a prison heatwave crisis as severe summer temperatures worsen conditions in overcrowded and ageing correctional facilities, raising concerns over inmate welfare, health risks and rising tensions.
Prison authorities in the three countries are struggling to manage soaring temperatures in facilities that often lack adequate ventilation and cooling systems.
In France, where prison occupancy averaged 141.3 per cent as of July 1, inmates described struggling to cope with temperatures exceeding 37°C.
At Orleans-Saran prison, a 29-year-old inmate identified as Manu said he spent most of his time lying on his bed in an effort to conserve energy.
“You have to deal with it mentally,” he said.
France’s chief prison inspector, Dominique Simonnot, said her office received a surge of complaints during a June heatwave, including reports of three or four inmates being held in cells measuring about nine square metres.
“Imagine we are suffocating in our flats, and they are three to four people in one nine-square-metre cell, in a building that is not adapted, not air-conditioned, old and where the heat is overwhelming,” Simonnot said.
A prisoner at Limoges prison reportedly fainted or slipped while attempting to get fresh air during the July heatwave, although accounts of the incident differed.
His lawyer, Charly Salkazanov, warned that similar incidents could continue unless conditions improve.
“This kind of thing will happen repeatedly until the authorities wake up,” he said.
The French Justice Ministry said inmates had been granted increased access to water and showers, while sun cream and permission to purchase fans had also been provided.
Ministry spokesperson Sacha Straub-Kahn acknowledged that prison overcrowding had intensified the impact of extreme heat on inmates.
Italy and Belgium are facing comparable pressures as rising temperatures compound longstanding capacity challenges.
Italy’s prison occupancy stood at 139.7 per cent in late July, while Belgium’s reached 121 per cent in August while activists carried out coordinated visits to 34 prisons to draw attention to what they described as inhumane conditions.
“It’s absurd that there are no refrigerators in cells, it’s absurd that there aren’t fans everywhere,” said Patrizio Gonnella, President of the rights group Antigone, outside Rome’s Regina Coeli prison.
Italian authorities have allocated €800,000 for fans and refrigerators and announced plans to create 10,000 additional prison spaces.
The country has also approved measures allowing some prisoners with drug or alcohol addictions to serve sentences at home while undergoing rehabilitation.
In Belgium, prison directors reported that heatwaves were contributing to more fights among inmates and confrontations with staff.
Ghent prison was holding 447 inmates despite having a capacity of 260.
“All the problems linked to overcrowding are twice or ten times more difficult when there is a heatwave,” said prison director Pieter Van Caeneghem.
At Merksplas prison, director Serge Rooman said outdated infrastructure remained a major challenge.
“The fundamental problems are the buildings,” he said.
Rooman noted that ageing prison facilities and inadequate ventilation systems were making it increasingly difficult to protect inmates and staff during periods of extreme heat.
“In Belgium, the punishment is the deprivation of liberty, not exposure to inhuman conditions,” he added.
Reuters
