Leading human rights institutions in Belgium have called for "a resolutely different approach" to the prison system on the heels of another warning from the Council of Europe.
Last Friday, the Council of Europe again called on Belgium to improve its care of psychiatric patients inside its prisons. These warnings should serve as a wake up call and prompt the country to change its approach to incarceration, according to the Central Prison Monitoring Council and the Federal Institute for Human Rights (IFDH).
There are currently 12,737 people imprisoned in facilities with a total capacity of 11,020 places. 190 detainees have no choice but to sleep on mattresses placed directly on the floor.
The central issue of overcrowding is therefore unresolved, the organisations noted. Belgium, which prides itself on being a "state respecting the principles of the rule of law", can no longer turn a blind eye to the recommendations of the Council of Europe, the organisations stated.
The alert follows yet another 24-hour prison guard strike late last week. "The workload of prison staff is higher than ever," they continued. "Prisons are experiencing an increasing number of incidents."
Prison 'not an effective solution'
On the same day, legal associations staged protests at 35 prisons across the country to highlight the same issues.
They urged policymakers to address the structural problems within the penal system for the benefit of both inmates and society.
"The reality shows that 'all-in on prison' is not an effective solution to combat crime," they stated in a press release. "Prisons, regardless of size, fill as soon as they are built. Inmates are crowded together without differentiating sentence lengths. Those convicted are mixed with those in pre-trial detention who wait, often for a very long time, to be judged, which essentially creates 'schools for criminals'."
In addition to overcrowding, they condemned the "inhumane living conditions" and insufficient access to healthcare, education, training and recreational activities.
The Belgian State has already been condemned multiple times for human rights violations within its prisons.
