French prisons reach record overcrowding levels in August

The number of prisoners in France reached a new record high last month, nearing 90,000, while overcrowding in penal institutions hit an all-time peak, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice.

On August 1, 89,668 people were held in French prisons, whose capacity is only about 63,300 beds, in a country with a population of 69 million.

Prison occupancy reached a record 141.6 percent, surpassing the previous high of 136.9 percent recorded in February.

Overcrowding forced 7,956 inmates to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor, a 43.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

In pretrial detention centers, which hold individuals awaiting trial or serving short sentences, occupancy reached 175 percent.

In May, the Council of Europe, the continent’s human rights body, reported that France and Turkey recorded the highest prison overcrowding rates in Europe.

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said in late January that he intends to address overcrowding by building more prisons.

His ministry plans to provide 3,000 additional prison places using prefabricated units, with half of them expected to be operational by 2027.

However, a previous initiative launched in 2018 failed to deliver more than a third of the 15,000 new places it had pledged to create.