Belgian army fills in for striking prison staff
Squads of soldiers have been assigned to pick up the slack at three prisons
BRUSSELS: Belgium took the unprecedented step on Monday of mobilising the army to fill in for striking prison staff to ensure inmates are able to take showers, walks and proper meals.
Officials said the situation had become “untenable, inhumane and degrading” after two weeks of strikes over staffing levels at 17 prisons in the French-speaking region of Wallonia and the capital Brussels.
The justice ministry said three squads of 30 soldiers each had so far been assigned to pick up the slack at three prisons following the government’s announcement Sunday it was requisitioning six squads.
The first three squads will be deployed at the eastern town of Lantin as well as in the Brussels districts of Forest and Saint Gilles.
Vincent Spronck, the director of Forest prison, told AFP the soldiers were not in place by Monday afternoon, as officials tried to determine what exactly they will do.
“It’s a first,” Spronck said.”It will help support the detention system by ensuring prisoners can take showers and receive family visits.
Prisoners must experience a more humane system.”
He said the strike at Forest prison has worsened life for the 370 inmates in an already overcrowded complex built for only 280 prisoners, even though police are already filling in for the striking wardens.
For example, inmates now have to wait three or four days for the usual daily walk in prison grounds, while family visits and phone calls to relatives have been suspended.
“The sheets have not been changed for 40 days” due to lack of laundry staff, Spronck added.
Some prisoners have not been able to take the shower they are allowed every three days, while others are receiving all three daily meals at once.
Over the weekend, prison wardens rejected a draft agreement between Justice Minister Koen Geens and their unions aimed at ending the strike over staffing cuts.
The Council of Europe in March ranked Belgium as second in Europe after Hungary for overcrowded prisons, with the problem being worse in Wallonia than in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.
Belgium’s prisons have also faced scrutiny for being breeding grounds for extremism with several people involved in recent terror plots having allegedly been radicalised while in jail.
Koen Geens had proposed on Friday recruiting 405 new prison officers this year to bring the total to some 7,000, the level at the end of 2015, and offering some extra pay for more flexible working practices.
Guards in all prisons rejected the proposal, union leaders said on Monday, adding the promised recruitment was inadequate and would still leave the number of officers down from two years ago .
onditionsC in the prisons have worsened and some inmates are not receiving certain basic rights such as showers, three meals a day, family visits and access to lawyers.
Unions have said low staffing has limited access to courses and other activities that can help reduce violence and prevent prisoners from reoffending.
— AFP