When the president of Walloon Brabant's Bar Association, Fabien Couton, went to the Nivelles Prison on Tuesday to look into conditions there, he spent a full four hours at the institition.
His was part of a coordinated series of visits by members of the country's bar associations to take a first-hand look at the situation in the country's prisons, and zoom in on the problems encountered there.
The Nivelles Prison, renovated in 1998, is no exception: prison officials are faced with problems such as overcrowding and understaffing.
Coulon visited the interior of the prison in the company of the chair of its supervisory committee, Michèle Loquifer, former president of the Walloon Brabant Court of First Instance. He also met the prison's management.
His report is unlikely to be overly positive.
Nivelles prison has the theoretical capacity to hold 192 inmates. It now houses 255. This means that in some cells designed for two inmates, three are housed, with one sleeping on a mattress on the floor.
The gym is used for storage. The library no longer functions; and the workshops that used to enable prisoners to work have been closed following a change of organisation.
"The prison is not unhealthy, but the dungeons are like the Middle Ages," Couton said after his visit. "I've met inmates who haven't been to the yard for three weeks, and four showers have been under renovation for eight months."
"In addition to overcrowding, management is faced with a shortage of staff," he added. "The law of 12 January 2005 sets out the objectives of the prison system in three words: repair, rehabilitate and reintegrate.
"Under current conditions, in Nivelles as elsewhere, we are not at all on track," the Walloon Brabant Bar Association President concluded.
