Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper):Belgium’s prisons especially in Brussels are severely overcrowded leading to poor living conditions and human rights violations. The government has struggled to address this chronic issue despite efforts.
Belgium’s prisons especially in Brussels are too crowded going over their intended capacity. This leads to big problems in keeping the inmates living in decent conditions. The European Court of Human Rights has criticized Belgium multiple times for this saying it goes against the rules that forbid treating people in a cruel or degrading way. Even though they tried things like different punishments and letting people out early to ease the pressure the issue continues. It not only affects how prisoners live but also their mental health and chances of getting better. Because of this there have been protests and strikes by both prisoners and prison workers. It has been said that it is important to make big changes to deal with overcrowding and make prisons better in Brussels and other places.
Seeking volunteers to improve conditions in overcrowded Belgian prisons
The Central Prison Supervision Council made 36 groups five years ago to watch over living conditions in Belgian prisons. Three of them are in Brussels, overseeing Vorst detention center, Sint-Gillis prison and Haren prison dealing with complaints. About 500 volunteers are part of these groups. Since the current members’ terms end in September they need new volunteers. The council is hoping for many new people to join. The volunteers visit the prison once a week for a few months each year. They talk to prisoners, staff and management to understand how things are in the prison. The CTRG learns about the living conditions from the volunteers’ yearly reports. Volunteers can also suggest ways to make things better for the prisoners. The CTRG doesn’t require specific training for volunteers because they want diverse perspectives. When volunteers join, they get training, and each committee has coordinators, including criminologists.
The committees also deal with complaints from prisoners which is crucial as they can change decisions made by the management. Complaints can vary a lot from strip searches to disciplinary actions. The CTRG aims to involve citizens actively in the prison system to encourage a culture of shared responsibility. People can sign up for an information session on July 31 until July 29 through the CTRG website.
