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Posted by Editor on 19th June 2011 at 02:13 PM
European Prisons are not EU Law-free Zones, MEPs Say
Leading S&D Euro MPs spoke out after the European Commission released figures on detention conditions in the 27 EU nations. On June 16 Euro MPs demanded urgent action to protect human rights in prison after it emerged that jails are overcrowded in more than half the EU, one in four prisoners is awaiting trial and 600,000 people are held in unacceptable circumstances.

Claude Moraes, S&D spokesperson on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, said: "We see Europe as a Europe of values and you understand what the European Union should be about at the worst times, not the best times. (…) And for our group, of course there are no votes in prisoner rights, there are no big benefits for politicians to talk about prisoner rights. But how we treat prisoners, how we treat the edges of society indicates what kind of people we are."


Shotlist:
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 16, 2011) (SOCIALISTS AND DEMOCRATS, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - ACCESS ALL)

1. EXTERIOR SHOTS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS (3 SHOTS)
2. INTERIOR SHOTS OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS (2 SHOTS)
3. CLAUDE MORAES, S&D SPOKESPERSON ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS, IN HIS OFFICE TALKING TO HIS ASSISTANT (3 SHOTS)
4. CLAUDE MORAES SAYING (ENGLISH):
"The numbers of people in prison, juveniles, men and women, is unacceptably high right across the European Union. In the league table which we produced, some countries are in an unacceptable position; countries where prison is being used as a first line of defense. "
5. CUTAWAYS: CLAUDE MORAES IN HIS OFFICE (2 SHOTS)
6. CLAUDE MORAES SAYING (ENGLISH):
"But we don't have powers within the European Union to change prisoner conditions, so we want to bring awareness, we want to have a league table, we want to have a comparative approach to show the worst countries that there has to be a better way. Secondly, where we do have power is in the European arrest warrant in criminal proceedings. Our group takes this area of law very seriously. The European arrest warrant which is a good thing - it catches serious organized criminals - is unfortunately failing, and one big reason that it fails is that the prison conditions, detention conditions, criminal proceedings, in each individual EU country, are still different
7. CUTAWAYS: CLAUDE MORAES IN HIS OFFICE (3 SHOTS)
8. CLAUDE MORAES SAYING (ENGLISH):
"We see Europe as a Europe of values and you understand what the European Union should be about at the worst times, not the best times. In times of prosperity, you know, nobody would question this, but the times of hardship, that is the time when you test the moral resilience of the European Union. And for our group, of course there are no votes in prisoner rights, there are no, you know, big benefits for politicians to talk about prisoner rights. But how we treat prisoners, how we treat the edges of society indicates what kind of people we are."
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 16, 2011) (SOCIALISTS AND DEMOCRATS, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - ACCESS ALL)

9. EXTERIOR VIEWS OF ST-GILLES PRISON IN BRUSSELS ( 7 SHOTS)

Story and petition:
Leading S&D Euro MPs spoke out after the European Commission released figures on detention conditions in the 27 EU nations. Euro MPs Thursday demanded urgent action to protect human rights in prison after it emerged that jails are overcrowded in more than half the EU, one in four prisoners is awaiting trial and 600,000 people are held in unacceptable circumstances.
Claude Moraes, S&D spokesperson on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, said:
"The numbers of people in prison, juveniles, men and women, is unacceptably high right across the European Union. In the league table which we produced, some countries are in an unacceptable position; countries where prison is being used as a first line of defense. (…) We want to bring awareness, we want to have a league table, we want to have a comparative approach to show the worst countries that there has to be a better way."
"We see Europe as a Europe of values and you understand what the European Union should be about at the worst times, not the best times. (…) And for our group, of course there are no votes in prisoner rights, there are no big benefits for politicians to talk about prisoner rights. But how we treat prisoners, how we treat the edges of society indicates what kind of people we are."
European Parliament vice-president Stavros Lambrinidis and Francoise Castex MEP, who recently launched a petition calling on the Commission to define minimum EU-wide standards of detention, consider that the European Commission's consultation document leaves much to be desired. It fails to shed light on key issues such as prevention of inhuman or degrading treatment, respect of the private and family life of detainees or their freedom of conscience. the Commission remains very general and too cautious on this dramatic situation despite an obvious need for urgent action in some EU countries, they believe.
Background: the petition
The Written Declaration calls on:
- The European Commission to set up minimum common standards of detention in all Member states;
-The Member States to put in place effective and independent national mechanisms of control of prisons and detentions centres, as foreseen by the Optional Protocol of the Convention against torture (OPCAT) of 18 December 2002;
- The Member States to allow European parliamentarians to have access to prisons and detention centres without hindrance.
- The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights to act as a watchdog on possible infringements of the fundamental rights of detainees on a European level.
Annex: PRISON POPULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2009-2010
EU Member States
Data from 2009/2010 Prison population total
(including pre-trial detainees/
remand prisoners) Pre-trial detainees
(percentage of prison population) Occupancy level
(based on official capacity) Prison population rate
(per 100 000 of national population) Non-national prisoners
(percentage of prison population, incl. non-national EU citizens) and 3rd country nationals) Juveniles / minors
(percentage of prison population)
Austria 8 671 23,7% 102,9% 103 45,8% 2,6 %
Belgium 10 501 35% 118,9% 97 41,1% 0,3 %
Bulgaria 9 071 10,4% 155,6% 120 1,9% 0,5 %
Cyprus 831 38,4% 150,5% 105 59,6% 0,6 %
Czech Republic 22 575 11,3% 111,9% 214 7,3% 0,7 %
Denmark 3 967 34,9% 96% 71 21,9% 0,5 %
Estonia 3 436 21,9% 97,2% 256 39,4% 1 %
Finland 3 231 17,1% 98,2% 60 10,3% 0,1 %
France 59 655 27,7% 118,1% 96 19,2% 1,1 %
Germany 69 385 15,5% 89,0% 85 26,3% 3,5 % (of pre-trial prisoners only)
Greece 11 547 27,4% 129,6% 102 43,9%
- 4,4 %
Hungary 15 373 29,3% 127,7% 153 3,8% 3 %
Ireland 4 409 14,9% 103,7% 99 10,8% 2,4 %
Italy 68 795 43,6% 153% 113 36,9% 0,5 %
Latvia 7 055 28,3% 70,4% 314 1% 2,1 %
Lithuania 8 655 14% 85,5% 260 1,2% 2,5 %
Luxembourg 706 47,2% 99,3% 139 69,5% 0,7 %
Malta 583 35,2% 84,5% 140 40,1% 6,1 %
The Netherlands 15 604 36,3% 86,4% 94 27,7% 4,7 %
Poland 82 794 10,3% 97,4% 217 0,7% 0,3 %
Portugal 11 896 19,4% 98,5% 112 20,2% 0,7 %
Romania 28 481 16,5% 81,4% 133 0,7% 1,6 %
Slovakia 10 044 17,4% 94,6% 185 1,8% 0,8 %
Slovenia 1 385 24,4% 124,2% 67 10,8% 2 %
Spain 73 520 18,7% 136,3% 159 35,5% 0 % (2,1 % under 21)
Sweden 7 286 24,7% 105,4% 78 28,7% 0,1 %
United Kingdom
a) England & Wales 85 206 14,9% 107,2% 154 12,9% 1,9 %
b) Scotland 7 781 20.2% 105,2% 149 3,4% 1,5 %
c) Northern Ireland 1 557 36,8% 82,7% 86 8% 1 %

Sources: International Centre for Prison Studies – King's College: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worldbrief/?search=europe&x=Europe
and Eurostat – statistics in focus – 58/2010

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