DOUBLE PUNISHMENT

guard is running from one end of a corridor to another without being able to spend time in
a cell, which is most often the case.” 94
Lack of training for prison guards
“For guards, there isn’t any training that is adapted to deal with people with psychosis,” a
representative of a union of prison guards told Human Rights Watch. “Medical assistants
and nurses in psychiatric hospitals have specific training. There are people who should be
sent there [to a psychiatric hospital] but there isn’t enough space, so they’re in prison,” he
said. 95
Despite the high number of persons with psychosocial disabilities in French prisons,
prison guards lack the necessary training on mental health. Interviewees also said that
due to understaffing, even if training were available, it would be difficult for them to
attend. The then General Inspector of Prisons noted in his 2013 report that “the training of
guards mainly focused on security, and does not prepare them at all to deal with mental
illness.” 96
“In the initial training, there is information on criminal psychiatry,” the director of the
women’s prison in Marseille told Human Rights Watch. “But there is no training on how to
care for people with mental illness. The focus of the prison administration is on managing
suicide risks,” she said. “Training on mental health would be useful. It’s important for
guards to know how to identify and adapt their professional practices to the cause of the
behavior.” 97
A guard in a prison for people serving long sentences said he felt prison guards didn’t have
adequate training on mental health, even though many prisoners had psychosocial
94 General Inspector of prisons, activity report for 2013, p. 206, http://www.cglpl.fr/wpcontent/uploads/2014/04/CGLPL_rapport-2013_version-WEB.pdf
(accessed July 15, 2015).
95 Human Rights Watch interview with a representative of the union Union Générale des Syndicates Pénitenciaire –
Confederation Générale du Travail (UGSP-CGT), Paris, May 13, 2015.
96 General inspector of prisons, 2013 activity report, p. 203, http://www.cglpl.fr/wpcontent/uploads/2014/04/CGLPL_rapport-2013_version-WEB.pdf
(accessed July 15, 2015).
97 Human Rights Watch interview with Laurence Pascot, Director of the women’s prison (Maison d’arrêt pour femmes) in
Marseille, Marseille, May 6, 2015.
41 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | APRIL 2016