During the visit, particular attention was paid to the conditions of detention of persons deprived of liberty in prisons, including remand establishments, affected by overcrowding. Further, the delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to involuntary patients in psychiatric establishments, including as regards the application of seclusion and means of mechanical restraint. The delegation also visited the emergency departments of a number of hospitals where patients are held pending their involuntary admission to a psychiatric facility.
The visit provided an opportunity for the delegation to examine the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement authorities (police and gendarmerie), including foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration law.
During the visit to French Guiana, the delegation met with Cédric Debons, Sous-Préfet, Director General for security, regulations and inspections, Joël Sollier, Prosecutor General, Béatrice Bugeon-Almendros, First President of the Court of Appeal, and other senior officials from the departments concerned.
During the visit to Guadeloupe, the delegation met with Xavier Lefort, Préfet, Eric Maurel, Prosecutor General and Philippe Cavalerie, First President of the Court of Appeal, as well as other senior officials from the departments concerned.
At the end of the visit, the delegation shared its preliminary observations with the French authorities during meetings in Paris with senior officials from the ministry of Justice, the ministry of the Overseas and the ministry of Health and Prevention.
In addition, the delegation met Dominique Simonnot, Head of the national preventive mechanism and members of her team, Magali Lafourcade, Secretary General of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, as well as representatives of non-governmental organisations active in areas of interest to the CPT.
The visit was carried out by Hans Wolff, 1st Vice-President of the CPT (Head of delegation), Vânia Costa Ramos, Juan Carlos da Silva Ochoa, Vanessa Durich Moulet, Nico Hirsch and Kristina Pardalos, members of the Committee. They were supported by Marco Leidekker, Head of Division, and Kelly Sipp of the Committee's Secretariat, and assisted by an expert, Didier Delessert, Head of the Department of Prison Medicine and Psychiatry at the Lausanne Hospital (Switzerland).
In French Guiana, the delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Law enforcement establishments
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni border police facilities
- Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock border police facilities
- Félix Eboué International Airport border police facilities
- Cayenne Police Station
- Kourou Gendarmerie Brigade
- Mana Gendarmerie Brigade
- Régina Gendarmerie Brigade
- Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock Gendarmerie Brigade
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Gendarmerie Brigade
- Cayenne Court of Appeal and Judicial Court holding facilities
- Cayenne-Rochambeau (Matoury) immigration detention centre
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni immigration detention premises
Prisons
- Rémire-Montjoly Prison
Health establishments
- Psychiatric unit ("Wapa" and "Comou" closed units) and the unit for children ("Acajou") at the Andrée Rosemon hospital in Cayenne (CHAR)
- CHAR emergency services
- CHAR secure facilities.
In Guadeloupe, the delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Law enforcement establishments
- Point-à-Pitre Police Station
- Basse-Terre Police Station
- Capesterre-Belle-Eau Police Station
- Saint Claude Gendarmerie Brigade
- Morne-à-l'eau Gendarmerie Brigade
- « Abymes » immigration detention centre
- Point-à-Pitre Court holding facilities
Prisons
- Basse-Terre remand prison
- Baie-Mahault Prison
Health establishments
- Guadeloupe Public Mental Health Establishment (closed units in sectors 1 to 3 and sectors 4 to 6, unit for children, and the Reception and Crisis Centre)
- Emergency services of the Centre Hospitalier of Basse Terre (CHBT) and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) of Pointe-à-Pitre
- Secure facilities at the CHBT and CHU.
