France’s prisons risk transforming into “human warehouses,” the Council of Europe said on Thursday, January 22, as overcrowding, poor conditions and violence strain a system at record inmate levels.

The warning follows a 2024 visit to four French detention centres, where the Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee reported filthy cells, a lack of clean bedding and, at one prison, infestations of rats, cockroaches and bedbugs.

Since the visit, overcrowding has only worsened, committee head Alan Mitchell said in a press release, calling conditions in the country’s incarceration system “extremely” concerning. Last month, France reported a record 86,229 inmates, with a national average of 136.5 prisoners per 100 beds, according to figures from the French Interior Ministry. “This situation can turn a prison into a human warehouse, seriously compromising human dignity,” Mitchell added.

Violence between prisoners is also widespread, the report said, creating a “climate of fear” marked by frequent fights and a lack of staff intervention. Most inmates spend nearly 20 hours a day in their cells, while juveniles are confined for excessive periods, with only one to two hours of education daily, the press release said.

France is one of the 46 member states of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, the continent’s watchdog for democracy and human rights. The country has some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe, ranking third worst after Slovenia and Cyprus, according to a Council of Europe report published in July.

In a separate case, the European Court of Human Rights last week condemned France for the ninth time since 2013 over prison conditions, ruling that detention conditions at a prison in Strasbourg amounted to “inhuman and degrading” treatment, after a 42-year-old detainee lodged a complaint.