Belgium
Capital city — Brussels
Latest updates
Number of medical staff (FTE)
Data not disclosed
(full-time equivalent)
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Nivelles prison facility was without a doctor for four consecutive days. The nursing team had been ensuring the care of prisoners and the senior doctor of Ittre prison provided telephone consultations.
Number of escapes
20
Four people escaped while being brought to the hospital or the courthouse.
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Prison authorities reported a total of ten escapes in 2020.
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There were five escapes in 2020 from the Marneffe and Hoofstraten open prisons. No escapes were reported from the normal prisons.
Sentence adjustments can be granted during the incarceration
According to the latest available figures, Iin 2016, there were fewer prisoners released on parole (736) than prisoners released after serving their full sentence (832).
Inmates sentenced to less than three years in prison are automatically released after serving one third of their sentence (with the exception of foreigners who are in the country illegally, child sex offenders and those convicted of terrorism offences).
Inmates sentenced to over three years in prison may be granted early release by the Court for the Enforcement of Sentences. They can apply for early release after serving one third of their sentences.
In 2017, the Constitutional Court and the Court for the Enforcement of Sentences abolished the rule requiring that repeat offenders be at least two thirds of the way through their sentence before applying for early release.
A “Mise à disposition” is an additional prison sentence of five to fifteen years prounounced at the end of the original sentence. It is imposed by the Court for the Enforcement of Sentences for serial offenders who are deemed “dangerous”.
Each prison has a psychosocial service comprised of psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists. Their primary mission is to provide an opinion to the relevant authorities regarding sentence adjustments.
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In order to reduce pressure on prisons during the Covid-19 pandemic more than 300 persons had a break in their sentences. From 1 December 2021, they would be required to return to prison, according to the decision made by prison authorities.
The sentence can be adjusted as soon as it is pronounced (ab initio)
Probation and electronic tagging were introduced as alternatives to incarceration in 2014 and 2016, respectively. These new forms of sanction are primarily applied to crimes that are not deemed severe enough to warrant a prison sentence. They are seen more as an example of “net widening” than as an alternative to detention.
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Belgian sentencing law changed. To Sentences of less than three years had previously been served in open prison or in the community. The Justice Minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, announced that from 1 December 2021, approximately 700 people on short sentences would be imprisoned.
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People sentenced to a short prison term would be able to request sentence adjustments ab initio (from the moment of sentencing). The change was approved by the Belgian government in an amendment to current legislation, which stipulated that individuals sentenced to less than three years could only request sentence adjustments once they had served one third of their sentence. Such requests could only be made from prison. In practice however, few offenders sentenced to less than three years were imprisoned.
Some prison facilities, units or cells implement high-security measures
Belgium has a high security facility located at the Bruges prison, with a 10-person capacity.
This facility is for prisoners deemed particularly violent by officers, or who present a very high escape risk. Central authority is responsible for assignment. The high-security area operates in complete autonomy. Everything is subject to authorisation, from having a pen or cutlery in a cell to participating in an activity with another prisoner. Prisoners there have a standardised diet that is extremely strict and supervised.
Two autonomous, 20-person sections have been installed in the prisons of Hasselt and Ittre, to accommodate the most “radicalised” prisoners. These sections are called D-RAD: EX. Only certain prisoners have access to an activity, subject to management approval. Working is drastically limited, as are visits and phone access.
In Ittre, this section has a tiny yard with wire fencing, and no associated “deradicalisation” program. In Hasselt, detainees have access to the regular yard and can be visited by a “disengagement” specialist.
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Some current and former prisoners from blocks designated for radicals, extremists and terrorists filed a complaint against Belgian authorities. They accused the authorities of inhuman detention conditions and the lack of recourse when placed in solitary confinement. The Appeal Court agreed with them: the State was obliged to compensate each of them a sum of 2,500 euros for the pain and suffering endured.
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The criminal court of Brussels has mandated the Belgian government to pay a symbolic amount of one euro per detention day to alleged jihadist prisoners who are placed in special isolation sections called “D-Radex», in Ittre and Hasselt prisons. The Belgian government believes that this measure falls within common law. Nevertheless, the court classifies it under a special individual security scheme ( régime de sécurité particulier individuel (RSPI). The RSPI scheme, as provided by the law, is associated with several legislative guarantees (Article 1382 of the Civil Code). Placement in the “D-Radex” section without the application of these guarantees, is an error on the part of the Belgian government. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Nicolas Cohen, reiterates the importance of individual monitoring of prisoners and the guarantee of their right to appeal as provided by the law.
Read the full article of May 14 2019. (in French).
Prisoners sleep on
- a bed
- bunk beds
In places like Ghent, prisoners frequently sleep on a mattress on the floor. There is not enough furniture (tables, chairs) for the number of prisoners occupying the cell.
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The number of prisoners sleeping on floor mattresses is now 148. Antwerp Prison is the worst, with 78. Some prisons have installed bunk beds to address the problem.
Number and percentage of elderly prisoners
An NPM has been established
no
The Civil Society invites the State to ratify this instrument. The government, parliament, and administration each suggest that this responsibility rests elsewhere.
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Several United Nations organisations pointed out during the Universal Periodic Review of Belgium that the country has never ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). The Belgian branch of the International Observatory of Prisons highlighted the fact that Belgium is the only European Union country not to have implemented the national prevention mechanism. The organisation asked the authorities to address this situation as soon as possible.
The prison staff is represented by (a) union(s)
No minimum service is guaranteed in the case of strikes. The police the army are brought in to ensure the security and care of inmates, but they receive no specific training for work within the prison system. Numerous cases of verbal and physical violence towards inmates are recorded on these occasions.
Several Courts of First Instance, as well as the Brussels Court of Appeal, have called on the Belgian government to guarantee a minimum service, as proposed by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) for the past several years.
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Eighteen staff members held a wildcat strike at Beveren Prison following a fight between two prisoners. Their union protested against “an accumulation of incidents in these last weeks and months” and stated it wanted “more collaboration” from administration.
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Staff at Saint-Gilles Prison held a 24-hour walk-out on 26 April. This decision was taken after an officer was assaulted by a prisoner. Prison employee unions protested against the issue of prison overcrowding and assaults. Discussions were held at a conciliation meeting, but “no real headway” was made, according to Grégory Wallez, federal secretary of the CGSP-Justice union.
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Several prison union strike movements were announced, in April, in various prisons in the country (Huy, Forest, Saint-Gilles, Berkendael). They denounced the poor management of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign for the personnel, understaffing and deteriorating sanitary conditions, particularly since the beginning of the pandemic.
Number of prison guards (FTE)
Data not disclosed
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A strike notice was filed on 29 March at Forest, Saint-Gilles and Berkendael prisons. Staff members held a 24-hour strike to protest the serious staff shortage. The federal secretary of CGSP-Justice, Grégory Wallez, declared: “There are serious recruitment issues, and officers are burned out. Prison operations could suffer.”
A supervisory body has issued a decision on prison overcrowding
Prison density
121 %
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Belgium is one of the Council of Europe members with the most overcrowded prisons, ranking third after Turkey and Italy. The average occupation rate on 31 January 2020 was 117%.
Prisoners and visitors can meet without physical barriers
The visiting room system accomodates visitors and the inmate around a table. Prisoners may be subject to disciplinary action depriving them of a “table visit”, in which case they are separated from visitors by a window.
This separation device can also be required for security reasons. Visits may also be prohibited.
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Physical contact between prisoners and their visitors has been banned since March 2020 in order to prevent spreading COVID-19 to prisons.
The law provides for a sentence adjustment system
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Since the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) started in January, 135 people have been paroled. During the first wave, 221 benefited from this kind of sentence adjustment.