Volunteers sought to check on prison conditions

Belgium's Central Supervisory Council for Prisons (CTRG) is looking for volunteers to evaluate the situation in the capital’s prisons.

The CTRG is an independent body that aims to improve detention conditions within Belgium's prisons and detention houses.

Created five years ago, it consists of 36 commissions (three of which are in Brussels) dedicated to better monitoring prison living conditions and investigating complaints. The three Brussels commissions cover the Forest detention centre, the Saint-Gilles prison and the Haren prison.

Volunteers will conduct interviews with inmates and staff to get a better picture of living conditions in prisons, Bruzz reports, as story after story unfolds of overcrowding and strikes by prison staff.

Belgium has even been admonished by the European Court of Human Rights for issues related to overcrowding.

Anyone can apply to join the CTRG’s pool of about 500 volunteers, regardless of background. The call for new volunteers comes ahead of the expiration of mandates for current committee members in September.

The CTRG is hoping for a massive influx of new volunteers.

These volunteers visit their committee’s prison once a week for several months a year. Their reports provide the CTRG with a picture of living conditions. Volunteers may also make recommendations to improve the situation of detainees.

The CTRG deliberately chooses not to impose training requirements on the volunteers.

“We want to attract citizens from different backgrounds, to get as many perspectives as possible,” said CTRG communication manager Kim Sersté.

Only after recruitment do volunteers receive training and each surveillance committee has a team of coordinators made up of criminologists.

The committees also handle complaints from detainees. “That’s a very important function with a direct impact,” says CTRG president Mark Nève. “The complaints committees can overturn management decisions.”

Complaints can be very diverse, “from nude frisks to disciplinary proceedings” Nève said.

With the volunteer initiative, CTRG wants to call for active citizen participation in the prison system, in order to promote a “culture of shared responsibility”.

Registration for a first information session on 31 July can be done through the CTRG's website until 29 July.