The summary judges of the administrative court of Lyon have rejected the request to close an administrative detention center located near the Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport, while the Lyon Bar denounces “unworthy” living conditions.
The judges considered that the request “does not fall within the powers of the judge who issues an emergency ruling”, explains the Court in a statement, as “it is based on the structural challenge of a political choice”.
They also “refused to order the Interior Minister to implement a series of measures relating to detention conditions”.
The Lyon Bar Association had submitted a request for provisional measures, denouncing the “unworthy” and “dehumanising” living conditions in this centre, known as CRA2, which opened in 2022. The Bar Association had carried out a visit there in February 2024.
Lack of doctors and poor access to care, insufficient food rations, “arbitrary” isolation, “illegal” presence of psychiatric restraints, ubiquitous violence and lack of privacy are all “unacceptable attacks” observed, said Me Franck Heurtrey, spokesman for the bar association, during Monday’s hearing.
He then denounced a site that “is like a prison” and “reproduces the codes of the prison world”.
The judges recalled that in September an agreement was stipulated with the Hospices Civils de Lyon which provides for a minimum presence of doctors and the intervention of a psychologist.
They believe that the accommodation conditions “do not appear contrary to human dignity”, in particular with medical monitoring and access to the services of the French Office of Immigration and Integration or the Refugee Forum association.
They also note the “need to be able to monitor inmates and have access to their entire room.”
At the hearing, a representative of the State judged the Order’s request to be “lacking factual, precise and current basis”, as it “is based on old reports that have allowed developments within the CRA”, in particular regarding the supply and monitoring of prisoners.
A pilot project worth 25 million euros and with a capacity of 140 places, CRA2 opened in January 2022 next to a first center called CRA1, bringing the total capacity of the two units to 280 places.