To tackle rising crime in France and send a message that the criminal justice system will not tolerate it, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin earlier this week announced plans to build a high-security prison—in the overseas territory of French Guiana, South America. The minister plans to build the 500-bed prison in the middle of the Amazon jungle, in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
Darmanin aimed for his initiative to make a significant media impact and reinforce a shared narrative with interior minister Bruno Retailleau on their ongoing efforts to overhaul the French repressive system. A recent report concluded that the overcrowding of French prisons is such an urgent problem that the only solution is to reduce sentences for all convicts.
The idea for outsourcing the prison to Guiana follows a tightening of French law passed a few weeks ago as part of the fight against drug trafficking, which has become a major scourge both in mainland France and in its overseas territories.
“My strategy is simple: to strike at organised crime at all levels. Here, at the beginning of the drug trail. In mainland France, by neutralising the leaders of the networks. And all the way down to the consumers. This prison will be a key element in the war against drug trafficking,” explained Darmanin during a visit to Guiana.
Within the planned high-security Guiana prison, scheduled to open in 2028, an ultra-secure part is expected to house mainly drug traffickers (60 inmates) and around 15 radicalised Islamist prisoners.
The location is highly strategic. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is where the so-called ‘mules’ converge—travellers who every day try to board flights to Orly airport in the Paris region with cocaine from neighbouring Suriname, located on the other side of the river, in their luggage or stomachs. It was also the site of the former port of entry for the Cayenne penal colony, where convicts from mainland France were brought ashore. The Cayenne penal colony, which operated from 1850 to 1938, notably housed Captain Alfred Dreyfus at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Guiana prison project is likely to take several more years to get off the ground. In mainland France, Darmanin is facing resistance from the administrative and judicial apparatus, which is slowing down his other initiatives. He also recently suffered a bitter defeat when the Council of State rejected a—publicly popular—directive where Darmanin tried to end ‘recreational’ activities for prisoners. His directive was a response to recent scandals showing prisoners engaging in activities from go-karting to beauty treatments while incarcerated. The Council said in a press release that the minister could not “prohibit activities that comply with the prison code on principle simply because they are ‘recreational’ in nature.”
