 Front entrance to Saint-Gilles Prison | |
 Interactive map of Saint-Gilles Prison | |
| Coordinates | 50°49′17″N04°20′51″E / 50.82139°N 4.34750°E /50.82139; 4.34750 |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational (scheduled to close) |
| Capacity | 750 |
| Opened | 1884 |
| Street address | Avenue Ducpétiaux /Ducpétiauxlaan 106/N 242 |
| City | Saint-Gilles, Brussels-Capital Region |
| Postal code | 1060 |
| Country | Belgium |
| Notable prisoners | |
| Edith Cavell,Louise de Bettignies,Gabrielle Petit,Alexander von Falkenhausen | |
Saint-Gilles Prison (French:Prison de Saint-Gilles;Dutch:Gevangenis van Sint-Gillis) is a prison inBrussels, Belgium, that opened in 1884.[1] It is located on the borders of the municipalities ofSaint-Gilles,Ixelles andForest, next toForest Prison [fr;nl] andBerkendael Prison [fr;nl].
Representative of the cellular system established during the 19th century,[2] Saint-Gilles Prison was for a long time emblematic of overcrowding in Belgian prisons. Its infrastructure being in very poor condition, it was scheduled to close at the end of 2024, to be replaced byHaren Prison, but closure was postponed in February 2025, rescheduled for 2028.[3]
During the period of the establishment of theKingdom of Belgium in 1830, the country's prisons were made up a motley collection of buildings that were not destined to become places of confinement. This was particularly true of the many religious houses that had been confiscated as national property after thesecond French invasion of 1794 during theFrench Revolutionary Wars.[4] In 1830,Édouard Ducpétiaux was appointed inspector-general of prisons for theProvisional Government, only a few months after theBelgian Revolution, and was assigned the task of organising the national prison system in accordance with the most modern standards.[5] In 1848, thecellular system of imprisonment was adopted, when adecree established the principle of individual imprisonment into penal law.[5] This led to a programme of prison building in the country from 1850 onwards.[5]
Saint-Gilles Prison was first planned in 1883 to replace the Petits Carmes Prison located in central Brussels.[6][7] The prison was designed by the Belgian architectJoseph Jonas Dumont [fr] and built by the Belgian-French engineer and sculptorFrancois-Jacques Derre [nl] between 1878 and 1884.[6] It is representative of the cellular system established during the 19th century.[2] Originally a remand and sentencing prison, it housed people (men and women separately) placed under arrest warrant aspreventive detention,[8] as well as those sentenced to police or correctional sentences for thejudicialarrondissement of Brussels. After it proved insufficient to fulfil this dual function, the newForest Prison [fr;nl] located next door took on the role of remand prison in 1909.[9]
DuringWorld War I, with the exception of the territory behind theYser river, Belgium was underGerman occupation. The Germans incarcerated at Saint-Gilles Prison those awaiting trial before the GermanCouncil of War in Brussels.[10] Individuals who were "part of clandestine networks, others who had publicly protested against the abuses of the occupying forces, or those who had attempted to cross the Dutch border" were systematically sentenced to imprisonment.[10] Some were transferred to Germany to serve their sentences. Several testimonies report violent treatment in the Brussels prison environment during this period, including cases of physical brutality, death threats and other acts of intimidation.[10]
Among the most notable women incarcerated at the prison were the English nurseEdith Cavell,[11] the French secret agentLouise de Bettignies,[12] and the Belgian spyGabrielle Petit.[13] Petit's prison cell was preserved for posterity.[14]
DuringWorld War II, a large number ofopponents of theGerman Nazi regime were imprisoned at Saint-Gilles Prison, either at the disposal of theGerman police, or to serve a sentence, or prior to theirdeportation to Germany, most often toBuchenwald. An infirmary was set up in the prison during the war, allowing prisoners fromFort Breendonk to be treated there.[15]
As Brussels was being liberated in early September 1944, an attempt by the Germans to deport 1,600 political prisoners and Alliedprisoners of war from Saint-Gilles Prison toconcentration camps in Germany via theNazi ghost train was thwarted by Belgian railway workers and the Belgian Resistance.[16]
After the war, the leaders of thecollaborators and of certain political and military organisations, as well aspropagandists and spies were locked up at the prison.[17] Notably, GeneralAlexander von Falkenhausen, military governor of Belgium and northern France during theoccupation, was detained there from 1948 to 1951.
In the 1980s,Jean Bultot [nl], who was named in theNijvel Gang case, was deputy director of Saint-Gilles Prison. In the decades that followed, many tensions arose at the prison, including due to overcrowding and staff shortages, leading to prisoner uprisings (such as in 1987 and 2009) and staff strikes.[18] Since the 1990s, the prison has been overcrowded, with about eight hundred inmates (mainly pre-trial detainees).[19][20] On 3 May 1993, the gangsters Murat, Lacroix and Bajrami escaped from the prison. They took then-inspector-general Harry Van Oers hostage, forced him onto thebonnet of their getaway car and drove out of the prison gate.[21]
As of 2023[update], Saint-Gilles Prison is scheduled to close. The initial closing date was set for sometime in 2023, following the transfer of all prisoners to the newly constructedHaren Prison in north-eastern Brussels. However, the prison closure was postponed due to difficulties in recruiting prison guards at Haren Prison,[22] with three cell wings in Saint-Gilles then scheduled to remain operational until the end of 2024. In October 2024, this planned closure was again postponed by a year until the end of 2025, and in February 2025, a further extension until 2028 was announced.[3]
Saint-Gilles Prison is located at 106,avenue Ducpétiaux/Ducpétiauxlaan inSaint-Gilles, on the borders withIxelles andForest.[23] The rear of the surrounding wall borders theAvenue de la Jonction/Verbindingslaan, oppositeForest Prison [fr;nl]. The two prisons are connected by an underground passage used to serve to transfer prisoners. This close proximity causes frequent confusion between the two prisons in the media.
TheBrussels-Capital Region has, in total, three prisons in the area: Saint-Gilles Prison, Forest Prison, as well as its women's quarter (known asBerkendael Prison [fr;nl]), whose separate entrance opens onto theRue de Berkendael/Berkendaalstraat. This site is served by thepremetro (underground tram) stationAlbert (on lines4 and10), as well as thebus stopPrison/Gevangenis (on line 54).[24]
In terms of detention conditions, Saint-Gilles Prison is marked by chronic overcrowding. Despite slight improvements, reports from theEuropean Committee point to an overcrowding rate that still hovers around 50%. In 2017, the annual report of the General Directorate of Penitentiaries reported that, since the prison took over its function as a remand centre in 2016, there have been 896 male inmates for 579 places,[19] representing an average prison overcrowding rate of 48%.[20] This situation persists and is the cause of numerous staff strikes, the main effect of which is to further deteriorate detention conditions.[25][26]
Since 2020 and the outbreak of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, the situation has become even more tense. The application of measures such associal distancing is impossible in an overcrowded prison: 903 inmates for 850 places on 24 November 2021, bearing in mind that this increase in capacity has only been achieved by putting cells designed for a single inmate into "duos" or "trios". This has led to the emergence of multiple "clusters" of infection, prompting the mayor of Saint-Gilles,Charles Picqué, to issue an order prohibiting new entries.[25][26]
On the Belgian judicial front, the main conviction stems from a judgment of the BrusselsTribunal of First Instance on 9 January 2019.[27] The case was brought by the French- and German-speaking Bar Associations. The latter accused the Belgian State of serious failings regarding detention conditions at Saint-Gilles Prison. The judgement highlighted the problem of increasing prison overcrowding at the facility, which is in breach of Belgium's international and European commitments on prison conditions.[20] At the end of the proceedings, the court ordered the Belgian State to reduce the number of inmates at Saint-Gilles Prison to the facility's official capacity. If it fails to do so, the Belgian State is also liable to the payment of penalties, the amount of which increases in the event of non-compliance by the State with the obligation imposed on it.[27]
At international and European level, proceedings have also been initiated against Belgium. Indeed, theEuropean Court of Human Rights has condemned the Belgian State for violating theEuropean Convention on Human Rights through the detention conditions at Saint-Gilles Prison.[28]
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