SERA Preventing radicalisation in prisons -

P a g e | 13 ERASMUS+ N° 580247-EPP-1-2016-1-FR-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN FR ANCE For several years now, France has devoted more and more resources to fighting and forestalling extremism. For over 10 years, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the prevention of delinquency and radicalisation (Comité Interministériel de Prévention de la Délinquance et de la Radicalisation) 2 has steered policy in all matters concerning crime, radicalisation and terrorism. A national action plan was approved in 2014, involving a range of measures, including the establishment of the National Centre for the Prevention of Radicalisation and Support to Families (Centre national d’assistance et de prévention de la radicalisation), local monitoring units and a helpline for the families of radicalised youths and youths at risk of radicalisation (Gouvernement de la République Française, 2014 ; Pietrasanta, 2015 ; Embassy of France in La Valette, 2016). The helpline was promoted via a large-scale media campaign, featuring parents and relatives of foreign fighters 3 . Recent tragic events, most notably the Charlie Hebdo attack, the Hyper Cacher Kosher supermarket siege and the Stade de France and Bataclan attacks in 2015, have called for an intensification of the country’s efforts to prevent and counter radicalisation to terrorism (Embassy of France in La Valette, 2016). In 2016, (then in November 2017) the government approved a revised action plan (Gouvernement de la République Française, 2016), revolving around seven core objectives : - To detect routes to radicalisation and terrorist networks - To surveil, hinder and dismantle terrorist networks - To fight terrorism internationally - To enhance prevention mechanisms ensuring an individualised and tailored approach towards radicalised people - To engage in research and develop counter-narratives - To better protect vulnerable sites and networks - To be able to react to the terrorist threat and protect the nation That very same year, a plan to open 13 regional ‘reinsertion and citizenship centres’, otherwise known as de-radicalisation centres, was rolled out. The main objective of the centres was that of re-educating youth aged 18-30 at risk of radicalisation, to the values of democracy and of the French nation. Individuals would accept to participate in the 10-month educational programme on a voluntary basis (Sénat, 2017). Out of the 13 planned centres, only one centre, the Pontourny centre in the Loire region, was opened to the public. Despite having a capacity of 25 people, the centre hosted a total of 9 people, who all dropped out before completing the course. A worrying finding is that, beyond its inefficacy, the programme yielded adverse effects on three residents, who self-proclaimed 2 See : https://www.cipdr.gouv.fr/ 3 See: https://f.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/2725/files/2017/07/Dossier-de- presse_parents_stopjihadisme.pdf