UPDATE: This man was released on 23 June thanks to his unfailing resistance to a repressive state. Congratulations to him.
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18/06/2023: Inmates share their concerns for one of their fellow inmates. M. has been on hunger and thirst strike for over fourty days. He currently weighs only around forty kilos and complains of severe kidney pain. M. has been held for ten months in three different detention centers, and has already suffered from three violent deportation attempts. He was released on June 14, 2023 by the Chamber of Council of Charleroi following a request for release submitted by his lawyer. The Belgian state has decided to lodge an appeal against this decision. M. will remain in a closed center and will appear before the Court in two weeks.
Detainees report:
“There are several on hunger strike. I think I’m going to stop eating too, it’s all I have to do to get my freedom. One man has been on hunger strike for forty days. He’s going to die, Madam, and we’re here doing nothing. It’s torture to watch.”
These facts are part of a general context of violence at the Bruges detention center that the detainees denounce:
“It’s awful here Madam. We don’t get our medication, but we get as many painkillers as we want. The food is in very small quantities. We’re put in solitary confinement for any reason. Some of the men locked up here have even children outside (one of them has six), others have valid papers from another European country. This is not normal, Madam.”
