Sint-Gillis Prison in Brussels is infested with rats. This is all to apparent from video footage that was recorded secretly by prisoners at the jail. Videos showing rats roaming around the prison’s exercise yard and even in the cells were sent to the daily ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ and the Francophone Sudpresse newspaper group.
Rats are shown walking across the courtyard and sniffing the barred windows. There is also footage of rats foraging for food piles of rubbish at the prison.
The footage was filmed secretly by prisoners on mobile phones that they are not allowed to have. The images leave little to the imagination. Prisoners testified anonymously to the newspapers. They said that "We are dying here among the sickening, dirty rats”.
They compared the conditions at Sint-Gillis with those at the new prison at Haren (also Brussels) and said that the contrast could not be greater. They added that their crimes were no greater than those committed by prisoners incarcerated at Haren, yet they had to suffer sub-human conditions.
The new prison at Haren opened at the end of last year. All prisoners from Vorst Prison (across the road from Sint-Gillis) have already been transferred to Haren as have all the inmates from Berkendael Women’s Prison. While some inmates from Sint-Gillis have already been transferred to Haren, many still remain at the antiquated jail.
The issue with rats is not helped by the fact that inmates often throw waste out of the windows of their cells causing mountains of rubbish to pile up.
Valérie Callebaut of the Prison Service confirms that there is a problem. "We take the issue seriously. There is an internal Prison Service team that cleans up every day and is an external company is employed to try and exterminate the rats”.