Highlights
– French prisons currently hold more than 1,100 people for terrorist-related offenses
– European Union security officials draw up manual to identify extremists in prison
– France’s disproportionately large Muslim prison population, fueled by crime ridden immigrant fringe communities, continues to place the country in danger of a terrorist attack in the long-term
In late September 2008, French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie expressed serious concerns over the current environment in French prisons. According to Alliot-Marie, the nation’s prisons are increasingly becoming a favorite recruiting ground for radical Islamists (Source). In addition, French authorities continue to arrest large numbers of suspected Islamic extremists on a yearly basis. In 2007, 89 Islamist activists were arrested in France, while at least 55 others have been arrested since January 2008. Altogether, more than 1,100 people are currently serving prison terms for terrorist-related activities (Source).
A report by the French Prison Administration, viewed by the French newspaper Le Figaro, has also found that 442 Islamic extremists currently imprisoned are exhibiting “worrying behavior” and another 211 prisoners, mostly of North African origin, are currently “in the process of radical Islamization.” (Source)
At the root of the problem, impoverished immigrant communities on the outskirts of Paris continue to foster a breeding ground for potential radical Islamists. France’s inability to economically integrate its foreign immigrant communities, where thousands of disenfranchised youths are prone to anti-Western radicalization, will continue to place the country in danger of a domestic terror attack in the long-term.
Furthermore, with a significant number of the Islamist radicals who were arrested in the late 1990s beginning to be released back into society, French law enforcement’s ability in preventing a high-profile terror attack will likely be challenged in the near to mid-term.
Accelerator of Radicalization
The case of Safe Bourada, an Algerian terrorist who served a jail term in the 1990s for providing funds, arms and logistical support for the series of 1995 bomb attacks in Paris, highlights the potential for radical recruitment in French prisons . While Bourada was serving his prison term, authorities claim that Bourada recruited members of a terror cell that planned several attacks in Paris before being dismantled in 2005.
Khaled Kelkal, a French affiliate of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and a major player in the 1995 attacks, also became a radical Islamist while in prison. Kelkal’s involvement in the string of attacks in 1995 was confirmed when police found his fingerprints on an unexploded device that was placed along the tracks of the high-speed train TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse). Kelkal was killed in September 1995 in a shootout with police roughly one month after the device was found.
A Playbook Against Extremist Inmates
Developed by France, Germany and Austria, countries in the European Union (EU) will soon receive a new manual that is designed to help prisons identify inmates who are on the verge of being indoctrinated to a fundamentalist and militant interpretation of Islam. The manual will identify potential signs of radicalization and will be distributed among 24,000 guards in French prisons, police and anti-terrorism magistrates. For example, the handbook identifies various signs or symbols affiliated with al-Qaeda, certain extremist religious works, and warns that radicalized individuals are likely to refuse to walk or eat with other non-Muslim prisoners.
The International Prison Observatory, however, has warned that identifying such characteristics may consequently stigmatize the broader number of peaceful Muslim inmates.
At the Center of the European Terror Campaign
While the newly created manual may help prison guards document which prisoners have undergone radical ideological transformations, additional measures will be required to combat the trend in the long-term. One potential area of weakness comes with the disproportionate number of Christian chaplains to Muslim religious leaders in French prisons, which allows prisoners to spread their own radical ideologies. Currently, Muslims make up more than half of France’s 64,000 inmate population. Yet among France’s 1,100 chaplains accredited to visit prisons, there are 600 Christian chaplains and only 100 Muslim religious leaders.
As French authorities devise new strategies to confront radical militant ideologies that are flourishing in the prison system, France will continue to be a high priority target for domestic and international terror groups in the long-term.
