Nobody wants to end up in prison. Being locked behind bars is the worst punishment imaginable for many people. To be far away from everyone and everything they hold dear is in itself punishment enough, however, life in some prisons around the world adds insult to injury and becomes the stuff of nightmares. In saying that, some places are surprisingly much more bearable than others. In fact, in some cases, the conditions are actually more comfortable than some houses!
This list offers a peek into what life is like in different prisons around the world, from the very worst to the not so bad. Get set to witness more than a few surprises.
Bastøy, Norway
If you ever have the bad luck of being sentenced behind bars, then Norway's Bastøy would be your abode of choice. Think of it like the penthouse of prisons. It is located on its own island near the main city and contains one of the lowest levels of security found anywhere.
The Penthouse Of Prisons
Facilities on the premises include over 80 buildings, beaches, a forest, soccer fields, and many other non-prison activities. Safe to say, being stuck on this island is far from the worst place to be sentenced to.
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Penal De Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador
From the best to arguably the worst, the Penal De Ciudad Barrios in El Salvador is the last place anyone anywhere would want to spend their incarceration. The conditions are so bad it makes inmates feel more like caged animals than criminals serving time. The cells here are around 15 square meters wide and 3 meters tall with 70 people jammed into this tiny space.
Short Term…Or Not
The slammer was only meant to function as a holding cell of 72 hours maximum, yet some prisoners have spent more than a year locked inside this minuscule space.
Freetown Female Prison, Sierra Leone
Due to its location, Freetown is one of the wettest capitals in the world. As such, this makes the open space outside of the cells unusable for most of the year. This exacerbates illnesses and creates difficulties to wash and dry clothes and sheets.
One In A Thousand?
As a result of the weather, during the rainy season, women are prone to more illnesses. The prison only has a few nurses and just one doctor for more than a thousand prisoners when including the neighboring male prison. Medical supplies and healthcare items, such as sanitary towels, are always in short supply.
Onomichi Prison, Japan
The Onomichi Prison in Japan was designed with the elderly in mind. Prisoners serving out their sentence are moved to this facility in their old age. It has special conditions which make it easier for inmates to handle being behind bars in their twilight years.
The Black Dolphin, Russia
They didn't call it the iron curtain for no reason, this Russian maximum security prison by the Kazakhstan border has its cells set behind three sets of steel doors. Inmates essentially live in a cell within a cell. Prisoners are kept under surveillance 24/7. The average inmate here is responsible for five murders! No inmate has ever escaped the Black Dolphin.
Bois D'arcy Detention House, France
The Bois D'arcy Detention House is another "light" prison which is designed to house inmates awaiting trial as well as for those serving less than a year behind the slammer. Looks just like a college dorm if you ask us.
Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa Penitentiary, Brazil
This prison is so dangerous that violent uprisings spring up from time to time with many prisoners meeting their end while serving time inside these walls. Being sentenced to prison poses more of a threat than trusting your wit on the streets it seems as gang warfare spills into prions.
Quezon City Jail, The Philippines
Philippines' Quezon City Jail is so crowded that between 160 to 200 prisoners are crammed into a cell built for 20. Inmates even have to sleep in shifts on the concrete floor of a fenced basketball court. Basics such as space, air, food, and water are barely provided for.
UN Detention Unit, Netherlands
The UN Detention Unit built in the Netherlands during the 1993 war in Yugoslavia was designated to hold inmates who were charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, or those accused of genocide. The conditions here look more than adequate considering the heinous crimes of those housed here.
Aranjuez, Spain
The prison at Aranjuez in Spain is quite unusual as the facility contains rooms specially designed for children during conjugal visits. Children can come to visit their parents and without feeling the doom and gloom of a prison atmosphere.
Child-Friendly
Furthermore, at Aranjuez in Spain, the children's visiting rooms are decorated and include special beds and other niceties to help make the kids feel more at home. At this prison, they recognize that that being locked behind bars doesn't necessarily mean one has to give up on their family.
Bredtveit Prison, Norway
One of the biggest differences at the Bredtveit Women’s Prison in Oslo from other prisons is the culture. Inmates don't wear uniforms nor are the guards armed. In fact, the prison even made Norweigian history by opening the first clothing store in prison walls.
Home Away From Home?
Also at the Bredtveit Prison in Norway, each inmate has their own room, with their space looking more like a bedroom than a prison cell. Inmates are also allowed personal belongings such as jewelry and CDs. The four-story building contains common areas, sofas, a kitchen and a television.
Neve Tirza, Israel
Neve Tirza is Israel's only women's prison. Conjugal visits, three-day-long absences and vacation programs for eligible prisoners are available. The prison is equipped with a petting zoo, a meditation room, and glow-in-the-dark fish tanks!
Runaways On The Runway?
In 2014, Israel's Neve Tirza prison made international headlines when it hosted a fashion show. The show included gowns, hairdressers, intricate make-up and a runway. The prison can currently house up to 226 prisoners. Seeing as Israel has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world, it seems like it'll do.
Haiti Civil Prison, Haiti
The Haiti Civil Prison is recorded as being one of the most overcrowded prisons anywhere in the world. 174 prisoners escaped in a 2016 riot which started inside the prison walls. One of the guards were killed while several more were injured.
Amritsar Prison, India
In the 15 years, since the early 2000s, India's women prison population has burgeoned a staggering 61%. Infrastructure has failed to keep pace with this period of growth, yet mothers in prison are allowed to keep their children with them until the age of six. Pictured are women prisoners posing with their babies at the central jail at Amritsar Prison.
The Maula Prison, Malawi
Malawi's Maula Prison is certainly one place nobody wants to find themselves in. Cells in this compound were originally meant to house 60 prisoners, yet 200 prisoners are now crammed inside. There is just a single toilet for every 120 convicts, with only one meal of food served per day due to budget limits. There's also just one running tap for them all. We'll let you do the math on how that works.
Norgerhaven, Netherlands
Prisons in the Netherlands have something many of its neighbors would envy - it doesn't have enough prisoners to fill its jails! Crime rates are reportedly so low in the country that the Norgerhaven Prison that it started accepting criminals from Norway! Each jailbird is given their own bed, television, toilet and more. Looks more like a hostel than a prison if you ask us!
Pondok Bambu Prison, Indonesia
As hard as it might be to believe, the Pondok Bambu Prison in Indonesia makes luxury rooms available for purchase. Who said crime doesn't pay?
Some inmates, however, bribe their way into these rooms illicitly. The rooms are equipped with a range of features such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and even nail salons and karaoke machines! Furthermore, the complex also offers beauty treatments, other recreational classes and gardens to walk around in. It almost sounds like a girls weekend getaway.
ADX Florence, The United States of America
Don't let the minimal look fool you, this federal prison has one of the highest levels of security found anywhere on earth. It is designed for high-risk prisoners who are deemed too dangerous to be in with other prisoners. Inmates at this facility have just one hour a day outside their cell which is used for showering and taking a short stroll around the yard.
Landsberg Prison, Germany
The less said about this prison the better. It is where Adolf Hitler wrote his infamous book "Mein Kampf" and where 278 Nazis were executed for their war crimes following World War 2.
Qarchak Women Prison, Iran
Located in a desert east of Tehran, the Qarchak Women Prison is infamous for its inhumane psychological and medical conditions. Food is not enough for everyone here. Prisoners are normally served spaghetti, boiled potatoes, and bread. Due to the diet, many prisoners suffer from severe vitamin deficiency.
Halden Prison, Norway
The Halden Prison in Norway is the place where high levels of security meet high levels of comfort. Prisoners locked up in this facility are actually considered lucky, seeing as they have access to a number of amazing amenities, not typical of a lockup.
Prize Winning
For starters, the rooms are designed with style, while there are a number of prison activities from video games to sports fields. There are also several rehabilitation programs designed to help inmates with their recuperation. The prison has won an interior design award. Naturally, there are some who criticize it for its excessive liberalism.
Rikers Island Prison, New York
Reportedly one of the ten worst prisons in the United States, Rikers is not a place you ever want to find yourself stuck in. The prison made headlines in 2015 after a young boy, who while locked up for three long years awaiting his trial for stealing a bag, committed suicide.
Shutting The Slammer?
As of 2018, there are currently 9000 prisons stationed at Rikers. The 400-acre island contains 10 jails including facilities for women, and adolescents, as well as an infirmary, power plant, and bakery.
Evin Prison, Iran
If you hate saunas then this prison will be a place you'll want to avoid. Inside this densely populated prison, men and women find themselves trapped inside with no air conditioning or ventilation even in 45-degree weather. The place smells of human perspiration and like any bad sauna there's barely any water to be found, let alone food.
Champ-Dollon Prison, Switzerland
No, this isn't an upper-class hostel, it's actually a special prison for inmates currently awaiting trial. Switzerland's Champ-Dollon Prison possesses more than satisfactory conditions any detainee will find comfortable.
Luzira Prison, Uganda
At the Luzira Prison in Uganda, convicts learn to take care of the space as if it were their own. They are able to grow their own food and live a community life. On top of this hands-off approach, inmates also have the opportunity to acquire an academic education. The ratio of prisoners to prison guards is 1 to 1.35, which might help explain the relative tranquility.
San Diego’s Women Prison, Colombia
San Diego’s Women Prison in Colombia acts as a type of rehabilitation facility for women inmates who edge closer to their release date. The prisoners run schedules regularly each day which includes different types of work and even run their own restaurant. Some are tasked with cooking, while others garden, wait tables, sell handmade products and more.
San Quentin State Prison, California
California's San Quentin State Prison is one the oldest prisons in all of America. It has been running for over 150 years since it first opened its doors, or should we say closed its cells. Many infamous criminals were housed here, most notably Charles Manson. Of those currently serving their time, several are awaiting execution. More than 700 have already been executed here.
HMP Addiewell, Scotland
This facility looks closer to first-class air travel than a standard prison. The HM Prison Addiewell in Scotland functions as a rehabilitation center more than a prison. Inmates are offered a chance to live a life similar to that which they left behind. They work, perform chores, study, and partake in actual rehabilitation programs.
Oslo’s Skien Prison, Norway
Norway seems like the best country to be in if you're serving out a prison sentence. Oslo’s Skien Prison looks more or less like a standard apartment. Each inmate is given their own private space, a computer, and a toilet. For some around the world, this looks better than their actual homes.
Otago Corrections Facility, New Zealand
There's a reason the Otago Corrections Facility in New Zealand is known as the "Milton Hilton" by the locals. Prisoners plan their own menus and do their own grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning here. With state of the art facilities including a gymnasium, sports fields, and under-floor heating, it's easy to see why the facility seems closer to a hotel than a prison.
San Pedro Prison, Bolivia
The San Pedro Prison in Bolivia is one of the most crowded prisons around, with class differences between prisoners being glaringly obvious. Private cells are available for purchase within the compound for the wealthy with an apartment in the three stories up for buying. Ordinary prisoners, however, are doomed to serve out their time under the worst of conditions.
Cebu Provincial Detention And Rehabilitation Center, The Philippines
If you haven't seen the viral prison dancing videos, you should really check it out now. This is the prison where it all came together. Prisoners here gather en mass and spend much of their time dancing in large groups as part of their rehabilitation and daily exercise. Many of these dances have gone viral.
Petak Island Prison, Russia
It's easy to see why the Petak Island Prison in Russia is nicknamed the "Russian Alcatraz". It houses some of the most dangerous criminals in all of Russia. Prisoners only exposure to other people is with the person they are locked within a small cell 23 and half hours per day. They are allowed only two visits all year, which isn't made any easier when you consider the prison is surrounded by a frozen lake!
El Buen Pastor Women’s Prison, Colombia
Severe violence among inmates, combined with hellish living conditions plague El Buen Pastor Women’s Prison in Colombia. 10 to 12 women are placed in cells which are designed to house just 2 people.
HM Prison Dartmoor, England
HM Prison Dartmoor in England is considered one of the most secure in all the land. Escaping is said to be impossible. Most inmates here have been convicted of white-collar crimes, although there also exists a rehabilitation program as well as support groups for rapists and sex-offenders.
Abashiri Prison, Japan
Although the discipline at Japan's Abashiri Prison is harsh, it allows prisoners to enjoy relatively comfortable living conditions without any fear of violence, crime, rape, or drugs - things which are often widespread among many prisons. There is even a souvenir shop outside the prison which sells products manufactured by inmates!
Pelican Bay State Prison, United States Of America
Every single prisoner at the United States' Pelican Bay State Prison has a violent past, with 40% of them sentenced to life. Asu such, it is one of the most violent prisons in California. Many prisoners from other prisons have been moved here due to their violent behavior.
Bordeaux Prison, Canada
Canada's Bordeaux Prison holds up to 1,500 prisoners, with all of them serving less than two-year sentences. Seeing as the crimes are generally quite light to warrant such short sentences in the slammer, the levels of violence are low which makes living conditions somewhat reasonable.
Altiplano Prison, Mexico
It's safe to presume this prison was built with keeping inmates from having any communication with the outside world. It is considered one of the most secure facilities in Mexico. The prison is surrounded by a one-meter thick wall, while airspace is closed to all aviation. Even the cellphone reception can only reach as far as 10 kilometers.
Chiang Mai Women's Correctional Institute, Thailand
At this prison, women can take up jobs and are offered yoga, meditation and massage classes. Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their babies at the prison's nursery, while elsewhere inmates receive training in silk weaving and traditional Thai massages.
A Princess's Plea
90% of women behind bars in the country face drug charges. Thailand's princess has prioritized improving women's prisons and spearheaded a U.N. initiative on the treatment of women prisoners, as can be seen at Chiang Mai Women's Correctional Institute.
Kashimpur Central Jail, Bangladesh
The 1,200 prisoners here must feel like they live in an oversized mental institution. The prison houses awaiting under trial, administrative detainees and convicted prisoners sentenced to a term of imprisonment, including imprisonment for life, and death sentences.
Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma
