Английская Википедия:Fox Hill Prison
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Infobox prison Fox Hill Prison is the only prison in the Bahamas.[1] Located in Nassau, the capital, it is operated by the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.[2][3] Fox Hill Prison has minimum, medium, and maximum security facilities for male prisoners.[4] It also has one block for female prisoners, as well as a medical block.[2][5]
History
The prison was established at its current location in Fox Hill, Bahamas, in March 1952. It was originally named Her Majesty's Prisons, a name shared with other prisons in the former British Empire. On August 11, 2014, its name was changed to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.[4]
Fox Hill Prison was not the first prison in the Bahamas. The earliest record of a prison in what is now the Bahamas was in the 1600s. Former prisons in Nassau now house the Nassau Public Library and the Royal Bahamas Police Force headquarters.[4]
The Bahamas also maintains the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for migrants in Nassau, New Providence.[6][7] The center opened in 1993 as the first immigration detention facility in the Caribbean.[8] Before that time, immigrant detainees in the Bahamas were held at Fox Hill.[9][10][11] Most detainees at the Carmichael Road facility are from Haiti and Cuba.[6][7] Like the Fox Hill prison, the Carmichael Road facility has been criticized for poor conditions.[6][7] The Bahamian immigration minister said in 2022 that the government was upgrading the Carmichael Road facility and also planned to build a migrant detention center in Inagua.[12]
Conditions and reputation
The prison has been criticised internationally for poor conditions.[13] A 2003 report by Amnesty International found that the prison had a high risk of transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis.[5] According to the United States Department of State's 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for the Bahamas, the prison is overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacks adequate food and medical care.[2][14] The report stated that the prison was infested with maggots, rats, and insects; that cells had buckets instead of toilets; and that prisoners reported bed sores caused by sleeping on the ground.[2][1] It also stated that prisoners shared 6 by 10 foot (2 by 3 meter) cells with no mattresses, no toilets, and as many as six prisoners to a cell.[5] In 2017, Commissioner Patrick Wright confirmed that prisoners in the maximum-security block still had to use buckets instead of toilets.[15] Bahamian attorney Romona Farquharson has stated that sometimes prisoners get as little as 30 minutes of outdoor time per week.[1]
Commissioner of Correctional Services Doan Cleare said in 2022 that conditions in the prison had improved, with renovations and an end to the "issues with rodents".[16] A video from The Nassau Guardian the same year showed a mixture of age and quality of facilities, with some facilities renovated, but some prisoners still in crowded cells.[16]
Notable inmates
Notable inmates detained at the prison include:
- Sam Bankman-Fried, businessman who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research; held at the prison in 2022 before he was extradited to the U.S. to face fraud charges.[1][5]
- Viktor Kožený, held at Fox Hill while fighting extradition to the United States; Kožený's counsel said the prison had a reputation for "breaking even the toughest of men" through harsh conditions.[2]
- Michaiah Shobek, serial killer executed in 1976.[17]
- David Mitchell, executed in 2000 for the murder of two Germans in the Bahamas.[18]
References
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 5,2 5,3 Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ 6,0 6,1 6,2 BAHAMAS: Forgotten Detainees? Refugees and Immigration Detainees: Appeals for Action Шаблон:Webarchive, Amnesty International (AI Index: AMR 14/003/2003).
- ↑ 7,0 7,1 7,2 Carmichael Road Detention Center / Bahamas Шаблон:Webarchive, Center for Justice and International Law (November 3, 2017).
- ↑ A short history of immigration detention Шаблон:Webarchive, Freedom for Immigrants.
- ↑ Larry Rohter, Campaign in Bahamas Forces Haitians to Flee for the U.S. Шаблон:Webarchive, New York Times (Jan. 2, 1994).
- ↑ Jo Thomas, Haitians in Bahamas Face Exit Deadline Шаблон:Webarchive, New York Times (January 18, 1981).
- ↑ Christopher Dickey, Haiti Calls Off Repatriation From Bahamas Шаблон:Webarchive, Washington Post (February 17, 1981).
- ↑ Bell: Detention Center Upgrades to Amount to Seven Figures Шаблон:Webarchive, Our News (December 12, 2022).
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020: Bahamas Шаблон:Webarchive, United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (2021).
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ 16,0 16,1 Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Bahamas to Execute an American Today for Murder of 3 Tourists Шаблон:Webarchive, Associated Press via New York Times (October 19, 1976).
- ↑ Deby Nash, Bahamas Hangs Convicted Stabber Шаблон:Webarchive, Associated Press (January 6, 2000).
