Famous+Prisons

**Robben Island**  Located just off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, Robben Island has served many functions over the years, including a leper colony at one point. However, it’s most known for serving as a prison under the apartheid regime. Well-known figures such as Nelson Mandela and Kgalema Motlanthe are just a few of political prisoners that spent time there. Today Robben Island is a popular tourist destination and can be reached by ferry from Cape Town. The island is an important breeding area for a large African Penguin colony.    ** Newgate: ** This was once London’s most notorious prison. Public hangings took place outside its gates, and it features in several of Charles Dickens’s novels. Newgate was rebuilt several times, and finally demolished in 1902. The Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) was built on the site of the prison.    ** Devil’s Island: ** France’s worst criminals and political prisoners were sent to this prison off the coast of French Guiana from 1852 until 1938. Henri Charriere, know as Papilon, is one of the few inmates ever to escape. Conditions on the island were very harsh and many prisoners died on disease.

Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay. It is usually referred to as **The Rock**. The first person to document the island was Juan Manuel de Ayala. He was a Spanish person. He named the island "La Isla de los Alcatraces,"which translates as "The Island of the Pelicans,".

Alcatraz used to be a prison for dangerous criminals. Phakorn.

The Hao Loa Prison

The Hao Loa Prison was sarcastically known to the Americans as "The Hanoi Hilton". The Hao Loa Prison was used by French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for war prisoners during the Vietnam War. The name means "fiery furnace" or "Hell's hole", it also means "stove". This prison was built by the French in 1886 - 1889. It was located near Hanoi's French Quater. I was intended to hold Vietnamese prisoners who were often a subject to torture and execution. This prison became a symbol of the French's bitterness to the Vietnamese. - Emmy

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

This is a museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This was a former high school, then was used as the notorious Security Prison 21. Tuol Sleng means "The Hills of Poisonous Trees". From 1975 - 1979, an estimted 17,000 people were imprisoned. After Khmer Rouge won the civil war, he changed this high school to a prison. Prisoners were tortured and killed. Several prisoners committed suicide during the several years. Majority of the prisoners were Cambodian, but there were Thai, Vietnamese, Laotians, English, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Indians, and Pakistani prisoners too. Most of the foreign prisoners were Vietnamese or Thai. Out of an estimated 17,000 people imprisoned in Tuol Sleng, only 12 known prisoners survived. - Emmy

Port Arthur

Port Arthur is a small town in Tasmania, Australia. In 1996, it was the scene of the worst mass murder in Australian history. From 1933 - 1950's, it was the destination for the British and Irish prisoners. Whippings were only used for hardened criminals. If the prisoners were well behaved, they would get luxuries like tea and sugar. If the prisoners were troublemakers, they would get minimum bread and water. There was a system in a separate part of the building, "The Silent System", was given to prisoners. They were hooded and made silent and were supposed to reflect on how they came upon there. Many of the prisoners there developed a mental illness from the lack of light and sound. This was an unintended outcome, and they built an asylum next to the separate part of the building. Three sides of the building were surrounded by water and the other side was surrounded by guards and half-starved dogs. Many attempts were made to escape, but only a few were successful. Martin Cash escaped with two other prisoners. Port Arthur was known as "The Inescapable Prison", like the Alcatraz prison in The United States. In April 1996, there was a massacre, Martin Bryant went on a killing spree. He killed 35 men and wounding 21 more before being captured. - Emmy

Elmina Castle

Elmina Castle is located in Elmina, Ghana. This was the most important stop in the Atlantic Slave Trade. By the seventeenth century, most of West Africa concentrated on slave trade. The slaves were sent to this prison before they exited through the infamous "Door of No Return". Then, they were transported to newly colonized countries like Brazil. - Emmy