After the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Saydnaya became a mass detention center for opponents of the regimeactivists and civilians. Now, after Assad’s fall, thousands of people are rushing to Saydnaya to look for family and friends.
This symbol of repressionnow released, has been flooded in the hope of finding prisoners alive. Those who were imprisoned suffered all kinds of torture. We start with Saydnaya, one of the most controversial, as the first among the five prisons most feared in the world.
Saydnaya, Syria
It is called “the human slaughterhouse” because more than 30,000 people. From salt rooms used to preserve bodies to underground cells and multiple rapes. Among its corridors, systematic practices of tortureextrajudicial executions and inhumane conditions.
Now, after the fall of the Al-Assad regime, rebel forces have taken control of the prison. During the inspections, it was discovered hundreds of corpses with signs of torture. The suspected atrocities have been proven. But it is not the only prison full of atrocities.
Black Dolphin, Russia
No one has ever managed to escape from there. Its official name is IK-6 Penal Colony and is located on the border with Kazakhstan. A remote and cold place where nearly 700 inmates live together. Together, they add up to more than 3,500 murders. The cells are double, reinforced and completely insulated. They do not eat together and it is not allowed to talk to other prisoners. Obliged to walk stoopedat 90 degrees, with his head down and his hands handcuffed behind his back. They go out to the outside areas with their eyes bandaged. All to prevent them from recognizing their surroundings and hinder any escape planning.
It was founded in the 18th century as part of the Russian Empire’s prison system. In the beginning it housed all types of criminals, but over the years it integrated the worst criminals. During the Soviet period, the prison was transformed into a high-security facility, adapting to the regime’s tightening of prison policies. With the arrival of Vladimir Putin, the institution became maximum security prison intended to imprison the most dangerous criminals in Russia: serial killers, terrorists, cannibals or rapists.
Between its bars live “The Maniac of Angarsk”, a former police officer who killed more than 80 people, “The Beast of Ukraine”, a serial killer, or the “Chess Killer”, who sought to kill 64 people to fill the squares on your board. In Black Dolphin the prisoners do not interact. In La Sabaneta de Venezuela, it would be better if they didn’t do it.
La Sabaneta, Venezuela
The prisoners played soccer with the heads of his victims. Located in Maracaibo, it was designed in 1958 to house 700 inmates, but the number exceeded 3,700 inmates. The pranesleaders of the gangs, controlled the dynamics of the prison, including the distribution of cells, food and weapons. The mafia self-government, drugs and violence. A prison where brawls were continuous and broke out in full anarchy.
Two events launched her to the international level. In 1994, a fire caused during a riot It caused the death of a hundred inmates. The incident became the biggest prison tragedy of the history of the country. Almost a decade later, in 2013, a dispute between gangs left 16 dead. This event highlighted the savagery of the center, and the government decided to close it. However, in August 2023, has been reactivated partially. According to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatorythe reopening has sparked concern among local residents. It is feared the return of insecurity and criminal activities associated with the former prison. In La Sabaneta they killed themselves, in Bang Kwang, they died.
Bang Kwang, Thailand
The jail devours its prisonersthat’s why they call it “The Great Tiger”. Opened in 1933, Bang Kwang was designed to hold the most dangerous criminals or those sentenced to long sentences and life imprisonment. In Spain it became known due to the possibility that Daniel Sancho could serve his sentence there.
They coexist dozens of prisoners in the same cell. They sleep on the floor and malnutrition is their daily bread. Drinking water is scarce and unsanitary conditions contribute to the spread of diseases. Inside it is more dangerous to be injured than to be attacked, a simple cut on the foot can lead to death. Infections spread freely among their almost 8,000 inmates. There is no hope, but there is irony, because the prisoners call her Hilton.
The inhumane conditions at Bang Kwang are well known. The Thai government set out to implement reforms in its prison system, however, despite some improvements such as the elimination of the use of shackles, sincere concerns persist about respect for prisoners. human rights. Although for torture, those of Diyarbakir in Türkiye.
Diyarbakir, Türkiye
Greeting the prison warden’s dog, listening to the national anthem on loop, beatings, hangingsmock executions or gathering of naked prisoners. During the 80s, after the coup d’état of September 12 of that same year, the facility was used as military prisonhosting numerous political opponents, activists and members of ethnic minorities, in particular, the Kurdish community.
The prison was the scene of systematic tortureinhuman and degrading treatment. Inmates were subjected to physical and psychological abuse, including electric shocks and humiliations.
These extreme conditions led to numerous suicides and hunger strikes. Mazlum Doğan, member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), he immolated himself in 1982 in protest of the treatment received. His act inspired other prisoners to follow his example, highlighting the seriousness of the situation inside the prison.
From torture zone to school: In 2009 it was proposed to convert it into a school, but this idea was criticized by Kurdish activists who advocated for its transformation into a museum to document the abuses perpetrated. Currently, the prison has been emptied and the transformation works are in progress. The prison will become a museum of atrocities, to keep the memory alive and prevent history from repeating itself. These five prisons house the elderly criminalsbut their practices seem to be close to what they purport to contain.
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