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Rodrigo Abd / AP
An inmate, handcuffed to the bars of his cell as punishment for beating a guard, smokes a cigarette at the San Pedro Sula Central Corrections Facility in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, May 3.
It's more like a fenced-in town than a conventional prison, where raccoons, chickens and pigs wander freely among food stalls and in troughs of open sewage. But guards do not dare cross the painted, yellow "linea de la muerte" (line of death) into the inner sanctum run by prisoners, and prisoners do not breach the perimeter controlled by guards.
-- Reported by the Associated Press
Rodrigo Abd / AP
A view of San Pedro Sula Central Corrections Facility.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates peer from inside their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
A prison guard yawns as he gets his shoes shined, May 2.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmate Denis Castillo cuddles with his wife, Reina Lopez, and their son Dermin Valentin during visiting hours.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Pigs wade through a ditch inside the San Pedro Sula Central Corrections Facility.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates take the trash out from their cells.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates use a mirror to see outside their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates wait in line for lunch.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
An inmate, right, pays for food from another prisoner as others wait in line to add to their government-provided meal.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Elderly inmates eat lunch outside their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates make bets as they play a game of "Chingolingo."
Rodrigo Abd / AP
A police officer guards the cells of San Pedro Sula Central Corrections Facility.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates gather in their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates gather outside their cells.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmate Brian Alexandre, 20, cuts Marvin Baca's hair inside his barber shop in San Pedro Sula Central Corrections Facility.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmate Augusto Ochoa Rodriguez plays with his 8-month-old daughter Merci Yoana inside his cell during visiting hours.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates rest inside their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmate Pedro Hernandez studies Spanish grammar as Marvin Hernandez Pavon, top, weaves a fish net inside their cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmate Jesus Hugo Hernandez, 85, sits in his bed inside his cell.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates Carlos Alfredo Ramos, sitting left, and Jorge Correa create glass handicrafts to sell outside Pedro Sula prison.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
A portrait of Graciela Palacios, the 4-year-old daughter of inmate Armando Palacios, hangs in his cell area.
Rodrigo Abd / AP
Inmates sleep inside their cell.
Leave a Comment:
American prisons should be run like this.
Crime would drop below the average in a heartbeat. I live in Costa Rica and have seen our prison on TV and it is very similar, a little more control but still overcrowding, just like you see in the pictures. You really do not want to become incarcerated either there or here.
An American was in prison here for a year, he went in 210 lbs and came out about 135. Helofway to loose weight. From the minute he got it, the inmates made him pay for protection, he never had any money to use for above the norm food. I know this, I talked to him after he got out, he worked in a sportsbook I was at. The things he told me, you could not write about.
My shoe is loose and I lose the race.
Here is what I know about this,my sister in laws father was an U.S. Air Force Colonel there ,and a bunch of Honduran spies came after my family (Wright Brothers Relatives,and hers) in the U.S.When I was called (I am a UN Peacekeeper/U.S.Government agent)to Moreno Valley,Ca because the Guatemalan war criminal was killing children ,they attacked my child and I,stole my mail,repeatedly vandalized my undercover U.N.Vehicle broke into my accounts ,illegally insisted on using MY ADDRESS ,strong armed and threatened my tenants and helped a war criminal overtake March AFB with one of my friends identities-by the looks of the pictures ,I think they are living better than the U.S.Citizens they attacked in California,that are NOT criminals.
KA SHO HAWK 66 Got to love you good old UN. Where were they when you needed them. Oh, yes, spending your money in Honduras.
looks like California should send all their inmates there
Make the whole damn Island the UN Prison. Overcrowding problem solved. New movie titled escape from Honduras. Air drop them some of our wild hogs, deer, and corn. Let them figure it out. Or maybe Cuba wants that job. Haiti might also via for the title. Wait, those islands are already prisons. We are just talking about a prison inside a prison right?
What is the purpose of this article? Nobody cares what they do there and the whole thing is of no interest. Got nothing to write about "journalist"? Get a job!
@Subliminal Guess I'm "nobody" then. I find the article interesting.
Our prisons are like Hotels in the US compared to this raunchy place---The US caters to all the prisoner's needs, including exercise, desired food, TV---bathroom, and medical care if needed, visits from family.
Honduras, the place of H--------------------the prisons are infested with diseases, filth, and it would not be surprising they kill each other--too many prisoners stashed on top of one another.
Honduras is not a place where their prisons are like ours---we have never seen the prisons of 3rd World Countries, including Major Countries of China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, and so forth--the Middle East included.
Honduran prisoners have no legal counseling---Haiti must be similar.
Lucky to live in the US of A---even US prisoners for "Jaywalking" across the street live in luxury prisons.
Subliminal. Why should you care about prisons, right? You will never be there, right? How many well isolated islands can we find in the world. Each one can be their own self contained prison. Anyone entering or leaving is shot on sight. Any boat within 100 mile is sunk first questioned later. Populate with wild hogs, deer and corn. Let them figure it out. Forget about it. Right.
Best picture of them all..is the two trees right next to the prison wall that are taller then the wall plus barb wire at top! Guard happens to be sitting there in this picture..but not 24/7. If 24/7 guarded..why not just cut the dead trees down!
Mike, goes to show you no one really want's out of those prisons. Life is better there than on the outside. At least there they get fed every once in a while.
Bueno ,solemente las personas que alguna vez estuvimos en prision sabemos lo que se vive , y las situaciones que se vive en una carsel con sobrepoblacion ,el estar ahi es consecuencia de nuestros propios actos ...y aser un autoanalisis de nuestra vida,,y cambiar de runbo y ser una persona diferente..,DIOS LES VENDIGA...
No wonder they flock here ....
Our prisons are so much nicer ....
Funny Rodolfo, but how many prisons here do you see where the children are let in to have a life with their families. Heck. It just may be that life is better there than it is in our system. Our system looks clean but it is filthy brutal there. The one picture with the baby being held by the man shows a much different social structure inside that prison than ours.
we need to reform our laws.One size fits all doesn't work.Legalize pot. Standardize punishments[inequity w crack vs powder coke for instance].evaluate non violent crime.Use capital punishment sparingly but quickly in the NO DOUBT cases.The rest-put them in prisons like this-career criminals etc.Let them kill themselves off.If someone gets too powerful-bam..Oh-and so they don't want to come here-illegals get this type of accomodations
And the terrorists complain about conditions at Gitmo?
Jonathan:
Good point. Yes, the Prisoners at Gitmo live better than our own US prisoners---we have to respect their religious beliefs, making sure all their needs are met by demand.---
Crazeeeeeeeeeeee!
Yes, as long as they let the guards bugger them when they want to.
Prisons in the US are like country clubs compared to this. This is exactly how American prisons should be run, except we should eliminate the administration. Build big walls, drop them off and forget about them. Darwinism at it's best
why worry about eating prison, just kill a pig and cook a pig or two. hell and if your wife can vist you in you cell, i'm sure it decreases homo rapes
who would care it they sent in the army and killed them all,if we dont want this in the US we better turn our prisons into prisons with no bull @!$%#,they riot kill then
I can't believe the unbelievably cruel and callous comments some people have made. You don't know what these inmates have done or why they are there, yet you unilaterally condemn them and make comments like "let them kill themselves off". Are you simply incapable of having any compassion for your fellow mankind? Did it ever occur to you that some of these men might be there for something that in the states would only warrant a misdemeanor ticket? Like being caught with a joint? These men come from one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere and I doubt ANY of them were able to afford a lawyer or had proper legal representation no trial by jury, or any of the other things we take for granted. It is more than likely that many of the men in these photographs have been incarcerated STILL waiting to go to trial. You are not afforded a "quick and speedy" trial in Honduras as you are in the states and you are guilty until proven innocent (Napoleonic law).
These conditions are inhumane. You can tell it's hot, unsanitary, dirty, overcrowded and nearly everyone is barefoot and shirtless. I have been to San Pedro Sula and besides being one of the most dangerous cities in central america it is extremely hot and humid. There's no ventilation for air to circulate and no fans visible at all. In the last photograph, men are crammed into a tiny cell, no fan, no ventilation and no bedding. Conditions are slightly better in some of the other pictures but not by much. Perfect breeding ground for diseases like cholera, dysintery, tuberculosis, AIDS, which I suspect are rampant. Frequently these prisons are fire traps and riots occasionally break out due to the poor conditions. From what I've seen of these photographs, conditions are inhumane and these are human rights violations. A human being who is incarcerated anywhere in the world should have the right to basic things like proper sanitation, medical care and clean conditions. Everyone in that prison is under the control of dangerous inmates, not prison officials.
A proper prison should be built to house these inmates and separate the dangerous ones from those that can be rehabilitated, but Honduras is the second poorest country in the hemisphere after Haiti.
The average American (including me) has no idea how much suffering exists throughout the world. We bitch & moan about the price of gas while others wallow in filth and don't know the difference.
Anyone notice the frigg'n Pizza hut sign in the second photo. Wow, great advertising to a captive audience. Talk about dangling a carrot just out of reach. Just try to break out for our stuff crust you bastards, I dare ya.
Prisons would only be a 1/3 full... if ....the punishment equaled the crime.
The Neanderthal law is the only one that works...our judicial system is a total failure!!!
An eye for an eye!!!
The article stated the guards do not dare cross a certain line.
Absolutely no control of inmates!!!
Horrible way to run a prison...and allow children inside...