• Secret prison in the jungle on Nigerian island

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    A man swalk past a sign post at the former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria. The prison is cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs this island outside of Nigeria's largest city, but it never officially existed although many critics of the nation's military rule were kept here. Ita Oko Island allowed Nigeria's military governments to have opponents disappear into the swamps of the Lekki Lagoon at a camp accessible only by boat and helicopter.

    Jon Gambrell / AP

    A message on a wall at the prison on Ita Oka Island.

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    Associated Press team shields from rain as they travel to the former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island.

    Sunday Alamba / AP

    The remains of a burnt down part of a former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria.

    The Associated Press reports that anyone deemed a security risk by the government could be imprisoned:

    Those deemed to be a major risk politically found themselves taken to Ita Oko by helicopter, where they worked on the farm and had no contact with the outside world, Agbakoba said. Even today, as the country has become a democracy with the guise of free information laws, it remains unclear how many inmates died on the prison island.

    "It was abused by prison authorities," Agbakoba said. "If you misbehave, they said we'll send you as punishment to" the island.

    In 1988, the wife of one inmate who discovered her husband had been sent there slipped a note to Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Soyinka was on the board of Agbakoba's Civil Liberties Organization, which later traveled to the island with a journalist from The Guardian newspaper who published a story exposing the prison. Authorities quickly closed the prison.

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  • Ulises Rodriguez / Reuters

    An inmate and member of a gang holds his son at the jail in Quetzaltepeque, El Salvador on May 2, 2012.

    El Salvador gangs declare schools off-limits in expansion of truce

    Representatives of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 gangs have announced an expansion of the terms of their recent truce, calling a halt to the recruitment of children and youths and declaring schools off-limits for their activities.

    Last month the Central American country, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, had its first murder-free day in nearly three years.

    -- Reuters and Agence France Presse contributed to this report

  • Suhaib Salem / Reuters

    Palestinian children take part in a rally in front of Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day, April 17, 2012.

    1,200 Palestinian prisoners declare hunger strike

    1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails began a hunger strike Tuesday, Reuters reports. Israel's prisons authority said in a written statement that a further 2,300 Palestinian prisoners said they would reject their daily meal in support of Palestinian Prisoners' Day.

    The Guardian reported on Sunday that 11 Palestinian prisoners are already on previously-declared hunger strikes, 3 of whom have been hospitalized. The strikers are seeking to draw attention to their conditions, including issues of imprisonment without charge and solitary confinement.

    Related content:

  • Blago courts attention, flies away for 14 years

    NBC News

    Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich aboard a plane heading to Colorado to serve his prison sentence on March 15.

    Ed Andrieski / AP

    Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich walks with attorneys as he arrives at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colo. on March 15, where he began serving his 14-year sentence for corruption.

    AP reports -- Convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrived at the Colorado federal prison on Thursday to begin a 14-year sentence for corruption, the latest chapter in the downfall of a charismatic politician that seemed more like a bizarre reality TV show than a legal battle.

    In what has become a familiar scene in the three years since Blagojevich was taken out of his home in handcuffs by federal agents, the former governor had earlier bounded down the stairs of his Chicago home as a throng of cameramen, photographers and reporters crushed around him and well-wishers shouted encouragement.

    As he has done repeatedly before and after his conviction, Blagojevich sounded an optimistic and even defiant note.

    "I'm leaving with a heavy heart, a clear conscience and I have high, high hopes for the future," said Blagojevich, wearing a dark shirt, sport coat and blue jeans. Continue reading.

    Related story:

    Tannen Maury / EPA

    Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich autographs a sign calling for his freedom outside his home on the day before he is to report to prison on his corruption conviction in Chicago on March 14.

    M. Spencer Green / AP

    Annie Blagojevich, daughter of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, watches as her father is surrounded by the media in front of their home, on March 14, 2012 in Chicago. The 55-year-old Democrat is due to report to a prison in Colorado on Thursday to begin serving a 14-year sentence, making him the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption.

    Tannen Maury / EPA

    Blagojevich kisses his wife Patti as he speaks outside their home in Chicago, the day before he is to report to prison. Blagojevich was convicted for attempting to sell the US Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, among other charges.

    Tannen Maury / EPA

    Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich speaks outside his home as his wife Patti stands by his side on the day before he is to report to prison on his corruption conviction in Chicago, Illinois, on March 14. Blagojevich was convicted for attempting to sell the US Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, among other charges.

     

  • Indonesia police battle to regain control of Bali prison

    Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP - Getty Images

    Prisoners who have taken over a guard post watch police reinforcements backed by armored vehicles arriving outside the Kerobokan prison in Denpasar, Bali on the second day of rioting, Feb. 23, 2012.

    Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty Images

    Police reinforcements backed by armored vehicles arrive outside the Kerobokan prison on Feb. 23, 2012.

    Indonesia said on Thursday it would evacuate 60 foreigners as well as female prisoners from the Kerobokan prison in Denpasar, Bali, Agence France Presse reports. The jail is currently under the control of rioting inmates.  

    Fighting broke out late on Tuesday when inmates attacked a guard post near the entrance, forcing officers to flee. Police said they shot two prisoners in the legs when they confronted a mob wielding sticks and throwing bricks.

  • NM man who pulled own tooth while in solitary confinement for drunk driving is awarded $22M

    "He entered this facility with overt symptoms of mental depression," said civil rights attorney Matt Coyte, "But that's not the issue. ... He was stuck in a 6-foot-by-11-foot cell with a concrete bench for a bed. And he sat in that cell. We had documentary evidence that he didn't get out for anything — for recreation, a shower — for months at a time."

    Dona Ana County Sheriff's Dept. via AP

    These photos show Stephen Slevin, on the left, in Aug. 2005, at the time of his arrest for drunken driving, and on the right in May 2007, shortly before being released from solitary confinement. A federal jury has awarded $22 million to Slevin, a New Mexico man who was kept in solitary confinement for two years and forced to pull his own tooth after his arrest for drunken driving in Dona Ana County. Civil rights attorney Matt Coyte said the jury awarded Slevin, 58, the damages Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 after a six-day trial in Santa Fe.

    Slevin was finally released in June 2007, Coyte said. He was never convicted. Read the full story.

  • Kyrgyzstan prisoners sew lips together, cut themselves, to protest conditions

    More than 1,300 Kyrgyz prisoners have sewn their lips together as part of an ongoing protest at poor living conditions, say officials. "They are demanding that state prison authorities and guards stop beatings," a human rights official said.

    Igor Kovalenko / EPA

    A prison inmate has stiched his lips to protest against present living conditions at a prison in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Jan. 26, 2012. Prisoners took part in a prison revolt stitching up their mouths, demanding better living conditions.

    One of the prisoners' demands is said to be the lifting of restrictions on their movement, but this demand was dismissed by the head of the penitentiary services, Sheishenbek Baizakov. Prisoners would no longer "be able to make fools of the guards", he said at a news conference in the capital Bishkek, according to AFP news agency. "Let them all sew shut their mouths."

    Igor Kovalenko / EPA

    Prison inmates, some of them showing stitched lips or cuts, talk to journalists to protest against present living conditions.

    Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP - Getty Images

    Guards (L and R) and prisoners stand in a cell in a prison in the Kyrgyzstan's capital in Bishkek on Jan. 26, 2012.

    Read the full story on BBC.com

    More PhotoBlog posts on Kyrgyzstan

  • Soe Than Win / AFP - Getty Images

    Relatives react upon the release of a prisoner, center, from Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar, on Jan. 3, 2011.

    Some prisoners freed, but Myanmar's clemency falls short of expectations

    The Associated Press reports from YANGON, Myanmar:

    Myanmar began releasing some prisoners on Tuesday, but activists and relatives said a government clemency fell short of national reconciliation promises and showed that political prisoners may remain behind bars for a long time.

    President Thein Sein signed a clemency order on Monday marking this week's 64th anniversary of independence. He said the sentence reductions were "for the sake of state peace and stability" and on "humanitarian grounds." Continue reading.

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

  • Hawaiian prisoners in Arizona are taught about their ancient culture

    Two spiritual leaders from Hawaii visited Hawaiian inmates at the Sahuaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, this week, with the intention of teaching and enlightening the prisoners about their culture. The facility in Arizona currently houses prisoners from the islands, Reuters reports.

    Samantha Sais / Reuters

    Inmates welcome the sun in celebration of the Makahiki season, the ancient Hawaiian New Year, at the Sahuaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, on November 9.

    Samantha Sais / Reuters

    Kekupono Leeloy, right, prepares to sound the conch shell to begin the celebration of the Makahiki season at the Sahuaro Correctional Center on November 9.

    Samantha Sais / Reuters

    Inmates pray and dance the hula to celebrate the Makahiki season at the Sahuaro Correctional Center on November 9.

    Samantha Sais / Reuters

    James Bautista learns to play the ukulele during the Makahiki festival at the Sahuaro Correctional Center on November 9.

    Samantha Sais / Reuters

    Inmates celebrate the Makahiki festival at the Sahuaro Correctional Center on November 9.

     

  • Gaia Anderson / AP

    Prisoners lift their eyes to the sky as a plane flies overhead during prayers in a makeshift prison at a school in Misrata, Libya, Thursday, Sept. 8. The prison was set up in what used to be a school at the beginning of the Libyan uprising and now holds 350 men.

    Libyan rebels use school as makeshift prison

    By Rich Shulman

    I like the ambiguity of this image. Full coverage of the Libyan revolution.

  • Rahmat Gul / AP

    A freed Afghan woman prisoner and her son leave the Nangarhar prison in the city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Aug. 27. Around 38 Afghan prisoners were released from captivity based on the decree of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, honoring the 92nd Afghan independence day.

    Afghan prisoners released in honor of Afghan Independence Day

    .

  • Prison in Norway focuses on reform in a comfortable environment

    By John Brecher

    If you imagine a prison yard, it may not much resemble the one pictured below, from Halden prison near Oslo, Norway. 

     

    Alex Masi

    A woman trainer (right) is talking to a few inmates after a run in the yard of the luxurious Halden Fengsel, (prison) after the time they regularly spend carrying out physical exercise and learning about the human body in Halden, near Oslo, Norway.

    Here's how photographer Alex Masi introduces the project at his gallery on PhotoShelter:

    Can luxury prisons and a more humane approach to detention be a deterrent for crime in modern society?

    The answer lies in Halden, Norway.

    About a 100 Km south of Oslo, a state of-the-art prison considered by many the World's most 'luxurious' has opened in June 2010, in a country already boasting criminal and rehabilitation systems of the highest standards. 

    Individual cells come with an en-suite bathroom, a flat-screen TV and various comforts. They measure 12 square meters (130 square feet) and are divided up into units (10 to 12) which share a living room and kitchen, similarly to a students' dormitory.

    The windows are not fitted with bars, but thick glass is used instead.

    The prison - the second-largest in Norway - costs 165m Euro and accommodates 248 male inmates. Some 760,000 Euro were spent just on artworks, some of which commissioned to Norway's most renowned street artist, Dolk.

    The inmates can attend a vast range of formative courses at a official high school located inside the prison. Subjects can include languages, IT, science, catering, music, (there is even a professional sound studio) art and handicraft and several sports.

     

    Alex Masi

    Inmates are preparing some food in one of the common kitchen and living room areas established to be a meeting point between inmates and guards and to facilitate rehabilitation inside the luxurious Halden Fengsel, (prison) near Oslo, Norway.

    Interestingly, statistics show that in Norway only 20% of inmates (1 in 5) commit another crime and return to prison within two years of their release. 
    Halden Prison is set to push the number to a new low, but is the same care and investment effectively affordable to all?

    We first noticed these images in a slideshow at foreignpolicy.com, which noted in accompanying text: 

    Norway's unrepentant mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is now under arrest. And he should count himself lucky for -- if entirely undeserving of -- a penal system in that country that is among the cushiest in the world. There's no capital punishment, and the longest jail term allowed is 21 years (a caveat: if a prisoner is deemed to still be a threat, his sentence can be extended in five-year blocks indefinitely, though it's highly unlikely, according to Norwegian officials).

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