10 Worst Prisons in History

#10: San Quentin Prison, United States

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As California’s oldest prison, San Quentin is notorious for its infamous inmates and insane levels of violence. Before the state of California did away with the death penalty, San Quentin had the largest death row facility in the United States with up to 700 inmates at a time. Since it opened in 1852, the prison has housed many well-known criminals, such as Scott Peterson and Charles Manson. It has a reputation for being corrupt, overcrowded, and dangerous, with deadly riots, racially motivated violence, and cases of guards torturing prisoners.

The same year it was built, Diyarbakir Prison became a hub for human rights violations. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the newly built facility was changed to a martial law military prison. In its new role, Diyarbakir Prison became rife with abuse. Dozens of prisoners perished during this “period of barbarity”, as it’s known. Inmates were routinely deprived of sleep and food and water, and subjected to torture, beatings, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, and the extraction of healthy nails and teeth. In September 1996, after a scuffle or riot (depending on who you believe), dozens of police, guards, and soldiers stormed the prison and beat 10 men to death, wounding 46.

#8: Château d’If, France

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Considering it’s the inspiration behind the classic novel “The Count of Monte Cristo,” it’s no surprise that this prison is among the worst of all time. Located nearly a mile off the coast of France, Château d’If was considered inescapable. The fast currents around the tiny island were even better at keeping inmates trapped than the walls of the fortress. Corruption rotted the prison from the inside, with wealthy prisoners able to buy their way into luxurious private rooms. Meanwhile, the poorest inmates were crammed into crowded windowless cells in the dungeons of the fortress. The prison closed in the late 19th century and now serves as a tourist attraction.

#7: Devil’s Island, French Guiana

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Another French prison on an island, the penal colony of Cayenne was even more brutal. In the early 1800s, France experienced an explosion in its urban population. To deal with recidivism, it was decided that prisoners should be removed from society. From 1852 until 1952, 80,000 prisoners were shipped off to Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guiana in South America. Due to the tropical climate, disease ran rampant throughout the penal colony, and violence among the prisoners and guards was common. Very few of the inmates returned to France; in fact, the mortality rate was as high as 75%.

This castle in present-day Elmina, Ghana, became a major trading post in the Atlantic slave trade that enslaved some 12 million Africans in the 16th to 19th centuries. It was originally constructed as a trade settlement by the Portuguese in 1482, and later seized by the Dutch. Both were guilty of slavery, turning the castle into a house of horrors. Enslaved men, women and children were subjected to horrific, cramped conditions in the prison, before being crammed into ships and forced to cross the ocean. The castle only stopped serving this purpose in 1814, when the Dutch finally abolished the slave trade.

#5: La Sabaneta Prison, Venezuela

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Also known as Maracaibo National Prison, this institution was among the worst in a system of terrible prisons throughout the country of Venezuela. Known for its extremely high levels of violence among inmates, the prison was in operation from 1958 to 2013. La Sabaneta Prison was massively overcrowded, filled with more than five times the number of inmates it was meant to house, with an estimated 192 of its occupants being the children of prisoners. The inmates lacked access to proper food, water and medical care. With its high levels of corruption, the prison was controlled by gangs of inmates and experienced several deadly riots throughout its history. The institution finally closed after 16 inmates perished during a riot in 2013.

Considering it translates to Hill of the Poisonous Trees, it’s no surprise that this product of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime is among the worst prisons of all time. Occupying a former school, Tuol Sleng in Cambodia was established in early 1976 to imprison victims of the Khmer Rouge. The prison’s buildings were surrounded by electrified barbed wire and housed torture chambers and cramped cells. Approximately 20,000 people were imprisoned within the walls of Tuol Sleng. Prisoners were subjected to daily strip searches, meager rations, violent interrogations and unsanitary conditions. More than 18,000 people perished due to diseases, executions and violence.

One of, if not the most, overcrowded prisons on the planet, Gitarama Prison in Rwanda has been described as “hell on Earth”. Despite being built to accommodate 400 inmates, the prison has housed up to 7,000 prisoners within its cramped walls. Because of the massive overcrowding, prisoners are forced to stand for hours on end, oftentimes barefoot, which causes foot injuries and even rot. The deplorable and unhygienic conditions lead to several deaths a day. Even more disturbing, some reports claim that inmates engage in deadly fights and consume the deceased in order to survive.

Officially named São Paulo House of Detention, this now demolished Brazilian prison was once the largest in South America, with more than 8,000 inmates. In 1992, a massive riot broke out among the prisoners. After hours of unrest, military police breached the prison and massacred 111 inmates and injured dozens more. The military police claimed that inmates were attacking them with handheld weapons and HIV-infected bodily fluids, but evidence suggested that the prisoners were attempting to protect themselves. The prison was demolished in 2002, but it took another eleven years for the military police officers involved in the massacre to face justice.

Established by the United States as part of George W. Bush’s War on Terror in 2002, this military prison in Cuba has received international criticism due to its human rights violations. Detainees are held indefinitely without trial. Few are ever convicted; former Bush administration official Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson stated in 2009 that most were innocent. Inspectors and released detainees have given accounts of sleep deprivation, humiliation, beatings, sexual assault, and torture, including but not limited to waterboarding. Dozens of inmates have attempted to take their own lives, some successfully. Four years after it opened, the United Nations demanded the closure of the prison, but it remains open and operational.