Horrorious: focus on the hardest prisons in the world!

Erfahren Sie mehr über die härtesten Gefängnisse der Welt, ihre Bedingungen und Menschenrechtsfragen am 9. Mai 2025.
Find out more about the hardest prisons in the world, your conditions and human rights issues on May 9, 2025. (Symbolbild/NAGW)

Horrorious: focus on the hardest prisons in the world!

In the global discussion about the conditions in detention centers, the Cecot prison in El Salvador protrudes as particularly controversial. Opened on January 31, 2023, it has a capacity of up to 40,000 inmates and is part of President Nayib Bukele's "Plan Control Territorial" to fight the high gang crime in the country. Since then, the murder rate has dropped in El Salvador, but this is accompanied by massive human rights violations. Human rights activists in particular criticize arbitrary arrests and the inhumane conditions of detention in prison, which is considered the most feared in Latin America, such as lvz.de reported.

According to reports, around 80 prisoners share a cell with only two toilets and a bucket of drinking water. There is a lack of hygiene and sufficient ventilation, while many inmates are detained without the rule of law. Critics fear that the conditions of detention not only endanger the physical health of the prisoners, but also violate fundamental human rights, such as ZDF

detention realities in other countries

The Situation in the Cecot is not an isolated case. Other prisons worldwide are also criticized due to their extreme conditions. The ADX Florence in the USA, often referred to as the "Alcatraz of the Rocky Mountains", is notorious for its high security standards. Here, prisoners spend 23 hours a day in insulation cells, and contact with the outside world is severely restricted. These practices also raise the question of human rights in prison.

  • adx Florence, USA: highest security level; Parklinge spend 23 hours a day in insulation cells.
  • Antanimora prison, Madagascar: catastrophic hygienic conditions and massive overcrowding; Of 900 prisoners, up to 3,000 actually live there.
  • Zenica prison, Bosnia-Herzegovina: known for strict security standards and reports on torture.
  • Manila City Jail, Philippines: one of the most overcrowded prisons worldwide with up to 5,000 inmates.

The overcrowding and the associated health risks are a central problem in many of these adhesion. In the Antanimora prison, where hygienic conditions are shaped by cockroaches and rats, more than half of the occupants are waiting for their process for years, which further tightens the prison overfilling.

human rights perspectives in prison

The basic principles of human rights should always be preserved in prison. A report by das-wissen.de emphasizes that overcrowded prisons limit the care of the occupants massively and often lead to abuse and violence. In order to counteract these grievances, stronger surveillance and control by independent organizations are essential.

In particular, compliance with international agreements, such as the general explanation of human rights, is of central importance. It is recommended to consider alternative punitive measures to alleviate the consequences of overcrowding and enable the criminals to rehabilitation.

In view of such challenges, governments and international organizations urgently need to work on improvement in prison conditions in order to shape the prison system in accordance with human rights and to promote the re -socialization process of the occupants.

Details
OrtCECOT-Gefängnis, El Salvador
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