3. La Sabaneta Prison, Venezuela
Venezuela is known for its brutal prisons, where violence is a daily occurrence, and inmates are at the mercy of disease outbreaks, underpaid staff, little medical services, and insufficient food and care.
La Sabaneta is the worst of the worst, a place where cholera outbreaks have wiped out 700 inmates, amidst “appalling violence” and riots that triggered a horrific massacre of 100 inmates back in 1994.
Death is rampant at La Sabaneta, and the hair-trigger tempers of inmates and staff are thought to be linked to idleness and boredom, as no activities are permitted to release tension: left to their own devices, prisoners fight amongst themselves, fashion shivs and other deadly weapons, and kill one another in this truly archaic penal facility.
2. Tadmor Prison, Syria
The death count may not rank Tadmor Prison as number one on this list, but no other prison sent such shivers down my spine as I did my research.
The violence at Tadmor is so gruesome and utterly merciless, I felt sick reading about it. Described as a kingdom of death and madness by a former detainee, Tadmor features bloodthirsty guards who butcher inmates with axes, and political prisoners who are starved to concentration camp emaciation by prison administrators.
In 1980, after an assassination attempt on the President (in Damascus), inmates were made to pay the ultimate price as commandos landed at Tadmor in helicopters, and butchered as many as 500 prisoners in their cells: this “warning: sent a clear message to Syrians about staying in line.
When guards are not busy tying up inmates and dragging them to death, they can be found chopping up body parts in one of the prison's several courtyards.
1. Carandiru Prison, Brazil
The body count was sky-high at this notorious Brazilian prison, where riots in 1992 triggered a massacre of the general population by local police: inmates, who had already given in and surrendered to police, were shot as they cowered in terror in their tiny cells.
Deaths at this facility are thought to be as many as 1300 over its 46 year history: the reign of terror by prison officials was stopped in 2002 when the prison was closed, amidst campaigns from Amnesty International, and reports of gross human rights violations that could not be quieted by Brazilian officials.
The violence wasn't the only thing threatening the unfortunate residents of this dark place: an AIDS epidemic at the facility spread rapidly, with as many as one in five of the inmates suffering from the disease.
