Showing posts with label Prison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prison. Show all posts

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Most Notorious Prison of Philippines

Disease, grime and no room AT ALL: Inside the Philippines most notorious prison where 3,600 inmates live in a space built for 800



  • Eye-opening images reveal the daily life of the 3,800 inmates serving time in a prison built for just 800 
  • There is a relentless and constant battle for space inside Quezon City jail in Manila, the capital of the Philippines 
  • Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court or the steps of staircases
  • Men cook their dinner next to prisoners bathing themselves or washing their clothes  

Eye-opening images reveal the daily life of 3,800 inmates serving time behind the crowded walls of a notorious Philippines prison built for just 800.
Prisoners search for a corner of damp floor to squat against as they sleep, pick rusty nails and dead cockroaches out of their rations of food and suffer rashes and boils caused by the lack of ventilation and water.
Inside Quezon City jail in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, there is a relentless and constant battle for space, water, food in an unhygienic facility.  
With 160 to 200 inmates crammed into a cell built for 20, men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets.  
Eye-opening images reveal the daily life inside Quezon City jail in Manila, the capital of the Philippines; where 3,800 inmates serve time behind the walls of a prison built for just 800
There is a relentless and constant battle for space, water, food in an unhygienic facility. Prisoners attempt to keep fit inside the prison by working out in the gym(pictured)
One inmate gets his hair cut by another inmate inside the crowded Quezon City Jail as others watch on 
With their arms draped over the bars of their cell, a group of inmates keep a steady gaze on something happening out of sight 
The prison was built six decades ago and houses prisoners whose cases are pending, according to the Inquirer
The images show the men in their day-to-day life, from bathing themselves to cooking their food and exercising in close, cramped conditions.  
Wearing their regulation yellow shirts, they also participate in group dancing contests, taking over the concrete basketball court and the walkway above. 
One former inmate at the Quezon City jail returned to the prison after studying criminal justice at the Southern Illinois University in the United States. 
Raymund Narag says he was 20 when he was accused of a crime he did not commit, the murder of a young man in the Philippines, according to the GMA Network.  
Mr Narag served seven years, where he said he stayed in a cell with 30 other men instead of the intended five and lived off a diet of dried fish that he says barely sustained him. 
In his book 'Freedom and Death Inside the Jail', Dr Narag details the horrendous living conditions the inmates are subjected to and the fear that consumed him. 
‘For almost seven years, I experienced death every waking moment of my life inside the jail,’ he said.
Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets(pictured)
Inmates settle in for the night on the steps of a ladder inside the Quezon City jail.  There is a relentless and constant battle for space
One tattooed inmate washes his clothes (left) as another cooks his dinner behind him on a raised platform, while a third bathes himself with a yellow bucket
Men are forced to sleep on any damp floor space they can find or in a squatted position - which causes some inmates to have a stroke - because of the severe overcrowding, he said. 
Inmates have deemed the food rations served at unusual hours throughout the day and night as 'fit for pigs.' 
Dr Narag said food rations are so small, and often can contain rusty nails and cockroaches, forcing the men to go hungry or steal other inmates food.. 
The dirty conditions, lack of food, sweltering heat and no ventilation within the cells causes numerous inmates to become ill or develop rashes and boils, he said.
‘Inmates are prone to contagious diseases because of the poor living conditions in their cells. They sleep in overcrowded, poorly ventilated cells. The supply of potable water is very limited. Food rations have inadequate nutritional content. Sick and healthy inmates are grouped in the same cells.’
‘Every month in Quezon City Jail, around two to five inmates die of illness,' he said. 
Severe boredom also causes the men to become depressed and heightens mental health issues.
There's no privacy behind these prison walls: An inmate is pictured cooking  his dinner as another prisoner takes a bath
Wearing their regulation yellow shirts, prisoners are pictured participate in group dancing contests, taking over the concrete space and the walkway above
It's skins vs shirts as inmates play basketball inside the Quezon City Jail in Manila
 Dr Narag describes an inmate called Francis in his book, saying that his story is just one of thousands of similar tales from within the jail.
Francis was accused of molesting a girl but claimed his innocence and was sent to Quezon while awaiting trial. 
‘…He found himself in a 30-square meter cell,m which he was to share with 180 inmates. The airless room reeked of stink – a heady mix of sweat, garbage, unwashed clothes. No bed or sleeping mat was in sight, only a small, vacant corner offering him two options so he could get some sleep – stand against the wall or squat on the damp floor.’ 
Dr Narag said he left the jail in 2002 after seven years, determined to talk about the horrors he had seen.  
‘A walk through the cells in Quezon City Jail makes one realize how far behind the normal jail standards the penal institution lags.’ 
Posing for a photo is former inmate, Raymund Narag, now a criminal justice at the Southern Illinois University in the United States
A prison guard locks a gate inside the Quezon City jail as the men camp down for the night on the floor of the overcrowded prison
Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets
Dressed in his regulation yellow shirt with Quezon City Jail stamped on the front,  an inmate watches on on other prisoners take part in a group dance contest
Pictured in their regulation yellow shirts, inmates queue up to attend their trial at the Quezon City regional trial court 
Inmates ride on a prison bus to attend their trial at the Quezon City regional trial court in Manila

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Floating Dutch Prison or Luxury Hotel

The jail you won’t want to escape! Floating Dutch prison to be transformed into a luxury hotel in London with a roof garden and views of the Thames

A floating Dutch jail created to hold illegal immigrants will travel hundreds of miles to London - and you will be able to stay there for roughly £110 a night.
The detention barge-cum-hotel will be moored in London's Royal Docks and will offer adventurous visitors a room with unique character in the capital.
It was originally built in 2007 to house illegal immigrants, but was converted five years later into The Good Hotel.
In Newham, east London a new hotel is being towed in from the Netherlands. A floating Dutch ex-detention centre will be transformed into the capital's coolest new space
While it used to hold illegal immigrants, for around £110 per night tourists will be able to stay on the docked ship-cum hotel in London
Called The Good Hotel, it will be towed 288 nautical miles to Amsterdam in September to east London where it will dock for five years
A million miles away from a mess hall: The hip new affordable hotel will serve craft beers and locally sourced food to all its guests
The hip social venture will travel 288 nautical miles from its current home in Amsterdam later this year.
Guests will be able to enjoy rooms in the converted prison in London for five years, after its epic journey in September.
The passage will see the floating platform buoyed by a submerged barge and towed across the North Sea by tug boats. 
The barge - currently moored in the Dutch capital's North Canal - offers 144 modern rooms and works to hire the long-term unemployed. 
The ex-detention centre is part of a trend for prisons made over into hotels as it mirrors transformations happening in Scotland, Latvia and Denmark 
The barge is part of a project that aims to employ the long-term unemployed for a 10-month placement while training 
The hotel was previously operating in its native Holland and is a popular address for locals as well as tourists to dine and unwind in
As well as the trendy accommodation guests can enjoy locally sourced beer and food and the address has proved popular in its native Holland after opening in 2015.
Roughly one third of the staff in the Amsterdam hotel were formerly long-term unemployed, and are taken on for a 10-month placement that includes training and working in the hotel.
The Good Hotel London will have an external makeover, which will include a green roof inspired by New York's iconic converted railway the High Line which will be open to the public.
Liquid Asset: The 144-room hotel will serve local food and drink to well-healed guests keen to explore east London's trendy dockland scene
Not only has the boat's interior been made-over, but the exterior too. The roof was inspired by New York's High Line and has been transformed into a garden
Planning documents reveal: 'There is a growing realisation that this vast tract of land and water offers very significant potential to the life and economic growth of London.'
Comfortable beds with huge pillows and fitted storage shows how far the hotel's rooms have come from housing prisoners in cells  
Planning documents reveal: 'There is a growing realisation that this vast tract of land and water offers very significant potential to the life and economic growth of London.
'This new floating hotel forms part of the new wave of interest in the area, and it would contribute to the growth and revitalisation of the Royal Docks with the introduction of a much need amenity and addition of public interaction and use in and around the dock as a complement to recent developments.'
However, the plans have divided well-heeled locals, who think the converted barge will cause noise and traffic problems. 
Not everyone is happy with the hotel's plans as local residents have complained that the barge will cause too much noise and traffic
The barge will be anchored in the exclusive Royal Docks, which is a neighbourhood that is barely served by London's hotel groups 
Experience London from a brand-new perspective on this floating ship, which offers the luxury of a boutique hotel but the unique character of a jail
The Good Hospitality Group was founded in 2012 by Dutch entrepreneur Marten Dresen.
As well as hotels in London and Amsterdam, it also has plans to open a 30-room boutique property in Antigua, where Dresen was first inspired to start the company.
The group hopes to open eight further hotels around the world by 2020.