Fox Hill Prison is the only prison in the Bahamas.[1] Located in Nassau, the capital, it is operated by the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.[2][3] Fox Hill Prison has minimum, medium, and maximum security facilities for male prisoners.[4] It also has one block for female prisoners, as well as a medical block.[2][5]
 | |
| Location | Fox Hill |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 25°01′40″N 77°17′31″W / 25.02778°N 77.29194°W |
| Opened | March 1952 |
| Former name | Her Majesty's Prisons |
| Managed by | Bahamas Department of Correctional Services |
| City | Nassau |
| Country | The Bahamas |
History
editThe prison was established at its current location in Fox Hill, Bahamas, in March 1952. It was originally named Her Majesty's Prisons, a name shared with other prisons in the former British Empire. On August 11, 2014, its name was changed to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.[4]
Fox Hill Prison was not the first prison in the Bahamas. The earliest record of a prison in what is now the Bahamas was in the 1600s. Former prisons in Nassau now house the Nassau Public Library and the Royal Bahamas Police Force headquarters.[4]
The Bahamas also maintains the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for migrants in Nassau, New Providence.[6][7] The center opened in 1993 as the first immigration detention facility in the Caribbean.[8] Before that time, immigrant detainees in the Bahamas were held at Fox Hill.[9][10][11] Most detainees at the Carmichael Road facility are from Haiti and Cuba.[6][7] Like the Fox Hill prison, the Carmichael Road facility has been criticized for poor conditions.[6][7] The Bahamian immigration minister said in 2022 that the government was upgrading the Carmichael Road facility and also planned to build a migrant detention center in Inagua.[12]
Conditions and reputation
editThe prison has been criticised internationally for poor conditions.[13] A 2003 report by Amnesty International found that the prison had a high risk of transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis.[5] According to the United States Department of State's 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for the Bahamas, the prison is overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacks adequate food and medical care.[2][14] The report stated that the prison was infested with maggots, rats, and insects; that cells had buckets instead of toilets; and that prisoners reported bed sores caused by sleeping on the ground.[2][1] It also stated that prisoners shared 6 by 10 foot (2 by 3 meter) cells with no mattresses, no toilets, and as many as six prisoners to a cell.[5] In 2017, Commissioner Patrick Wright confirmed that prisoners in the maximum-security block still had to use buckets instead of toilets.[15] Bahamian attorney Romona Farquharson has stated that sometimes prisoners get as little as 30 minutes of outdoor time per week.[1]
Commissioner of Correctional Services Doan Cleare said in 2022 that conditions in the prison had improved, with renovations and an end to the "issues with rodents".[16] A video from The Nassau Guardian the same year showed a mixture of age and quality of facilities, with some facilities renovated, but some prisoners still in crowded cells.[16]
Notable inmates
editNotable inmates detained at the prison include:
- Sam Bankman-Fried, businessman who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research; held at the prison in 2022 before he was extradited to the U.S. to face fraud charges.[1][5]
- Viktor Kožený, held at Fox Hill while fighting extradition to the United States; Kožený's counsel said the prison had a reputation for "breaking even the toughest of men" through harsh conditions.[2]
- Michaiah Shobek, serial killer executed in 1976.[17]
- David Mitchell, executed in 2000 for the murder of two Germans in the Bahamas.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Angel Au-Yeung (December 13, 2022). "Inside Fox Hill: The Bahamas' Only Prison". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b c d e "Sam Bankman-Fried's Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition". Bloomberg.com. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ "INSIGHT – BEHIND THE WALLS: An ex-con and his 15 years in Fox Hill prison". www.tribune242.com. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Prison History". Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Snodgrass, Erin. "The Bahamian prison where Sam Bankman-Fried is headed is notorious for its harsh conditions, with one report detailing inmates removing human waste by bucket and living with rat infestations". Business Insider. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c BAHAMAS: Forgotten Detainees? Refugees and Immigration Detainees: Appeals for Action Archived 2023-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Amnesty International (AI Index: AMR 14/003/2003).
- ^ a b c Carmichael Road Detention Center / Bahamas Archived 2023-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Center for Justice and International Law (November 3, 2017).
- ^ A short history of immigration detention Archived 2022-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, Freedom for Immigrants.
- ^ Larry Rohter, Campaign in Bahamas Forces Haitians to Flee for the U.S. Archived 2016-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, New York Times (Jan. 2, 1994).
- ^ Jo Thomas, Haitians in Bahamas Face Exit Deadline Archived 2015-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, New York Times (January 18, 1981).
- ^ Christopher Dickey, Haiti Calls Off Repatriation From Bahamas Archived 2017-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (February 17, 1981).
- ^ Bell: Detention Center Upgrades to Amount to Seven Figures Archived 2022-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, Our News (December 12, 2022).
- ^ "Sam Bankman-Fried to agree to US extradition after Bahamas court hearing". Financial Times. December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020: Bahamas Archived 2022-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (2021).
- ^ "Slop buckets still being used at Fox Hill prison". www.tribune242.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Ward, Jasper; Ellsworth, Brian (December 14, 2022). "Uncertain conditions await Bankman-Fried at Bahamas detention center". Reuters. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ Bahamas to Execute an American Today for Murder of 3 Tourists Archived 2019-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press via New York Times (October 19, 1976).
- ^ Deby Nash, Bahamas Hangs Convicted Stabber Archived 2023-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press (January 6, 2000).