Worst Jails in Europe – Turkey

Sometimes it seems that in the US and the UK we can forget that a prison is supposed to be (at least partially) a form of punishment. While of course no one wants to go to jail, it’s still not as bad as it could be thanks to the fact that they regularly come with free gym access, lots of additional TV channels, Xboxes and trips to the zoo…

If that’s how you feel about the jail system in your country, then perhaps you should check out some of these prisons in Europe which perhaps take things a bit too far the other way. Or maybe you think this is what life inside should be like? Either way, here are some of the worst jails in Europe…

Russia: Black Dolphin Prison is one of the oldest prisons in Russia and is used for life sentences. Once upon a time a sentence here would mean a lifetime of hard labor, but today it’s still tough going with prisoners moved around while blindfolded, bent over and with their hands cuffed behind their backs.

Sweden: You might expect Sweden to be a good place to go to jail, but you’d be wrong according the the Council of Europe which recently criticized the country’s prisons for the long periods of solitary isolation that they subject their inmates to – sometimes 6 to 18 months.

France: Reports from La Sante Prison in France paint a horrifying picture of the prison where inmates claim to be forced to carry out sentences in concrete cells crawling with rats and mice. It’s no wonder that there were 122 suicides in 2002 and 73 in 2003. A book published by the head doctor Veronique Vasseur in 2000 drew attention to the appalling conditions and the situation is being evaluated though social activists are still campaigning against the prison.

Turkey: Though they’re not a part of the EU just yet, Turkey and Europe have very close links. If they want a chance of getting in though they’ll need to clean up Diyarbakir prison which is well known for its human rights violations and regular excessive mental and physical torture. It has been so bad in the past that a number of prisoners have demonstrated by setting themselves on fire. Things have fortunately improved and while the prison still functions there are plans to convert it into a school

And the Best…

European prison isn’t all bad though…

Norway: Prisons in Norway are well known for being relatively cushy, but Bastoy prison takes it to another level – providing its prisoners with their own island where they spend all time lounging in the sun and sitting in Jacuzzi tubs before returning to their well decorated bungalows with TV. It sounds nuts, but it actually has the lowest re-offending rate in all of Europe at just 16 percent.

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