Fox Hill Prison

Last updated

Fox Hill Prison
Fox Hill Prison
LocationFox Hill
Coordinates 25°01′40″N77°17′31″W / 25.02778°N 77.29194°W / 25.02778; -77.29194
OpenedMarch 1952
Former nameHer Majesty's Prisons
Managed byBahamas Department of Correctional Services
City Nassau
CountryThe Bahamas

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]

Contents

History

The 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

The 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

Notable inmates detained at the prison include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bahamas</span> Country in North America

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archipelago's population. The archipelagic state consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nassau, Bahamas</span> Capital and largest city of The Bahamas

Nassau is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. With a population of 246,329 as of 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Providence</span> Caribbean island of the Bahamas

New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246,329 at the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (2016) is 274,400.

Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of departure. Mandatory detention refers to the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people seeking political asylum, or who are considered to be illegal immigrants or unauthorized arrivals into a country. Some countries have set a maximum period of detention, while others permit indefinite detention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CoreCivic</span> U.S. prison-operating company

CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasley, Robert Crants, and T. Don Hutto, it received investments from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Vanderbilt University, and Jack C. Massey, the founder of Hospital Corporation of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison</span>

His Majesty's Prisons is the name given to prisons in the United Kingdom, as well as some in Australia and a small number in Canada, Grenada, Jersey, The Bahamas and Barbados. The title makes up part of the name of individual prisons and is usually abbreviated to HM Prison or HMP.

There are cases, both documented and alleged, that involve the usage of torture by members of the United States government, military, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, health care services, and other public organizations both in and out of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GEO Group</span> American institutional facilities company

The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's facilities include illegal immigration detention centers, minimum security detention centers, and mental-health and residential-treatment facilities. It also operates government-owned facilities pursuant to management contracts. As of December 31, 2021, the company managed and/or owned 86,000 beds at 106 facilities. In 2019, agencies of the federal government of the United States generated 53% of the company's revenues. Up until 2021 the company was designated as a real estate investment trust, at which time the board of directors elected to reclassify as a C corporation under the stated goal of reducing the company's debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stajićevo camp</span> Prisoner of war camp in Serbia

The Stajićevo camp was an agricultural farm in Stajićevo near Zrenjanin, Serbia where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities. The camp also acted as a transit facility where prisoners were taken before being moved to the Sremska Mitrovica camp. Individual reports have said that 1500 people were held there. The ICTY's figure for the camp was 1700 detainees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Mitchell (Bahamian politician)</span>

Frederick Audley Mitchell Jr. is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs for the third time. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fox Hill, first elected in 2002 and then again in 2021. He also served two terms in the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campsfield House</span> United Kingdom immigration detention centre

Campsfield House was an immigration detention centre located in Kidlington near Oxford, England, operated by private prison firm Group 4 under contract with the British government. It was the site of a number of protests from human rights campaigners and has seen a number of hunger strikes and one suicide. Protests at conditions in the prison have sparked a number of hunger strikes and disturbances. However, it was highly praised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons at the last full inspection. It closed in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Penitentiary Service</span> Russian federal prison authority

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Fox (baseball)</span> Bahamian baseball player (born 1997)

Lucius Kadeem Fox Jr. is a Bahamian professional baseball shortstop in the Washington Nationals organization. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution</span>

Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution is a prison in Eastern District, Hong Kong, operated by Hong Kong Correctional Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Hong Kong</span>

Immigration to Hong Kong is the process by which people migrate to the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong for the purpose of residing there. The region has its own Hong Kong immigration policy governing how such migration may be carried, including for those immigrating from mainland China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Bankman-Fried</span> American businessman (born 1992)

Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried, also known by the initials SBF, is an American entrepreneur and investor. Bankman-Fried was the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and associated trading firm Alameda Research, both of which experienced a high-profile collapse resulting in chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2022.

FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX, is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang and, at its peak in July 2021, had over one million users and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. FTX is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda and headquartered in the Bahamas. FTX is closely associated with FTX.US, a separate exchange available to US residents.

This article lists events from the year 2022 in The Bahamas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Angel Au-Yeung (December 13, 2022). "Inside Fox Hill: The Bahamas' Only Prison". Wall Street Journal.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sam Bankman-Fried's Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition". Bloomberg.com. December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  3. ↑ "INSIGHT – BEHIND THE WALLS: An ex-con and his 15 years in Fox Hill prison". www.tribune242.com. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Prison History". Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 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.
  6. 1 2 3 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).
  7. 1 2 3 Carmichael Road Detention Center / Bahamas Archived 2023-01-09 at the Wayback Machine , Center for Justice and International Law (November 3, 2017).
  8. ↑ A short history of immigration detention Archived 2022-12-20 at the Wayback Machine , Freedom for Immigrants.
  9. ↑ 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).
  10. ↑ Jo Thomas, Haitians in Bahamas Face Exit Deadline Archived 2015-05-24 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times (January 18, 1981).
  11. ↑ Christopher Dickey, Haiti Calls Off Repatriation From Bahamas Archived 2017-08-27 at the Wayback Machine , Washington Post (February 17, 1981).
  12. ↑ Bell: Detention Center Upgrades to Amount to Seven Figures Archived 2022-12-12 at the Wayback Machine , Our News (December 12, 2022).
  13. ↑ "Sam Bankman-Fried to agree to US extradition after Bahamas court hearing". Financial Times. December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  14. ↑ 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).
  15. ↑ "Slop buckets still being used at Fox Hill prison". www.tribune242.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  16. 1 2 Ward, Jasper; Ellsworth, Brian (December 14, 2022). "Uncertain conditions await Bankman-Fried at Bahamas detention center". Reuters. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  17. ↑ 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).
  18. ↑ Deby Nash, Bahamas Hangs Convicted Stabber Archived 2023-01-09 at the Wayback Machine , Associated Press (January 6, 2000).

25°01′40″N77°17′31″W / 25.02778°N 77.29194°W / 25.02778; -77.29194

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.