Fox Hill Prison

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]

Fox Hill Prison
LocationFox Hill
Coordinates25°01′40″N 77°17′31″W
OpenedMarch 1952
Former nameHer Majesty's Prisons
Managed byBahamas Department of Correctional Services
CityNassau
CountryThe Bahamas

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:

References
  1. Angel Au-Yeung (December 13, 2022). "Inside Fox Hill: The Bahamas' Only Prison". Wall Street Journal.
  2. "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. "Prison History". Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  5. 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. 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. 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. 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″N 77°17′31″W

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