Count them to close...

 

 

One of the 517 promises President Obama made during his Presidential campaign was to close the world’s most controversial prison: Guantánamo Bay. It was believed to be an anti-terrorism initiative by George Bush. After being sworn in office, Obama passed the order to close it within a year. Though it is tough to execute it in this manner but nonetheless it’s undoubtedly a welcome step which would gratify UN, EU Court of Justice and several human rights groups. Ironically, Guantánamo Bay is just one of many such brutal and controversial incarcerations which deserved to draw equal attention from the world community but remained unnoticed for long.

La Santé is one of the oldest prisons established in 1687 and is situated in Paris. It was unknown to the world for its brutality and inhuman torture until Dr. Véronique Vasseur, the head surgeon of the prison, revealed the shocking reality from inside. Prisoners often become victims of brutal torture and diseases. Family members of victims are often humiliated. Limited availability of food, clothing and bathing facilities (shower twice a week) caused deadly skin diseases resulting in a shocking 124 suicides in 1999 alone. Despite criticism by UN Human Rights Committee and European Court of Justice, no positive change has been witnessed till date. In the same league the prison of Gulag in North Korea is another deadly prison which houses over 2 lakh detainees. It is unique in itself having its own set of laws and philosophy of ‘guilt by familial association’ or ‘collective responsibility’ where three generations of a family who committed a crime are punished. Hundreds of Koreans of Japanese origin have been imprisoned there on the ground that they dared to openly praise Japan's liberalism and capitalist society.

The next in line is Camp 1391 which was built by British to imprison Jews and Lebanese. It now serves Israeli interests and is known more as Israel’s Guantanamo. Detainees, mostly from Palestine and Lebanon, are imprisoned in small cells with walls painted black or red with one small ventilator and a light. And then there's the Black Beach of Guinea. It is said that incarcerating someone in Black Beach is like ‘a slow but gradual death sentence’. Prisoner torturing through beating, burning, limited food rationing make life as good as hell for detainees. The Vladimir Central Prison in Russia too can be safely called the Gitmo of Russia. There, in normal circumstances six captives are locked in one cell and are often subjected to violent torture by guards and suffer from deadly diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

Closing litigious Guantanamo prison is a good start but not enough. Punishing and imprisoning criminals is very important and relevant but prisons all across are losing their credibility on ground of justice, fairness and basic facilities to be served to any human on any situation. But shutting them down would not guarantee the eradication of crime from the world. Thus it isn't about closing prisons but about making efforts to make them look similar to earth and not hell. This change would serve mankind more while keeping crime at bay. Let's not the hatred of civilised world be the reason for giving birth to a new breed of terrorists.