| |
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 |
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]
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]
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 detained at the prison include:
| |
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 |
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]
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]
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 detained at the prison include: