If there is one word that I would not like to be associated with, it would be RENEGADE….worse if it was bestowed on me by associates or people who depended on me for succour, support or leadership in their hour of need.
I opened this blog in late January 2007 to support Jeff Ooi (Screenshots) and Ahiruddin Atan (Rocky Bru) when both were sued by by the New Straits Times. Subsequently, I walked beside Haris Ibrahim (People’s Parliament) when we launched the “NO BUY NO LIES” ( now, HARTAL MSM) in the first quarter of 2007. Since then I stopped subscription to both NST and the STAR. I remember at one forum I sat beside Datuk Kadir ex NST and I was wearing the yellow NO BUY NO LIES Tees. He remarked that he still buys the MSM as he has many cats in the house.
However I bought from the stands, NST on Tuesday and on Thursday, the STAR, to read Syed Nazri and Pandian respectively. I don’t read both now because they have lost what I always thought they had as senior journalists. They are writing as if their job is to fill the pages between the ads. Who was it who warned: Seek the truth. Set it right, write tight.
I now read Marina Mahathir (Wed) and Azmi Sharom (Thursday) online.
But since P Gunasegaram (formerly the Edge) broke into the Star I buy the tabloid on Friday which also has the Football pullout. I have always enjoyed Guna who has always subscribed to “feed the watchdog (the rakyat) and euthanize the lapdog” (no need to elaborate here.)
On Friday last his column did not appear! Was it because of this?
Is there a parallel here in Colonel David Hunt, U.S. Army (Ret.), military analyst and the author of the New York Times bestseller They Just Don’t Get It who had extensive operational experience in counter terrorism, special operations, and intelligence operations. He has trained the FBI and Special Forces in counterterrorism tactics, served as the security adviser to six different Olympic Games, testified as an expert at many major terrorist trials, and lectured at the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency. In his book ON THE HUNT he cited an instance when the top brass betrayed their soldiers.
Two great Special Forces soldiers, along with their team, tracked down a terrorist who was on the 10 Most Wanted list in Afghanistan. The Special Forces soldiers were operating under the much-hated rules of engagement, which said to capture or kill the bad guy, who was a bomb maker and terrorist leader. The soldiers followed this killer to his house/compound, used guile and trickery and lured the waste of life out of his lair and put a bullet in his head.
It was a perfect operation — a “Nice going guys,” high fives, take the day off, “Get ready for the next one,” type of operation. So how do you think our Special Forces soldiers were rewarded — or if not rewarded, treated — after this? THEY ARE BROUGHT TO TRIAL, INVESTIGATED AND FORCED TO SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR LAWYERS.
Can another parallel be drawn with this Star episode when the “General” seemingly compromised his “troops”. No wonder blogs are re-purposing real journalism since 1997. It would be a sad day for the Mainstream if the true-blue hacks gave the finger to their bosses: I’d rather blog now…..thanks for those awful memories.”
Deputies Lee Chee Leong, Kohilan Pillay and Anifah Hj Aman
Last night the Foreign Affairs Minister, met up with the Ambassador of the European Union. This morning he was admittedly admited into IJN. What the EU guy said to Anifah is not known yet as the MSM is mum about this. But our sources at IJN says that he is resting comfortably. Get well soon as you need to find out what happened in Washington DC over the "off-the-record" CSIS closed door seminar.
Our sources revealed that Saiful too is indisposed. A bout of loose bowels has floored him after intensive coaching by his minders in preparation for his impending duel with the Lion of Jelutong. When that starts, we are told that a mobile jamban will be made available as the unrecusable judge will not allow any more postponement. But why he is put in the same room withe Minister remains quite a mystery.
Anway we wish both of them well.....interesting times are ahead.....especially for Sai-fool.
The CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Development Assistance Committee (DAC) invite you to the first annual release of the 2010 OECD-DAC Fragile States Surveys.
There was no mention of OUR event. Because of the fiasco they may have brought the announcement down. Its like giving us the two finger.
Due to overwhelming pressure from the general public, the Dang Wangi police district headquarters revealed yesterday that charges against two Al-Islam magazine's journalists, who entered a Catholic church in Ipoh, have been dropped. (HERE)
The cow-head crowd is being charged;
The torchers are being charged.
The pig-head desecration of suraus are being hounded
But the AG said that the two journalist who desecrated holy communion in a catholic church will not be charged.
Two Catholic laymen Martin Jalleh (HERE) and Ronnie Klassen (HERE) have registered their concerns.
Even Pemuda Chief came on very strongly against the desecrators and their publishers:
PETALING JAYA, 16 July 2009: Appalling, offensive, unethical, and un-Islamic. These words used to describe Al Islam magazine's undercover story of attending Catholic mass and insulting the holy communion have come not from Christians, but from Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin.
Khairy, the Rembau Member of Parliament, is the first Barisan Nasional leader to condemn the magazine article and the journalist who consumed and then removed the holy communion from his mouth to photograph it.
The article, Tinjauan Al Islam Dalam Gereja: Kesahihan Remaja Murtad in the magazine's May 2009 issue, caused an uproar among Catholics and is now a police case, but has received scarce coverage in the newspapers.
Writing in his blog today, Khairy condemned the article as "unethical journalism, grounded in both disrespect and ignorance".
"Everyone involved in the researching, writing and publishing [of] this article should have considered the fact that Muslims already find it offensive when non-Muslims do not observe basic courtesies expected when in a mosque, like taking off shoes and covering heads.
"They should further imagine their own reactions if someone went undercover in their local mosques, pretend to worship as a Muslim and made a mockery of congregation prayer," Khairy wrote.
He also wrote about empathy, and said that the "heart of the problems" Malaysia faced as a plural society was that people did not think about the perspectives of other communities before acting.
He said the Al Islam journalist and the magazine's editorial team had not shown the Islamic values of "empathy, respect and tolerance".
Khairy also noted that non-Catholics were allowed to sit and observe mass, and as such, there was no need for the reporter to go undercover.
"This 'blunder'," he said, "speaks volumes of the journalist's ignorance and the prejudices held even before he set out on his little mission."
He also criticised the magazine for being sensationalist by publishing the story when there was "no story to sell", since the journalist did not find evidence of Muslim apostates in the church.
+++++
BUT THE ARCHBISHOP OF MALAYSIA, MURPHY NICHOLAS XAVIER PAKIAM HAS REMAINED SILENT SINCE THIS SACRILEGIOUS ACT TOOK PLACE.
(IF HE DID SAY SOMETHING I DID NOT HEAR ABOUT IT)
WILL HE MAKE A STAND NOW, ALTHOUGH HE WAS CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT IN COURT ON 31 DECEMBER 2009.
The Tan Tee Beng comedy reminds me of this story I was told of two housemates arriving home after a night out.
Mat: Hold it Beng. That looks like a pile of shit on the door-mat.
Beng; Yah, looks like shit.
Mat: Look closer Beng.
Beng: Yes looks like shit all right.
Mat: How sure are you Beng?
Beng: Quite sure…..it smells like shit,
Mat: You only quite sure…..make doubly sure lah.
Beng: Positively sure lah……it smells like shit and now it tastes like shit.
Mat: Beng, luckily we did not step on the shit.
Yes, typical of PKR, they stepped over the shit (a big achievement!) instead of getting rid of the shit.
I will disagree with Terrence Netto on Beng’s 2 Steps forward and 1 step backwards. I figure it was more 1 step forward (apologizing to his deputy president) and 2 steps backwards (refusing to apologise to his immediate boss who happens to be the State leader). That sends him to the pits.
And yet PKR keeps this pile of shit on its doorsteps. #1: We don’t shit on our own doorsteps. #2: the decent thing to do is to get rid of the obnoxious pile.
Unless PKR still believes, like UMNO/BN that shit is good fertilizer.
Dang, let’s go organic man!
Go on a cleansing campaign, gather all the shit in Pakatan Rakyat (wear masks and clinical gloves please because those shits stink and are toxic)…… and offer them to BN free of charge. Offer graciously. Throwing the discarded shit at BN would be biadab, yes?
LAST night Mrs Zorro and I decided on a quiet evening at the Backyard with Jitra Chong. However a quiet night it was not to be. The Admiral called with the usual, "Fishing?"
"Nyet", was my fluent attempt at Russian...."shooting the breeze at the Backyard. Where you?"
"Shooting down some Guiness at Sid's." was his Mach 2 reply and signed off with "Clear the deck, coming in."
When the Admiral drops anchor you best be prepared for a night of double entendre. After the perfunctory exchange of french accolade on the delectable Mrs Admiral and before I could do the orders, the Admiral threw this at me:
He demanded: Why should they put us in the same basket with Sudan?
Fueled spiritually I retorted: What basket? Malaysia is in the pits....the same pit, not basket!
It went on like this until our bedmates gave us dirty looks. The Admiral took the hint and told an end-of-a-quiet evening with this:
A Sudanese rode with his South African friend The South African pulls out his gun and shoots a Zulu . The Sudanese says "Hey! What did you do that for!!??"
The South African says "It's legal to do that here!"
The Sudanese says "Okay. Seems pretty strange to me but if you say so."
They drive along a little more and come across another Zulu. The South African takes out his gun and shots him as well. The Sudanese says "Are you sure it's legal to do that here?".
The South African says "Sure ... we do it all the time."
So, they drive into this small town and stop at a liquor store. The Sudanese puts a case of beer in the back of the truck just as a Zulu is crossing the street towards him. He takes out the South African's gun and shoots the Zulu. The South Africaan comes running over and says "Whoa ... what are you doing? You can't shoot him!!"
And the Sudanese says "But you said it was legal!"
And the South African says "It is, but you can't use bait!"
Some years ago an ageing Datin was given a RM50 million settlement by ex-hubby a former minister, whose much younger second wife is the glamorous legend of lagenda fame.
When former Negri Sembilan state assemblyman for Seri Menanti, Hishamuddin Abdul Kadir, 60, was served divorce papers by his 34-year-old wife Norish Karman last July, she asked for five houses, five cars and his company shares.
In her filing at the Syariah High Court, the starlet sought their RM2 million home in Bangi, three condos in KL and another house in Seremban; their cars a BMW 6-series, a Nissan Murano, a Nissan Elgrand, a Rexton Stavic and a Toyota Caldina; RM1,500 monthly maintenance for each child (they have three children); RM900 for the maid plus her own personal expenses of RM6,000 monthly. Oh yes, and the shares too.
These were lucky. They lost some earthly attachments unlike John Wayne Bobbit
Exactly 15 years ago this week the world first heard the story of John Wayne and Lorena Bobbitt. John Wayne, an ex-Marine, was accused of coming home drunk and raping his Ecuadorian wife. Lorena retaliated and literally sliced off his john and had it not been for modern medicine he would have been vain-less. I believe today he can still bob it. He was just lucky.
Over pints of Guiness and plate upon plates of Pigs in Blanket at Sid’s HANTU distracted me with 2 questions:
Would Khir Toyol be as lucky?
Would Mrs Toy-o drain him dry and for good measure, do a Lorena Bobbit?
Before I near fell off the bar stool, Hantu steadied me with: Haven’t you heard that KT has taken the polygamous route. Dang, these graduates from Polytechnics….”dont they learn anything more than Polygamy?”the Admiral, two stools away, asked.
I just fear for him, If MACC delays, he is in for some missing appendage. I would advise him to read up on Ivan Cutyourcockoff's Russian best seller: To Have or Not to Have.
At 12midnight last night we celebrated Pai Tee Kong at Maison de Bon. As we sent up two hot-air balloons (with messages of course,) one for Mr&Mrs Najib and the other for Mr (is he married?) Moohideen. After we "loow-ed" a colossal plate of Macallan-laced (more politically correct than spiked, yes?) yee sang, we were buoyed up by an exhilarating spasm of patriotism. The collective consensus was:
Sharir Samad was doing ok during his interview with Malaysiakin until this:
But how do we resolve this issue. An Indonesian, first generation migrant to Malaysia can join Umno but not a third generation Indian for example… There are many Indian Muslims in Umno.
But what if you're not Muslim? Why is religion such an important factor?
On February 24, Center for Strategic and International Studies based in WashingtonDC will host several representatives of the UMNO ruling party for a “seminar” on Governance and the Rule of Law in Malaysia & Malaysian Legislative Initiatives. The program is as follows according to an email I received from CSIS Senior Advisor for Southeast Asia Ernie Bower (Partner at BrooksBowerAsia).
As an aside I have met Ernie and found him to be a reasonable person just trying to make a dollar in Asia, but I am somewhat surprised that even he would stoop so low as to share a stage with this group. In 2004 there is a statement attributed to him “Though [Ernie] Bower and [Karen] Brooks are close to many ASEAN leaders, they said they would not act as a lobby group or as “agents” for Southeast Asian governments in Washington. That’s obviously not true.
Here is a copy of the email:
Those of you who wish to attend, or register a protest, please send an email to SoutheastAsia@csis.org
or call Mary Beth Whyel at +12027753278. Don’t abuse her though…she’s just the messenger.
The invite says “CSIS Malaysia is honored to invite you to a presentation and discussion with a panel of leading Malaysian officials with the responsibility for the legislative agenda, parliamentary affairs, governance, rule of law and anti-corruption initiatives in Malaysia.”
Of course its nothing new for K street think tanks to be used by lobbyists for political stunts like this. [Read this article on Democracy Now] This is what companies like APCO promise when they receive contacts in the amount of RM 20 million. They promise to place your client in prominent speaking venues in WashingtonDC and get you meetings with key political figures.
So on this trip we should not be surprised that Nazri, Gani and Abdul Hamid will try to pay calls on Capitol Hill to Senator John Kerry, Congressman Richard Berman, and whoever else is willing to open their doors to these groveling dogs.
If they were sent to talk about rule of law and governance then the topic of their lecture should be the the decreipt condition of Malaysia’s judiciary starting with the 1988 Crisis, followed by the handling of Anwar IBrahims 1998 trial and then the most embarrassing incident of the VK Lingam tape, which led to the findings of a Royal Commission confirming that there is political and corporate interference in the appointment of judges and decision of cases.
They should admit that nothing has been done to restore confidence in the system and some paltry reforms that have been made are inconsequential. They should talk about how corporations in Malaysia prefer to have their disputes resolved in Singapore or Hong Kong courts. They should talk about Perak and the illegal overthrow of a democratically elected government.
Instead, these individuals will talk about the Judicial Appointments Commission and the revised MACC laws passed a year ago. They will pat themselves on the back for three minutes and then immediately start their barrage of attacks on Anwar Ibrahim, who they will say is being tried under the laws of Malaysia and will be given a fair trial.
I am all for free speech and the Malaysian government should be allowed to represent its position. But to send government officials to basically go lobby K street on behalf of Saiful Bukhari is pretty pathetic. I don’t think it’s a good use of taxpayer dollars and I do think it makes a further mockery of our government and the elected officials in the Barisan Nasional.
APCO, I’m very disappointed. You’ve been at it for a year now. And this is all you have to show for it? By the end of 2010 it is a fact that the nail will be hammered into the coffin of 1Malaysia. Najib will continue to cower in front of foreign media over his inability to answer questions about caning, church bombings, murdered Mongolians, submarines that don’t sink, 2 missing jet-engines and Anwar’s trial. Malaysia’s reputation will continue to sink and slide, money will continue to leave the country and Malaysians will continue to migrate overseas.
And the best you can do is send Gani Patail to talk about the Rule of Law? Really? You sent the former head of the MACC to talk about anti-corruption the same week that the autopsy of Teoh Beng Hock is being released? Why don’t you send Musa Hasan as well to talk about how crime rates have increased geometrically in the last decade and prisoners are routinely killed and abused while in custody? And maybe throw in a few officials involved in human trafficking? Do you think the Americans are that dumb to not see through this charade?
And then to top it off you have JJ (Jamaludin Jaris) there as well. The racist, butt pinching representative of the Malaysian people in America.
Right now Malaysia’s foreign policy consists of one thing and one thing only and that is demonising Anwar Ibrahim and spending as much money as they can to compete with his strong international networking. It’s not a surprise that MPs and politicians around the world with a shred of credibility are speaking out in his favour. He has cultivated strong relationships over the last three decades premised on a commitment to some basic principles of good governance, pluralism and democracy.
I look forward to hearing back from my friends in WashingtonDC how this event goes. I expect US media to be present and to grill these clowns. I expect friends and supporters of Anwar Ibrahim, KeADILan and Pakatan Rakyat to be present and show strength. I don’t expect anyone in the policy making establishment to take this delegation seriously. I expect CSIS to make some easy money in hosting this event. And we’ll be laughed at even more as the useless trial to incarcerate Anwar Ibrahim slogs on.
THIS true story may give us our individual conclusions:
A lovely story of how a weakness turned into a strength. Despite meticulous, professional training from the day the puppy arrived, Ricochet just seemed to be a complete failure at his intended occupation...to aid the disabled.
“[Ricochet] was truly a puppy prodigy, but as she grew, so did her instinct for chasing birds, which could be a risk for a person with a disability. I tried for months to ‘make’ her something she wasn’t, but finally had to release her from the program. I was very disappointed, but rather than focus on what she couldn’t do, I focused on what she could do...” )
According to statistics revealed in parliament last year, there were a total of 1,535 custodial deaths in the country between 2003 and 2007, figures which included death from diseases like HIV/AIDS.
Assuming that “between 2003 and 2007″ means both 2003 and 2007 inclusive, that would mean that a total of 1,535 custodial deaths occured in 5 years, averaging to about 307 custodial deaths every year.
"Is that normal?" an over-sea's Malaysian student asked.
Between 2000 and 2004, 80 persons in police custody had died, parliament was told last year. Only 39 cases of these were referred to a magistrate for inquiry and inquests were held only on six cases.
Beyond these bare facts no in-depth study has been carried out about deaths in police custody.
AND is Malaysia vying to unseat any of theseTOP TEN NOTORIOUS PRISONS?
Prisons are society’s punishment. While the theory of incarceration remains similar the world over, the methods of enforcement can change drastically. The following is a list of the 10 most notorious jails on earth; they are the worst of the worst and the lowest of the low.
Some prisons on this list are microcosms of larger problems in the country, others are created entirely to erase all hope, and still others are just festering sores that are immune to reform. Some have a history of terror that’s been addressed only to be replaced by an environment of pressure and fear, and the rest have a legacy of filth and brutality that still exists today. In the end, all of them have one thing in common: The odds are stacked against the prisoners.
Number 10
SanQuentinState Prison
California, U.S.
Description: San Quentin is California’s best-known prison, and is responsible for producing some of the most infamous prison stories in the country’s history. It contains the state’s only death row and it has a gas chamber, which is now only used for lethal injections. The prison requires an immense staff of 1,548 to maintain a semblance of control, but despite that figure, they still can’t seem to provide decent health care. A 2005 report found that doctors constantly misdiagnose illnesses and operate in filthy conditions. The experts filing the report said: "We found a facility so old, antiquated, dirty, poorly staffed, poorly maintained, with inadequate medical space and equipment and overcrowded that it is our opinion that it is dangerous to house people there.”
The worst part: It doesn’t seem to matter how many guards there are, how strictly enforced the rules are or how much prison reform is done: Violence in San Quentin will forever be an issue. In 1982, a riot erupted that required 24 shotgun blasts to subjugate the uprising that resulted in the serious injuries of 22 convicts and four correctional officers. In February, 2006, 100 inmates were injured and two were killed in racially motivated attacks that resulted in a lockdown for 1,800 prisoners.
Number 9
La Sabaneta prison
Venezuela, South America
Description:In the Venezuelan prison system, there are 25,000 prisoners housed in facilities designed for about 15,000; and with roughly one-third of Venezuela’s population below the poverty line, jails like Sabaneta are stuffed. Some prisoners are forced to sleep in hammocks strung up in narrow pipe-access corridors, while the corruption of the system allows inmates with more power and money to attain rooms with more space. Combine this with an understaffed guard detail of about one guard to every 150 inmates, and you have a prison in desperate need of reforming.
The worst part: There are countless violent incidents. One of the most frightening was the death of 108 prisoners as a result of a fierce gun battle in January, 1994, and the level of violence has hardly decreased. The killings were indeed one of the most vicious and tragic in the country’s history, but it’s a common trend: In 1995 alone, an astounding 196 prisoners were killed and 624 were wounded as a result of jail violence.
We have all heard something about the Turkish prison system, find out why…
Number 8
Diyarbakir prison
Diyarbakir, Turkey
Description: Turkish prisons certainly have a shady past, to say the least, and Diyarbakir is no exception. From incarcerating children for lifelong sentences to overcrowding to sewage-flooded hallways, the prison redefines fear and hatred.
There is no love lost between guards and prisoners, but a 1996 incident hints at a brutal authoritarian rule that leaves no inmate safe. In what one prisoner described as, “a planned massacre,” an attack on 33 prisoners resulted in 10 dead and 23 injured, nine of which were left in critical condition. An investigation revealed a startling possibility that the guards masterminded the attack, which featured guards and police in full riot gear and equipped with batons and truncheons. They severely beat the prisoners.
The worst part: It’s clear that the inmates have few rights. There is a large population of political prisoners, therefore “certain people” actually get all their basic rights reversed. So, instead of being provided with health care, visits and access to cultural and sports facilities, these rights are taken away and prisoners are held in abeyance. The Turkish government hopes to banish this kind of cruel treatment, but so far everything seems stuck in a “waiting period.”
Number 7
Mendoza prison
Argentina, South America
Description: There have been 22 deaths in this prison between February 2004 and November 2005, and the causes for these deaths “have yet to be ascertained.” The prison has a chronic overcrowding problem, housing 1,600 inmates in facilities designed for only 600. The prisoners typically sleep on the floor, are subject to prolonged and frequent lock-downs and they are frequently tortured.
The worst part: The living conditions are a nightmare. Virginia Shoppee, an Amnesty International researcher said, “People imprisoned in Mendoza are in such a desperate situation that they have gone as far as to sew their mouths up in demand of better living conditions.” Journalist Marcela Valente reported: “Up to five prisoners sleep on the floor without mattresses in 4 square-meter cells. They defecate in plastic bags and urinate in bottles. The corridors, littered with several days' worth of garbage, are often flooded by sewage.”
Number 6
RikersIsland
New York, U.S.
Description:The saga of Rikers spans from brutal notoriety in the 1990s to the current state of the prison, which is essentially an impenetrable fortress. Many inmates have said that Rikers is worse than the roughest NY streets.
Prisoner violence is legendary. One account from John Reyes, a guard in 1991, mentions numerous bloody beatings and even murders. Reyes said that a day did not go by that he wasn’t afraid. Due to these circumstances, Rikers has seen a ton of recent reform, and it is now quite possibly the strictest prison in the country. Huge SWAT teams crack down on riots, search cells on a daily basis to confiscate hundreds of makeshift weapons, and reinforce a super-tough Gang Intelligence Unit. In the past, an inmate wasn’t charged with a crime if he attacked another inmate or a guard, but he is now. These changes have helped drop 1,000 stabbings a year to around 70.
The worst part: The legacy of violence will forever haunt Rikers, but the No. 1 issue now is that the place destroys your spirit. The system is one of fierce organization, but the environment strains for chaos, and the two forces are pitted against each other. You feel inclined to protect yourself, but if you’re caught with a shank, you receive more time. Maynard Archer, who has served time in Rikers five times since 1988, says, “They don’t use pepper spray… they use sticks and the threat of fear.”
…
Number 5
Nairobi Prison
Kenya, Africa
Description: It’s maybe the most congested prison in Kenya, with 3,800 prisoners inhabiting a prison designed for only 800. Added to that, 250 short-term prisoners are confined to a room designed for 50. They lack everything from mattresses to decent medical assistance to clothing -- many inmates are nearly naked and are constantly sweating from the heat and overpopulation. The prison is home to nationals of other countries as well, and Nigerian prisoner Colin Alexander states, “We are surviving by the grace of God. I don’t think any human being can survive here.”
The worst part: This kind of overcrowding leads to a lack of proper medical attention, sustenance and general assistance. It also turns the prison into a breeding ground for countless diseases, and the unsanitary conditions only magnify the problem. The prison is finally catching a break after the end of former President Moi’s rule.
Number 4
Tadmor military prison
Syria, Asia
Description: Syrian poet, and five-year inmate, Faraj Beraqdar, described Tadmor military prison as, “The kingdom of death and madness.” Tadmor is known for its outrageous torture, its executions and for one of the biggest prison massacres in world history. On June 27, 1980, commando forces from the Defense Brigades savagely murdered an estimated 500 prisoners. One day, after a failed assassination attempt on Damascus President Hafez al-Asad, the commandos arrived at the jail via helicopter and proceeded to kill the inmates in their dormitories.
The worst part: In a word -- torture. The methods used are medieval in nature: Some inmates were killed by the sharp end of an ax and cut into parts, others were roped and dragged to death and still others were brutally beaten by metal pipes. These torture victims consisted of both the guilty and the innocent, and were often randomly selected.
Number 3
When we think of France, we usually think of wine, cheese and culture, but La Sante reflects the seedy underbelly…
La Sante prison
Paris, France
Description: You know that you’re in a bad place when you get so depressed or insane that you begin swallowing drain cleaner and rat poison to escape. With 124 suicides in 1999 -- compared to 24 in California’s jail population of 160,000 -- La Sante has remained a place of violence, depravity, and brutality, where the weaker prisoners are often turned into slaves. Inmates only spend four hours a day outside of their cells and those with prison-jobs usually work in their cells, which are only 30 square feet with tiny peepholes in the solid metal doors.
The worst part: According to Dr. Veronique Vasseur, a prison doctor, there have been numerous instances of intense abuse. Dozens of inmates are affected with skin disease due to having access to only two showers per week. The guards have kept prisoners with lung disease in poorly ventilated cells that are next to humid laundry rooms. There’s an instance where eight guards tried to hold a prisoner to administer a shot, and when he retaliated, he injured several guards. He was thrown into the punishment block and, 15 days later, he was found severely dehydrated because the guards had cut off the water pipes to his cell.
Number 2
Administrative Maximum Unit Prison (ADX)
Colorado, U.S.
Description: ADX was designed to replace Alcatraz in 1963, and when it opened in 1994 it took imprisonment to a whole new level. The prison strictly enforces repressive techniques of isolation and sensory deprivation. Those incarcerated are only allowed out of their cells for 9 hours each week, and all prisoners are required to eat, sleep and defecate in their cells. They even go so far as to severely limit the amount of sunlight and artificial light received by inmates, and it’s described as being locked in your bathroom for 22 hours a day.
The worst part: There is almost complete and total lack of human interaction. The steel and cement cages effectively destroy any possibility of communication between the prisoners, and even contact with guards is extremely limited. "These guys will never be out of their cells, much less in the yard," says Russ Martin, the Florence prison project manager. Oscar Lopez Rivera, a prisoner of war, states, "Isolation is perfected here, both in the structure of the cell and in the very limited communication. People don't realize the value of human intercourse until it's denied."
Number 1
If you travel to Brazil, you may want to stay away from any trouble in the streets…
Carandiru Penitentiary
Brazil, South America
Description: If you’re looking for hell on earth, look no further than this god-forsaken hole of a prison. Carandiru is the home of the country’s worst prison massacre: 102 inmates were shot dead in 1992. The prison is plagued with atrocious health problems that are almost too horrid to describe. Almost one of every five inmates in the prison's health wing has been diagnosed with HIV, and prisoners are often denied “luxuries” such as anaesthetics for surgery. It has been reported that even the medical director for the jail hasn’t set foot inside the facility in years. As always, there are cries for help, but nothing has changed to combat the terrible conditions. Also, severe torture is very likely not just a rumor, since reports claim that it is on the decline.
The worst part: Like many terrible prisons, Carandiru is overcrowded; however, when you are at double the capacity, you have a very unstable situation. Walter Erwin Hoffgen, the House of Detention Director, has said: "Of course I don't have control of the situation. It would be ridiculous to say I did. The prison has 7,500 inmates and only about 1,000 prison officers, divided into four shifts."
What’s worse -- and perhaps even more shocking -- is the lack of public outcry; most civilians are completely indifferent.
