The 50 Craziest Prisons and Jails in the World

Life behind the walls.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Imagine a place where someone wakes you up, provides you with food, and plans your entire day. Of course, we're talking about prison—but only if you're lucky. Unlucky prisoners at certain facilities have days that include rape, brutal beatings, and psychological torment.

The supposed purpose of prison is rehabilitating individuals who have gone astray, and depending on the severity of their crimes, sending them back out into the world as productive members of society. Over the years, that system has lost its way, becoming more about money and punishment than reform. As a society, how can we expect people to change when we do little to help them? Or, worse, when we make someone's life into a hell on Earth?

Today, many prisons around the world are overcrowded; inmates live like animals. Prisoners are subject to savage punishment, disease, and in some cases little to no hope of surviving their sentences. For these reasons and many others, prison is too often the nightmare you never wake up from. Because we know the sight of some of these places will scare you straight (even if you have watched Oz), we've organized a list of the 50 Craziest Prisons and Jails in the World

This is the closet to getting locked up you'll ever want to be.

Written by Julian Kimble (@JRK316)

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50. Goree Island

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49. Kresty Prison

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48. McNeil Island

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47. Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute (FCC Terre Haute)

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46. Fremantle Prison

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45. HM Prison Maze

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44. Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña

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43. Black Beach

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42. Elmina Castle

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41. Port Arthur

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40. Robben Island

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39. Leoben Justice Center

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38. Devil's Island

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37. Newgate Prison

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36. HM Prison Dartmoor

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35. Château d'If

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34. Clinton Correctional Facility

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33. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

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32. United States Penitentiary, Atlanta (USP Atlanta)

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31. Hỏa Lò Prison (Hanoi Hilton)

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30. The Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center

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29. Auburn Correctional Facility

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28. Tower of London

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27. Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP)

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26. Bang Kwang Prison

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25. Pelican Bay State Prison

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24. United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth)

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23. San Pedro Prison

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22. Maricopa County Jail (Tent City)

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21. Sing Sing Correctional Facility

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20. La Sabeneta Prison

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19. Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm)

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18. Folsom State Prison

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17. Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP)

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16. Mendoza Prison

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15. United States Penitentiary, Marion (USP Marion)

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14. Attica Correctional Facility

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13. Drapchi Prison (Lhasa Prison No. 1)

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12. La Sante Prison

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11. United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX Florence)

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10. Tadmor Military Prison

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9. Diyarbakir Prison

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8. Rikers Island

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7. Nairobi Prison

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6. Guantanamo Bay

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5. Carandiru Penitentiary

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4. San Quentin State Prison

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3. Kwan-li-so No. 22 (Camp 22)

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2. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

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1. Gitarama Prison

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