Behind Bars

Located in Manila the Philippines New Bilibid is one of the toughest prisons in the world Designed to hold 1500 offenders there are currently more than 8000 incarcerated That means up to 90 hardened criminals are crammed into 25squaremeter 270squarefoot cells half of them sleeping on the bare ground Hygienic conditions are hideous verging on catastrophic

The prison in Lepoglava is the oldest and the most harshly supervised in Croatia It holds the 500 most dangerous criminals in the country and the average sentence is 20 years Only a few more than 200 police officers work in the entire prison and they are outnumbered every day To keep all manner of situations under control the officers count each inmate five times per day

The Taichung Mens Prison is Taiwans biggest and toughest highsecurity prison It houses 4500 inmates some of them the most dangerous criminals in the country More than 100 are serving life sentences and well over 1000 prisoners are serving sentences of 20 years or more Overcrowding has been an ongoing issue exacerbating conditions relating to cleanliness Maintaining order is difficult

In Bucharest Romanias Rahova neighborhood surrounded by two high walls murderers rapists and human traffickers are serving their sentences Escaping from here is nearly impossible Each cell wing is monitored separately Cameras record all movements in its corridors Prisoners are in their cells 24 hours a day They can only leave under the strictest security measures

Picalena Prison in Colombia is a highsecurity facility housing over 5000 inmates Among them are some of the countrys most dangerous criminals including members of drug cartels and those convicted of heinous crimes No prisoner has yet managed to escape from here because of its stringent security measures which include constant surveillance reinforced barriers and heavily armed guards

The Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green Missouri houses the criminals of St Louis Surrounded by an electric fence the states conservative prison laws put men away for decades if not for life More than 1550 prisoners are incarcerated here but for some the outlook looks more positive than for more recalcitrant inmates