Island Prisons Around the World

There is something undeniably exotic about an island prison. For some it is the epitome of justice, for others it represents somehow a great challenge to the human spirit and hope. To all there is something intriguing about it, a challenge of some sort, a declaration of fear and threat, a complete ostracization that can horrify. It seems to take the idea of Societal separation and thrust it into the realm of Penalization no matter what the daily regimen might be.

As I travel, I have noticed that Alcatraz, the example from my culture that I grew up with, was not the only version of this idea. Many are familiar with Devil's Island from the Steve McQueen movie Papillion, as well as from the famous Dreyfus Affair, or Robin Island where Nelson Mandela and other ANC convicts were held. I became intrigued when I discovered others around the world. Many of them are decommissioned, as 'Prison Technology' and Increasing Human Right's Standards have made the natural barrier of water less important or the isolation less condoned.

Alcatraz Island, Former US Federal Penitentiary, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Portsmouth Naval Prison, Maine, USA

Robin Island, Cape Town Bay, Cape Province, South Africa

Gogona Island, Tuscan Archipelago,Italy

Gorgona Penal Colony, Pacific Ocean, Colombia

Devil's Island, Atlantic Ocean, French Guayana

Islas Marias Federal Prison, Pacific Ocean, Nayarit Mexico

Coiba Island Prison, Pacific Ocean, Panama

Bastoy Boys Home and Prison  Bastoy Island, Norway

Elba Island, Mediterrainian Sea, France  Not a prison, but where Napoleaon was exiled to first

St. Helena Island, Atlantic Ocean, United Kingdom  Second and Final Exile location of Napoleaon, but again, not a prison 

Camp X Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Carribean Sea, US Navy Base Guantanamo, Cuba (not an Island in and of it'self, but politically it is, and it carries with it that same notoriety now.

Reikers Island Correctional Facility, Long Island Sound, New York, USA

Fort Jeffeson, Dry Totugas,Florida, USA “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” Housed a few of the Lincoln assassination participants. 

Fort Pulaski, Savannah River, Georgia, USA famous not just for the Battle that ended the fixed fortification era, but also famous for the Immortal 600, a group of Confederate prisoners who were housed there

HMS Maidstone, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK  Actually an Old Ship, a neat variation on the theme. Ships have been used in a bunch of other situations too.

Furthur research shows a few more:

Norfolk Island, Australia

Solovetsky Island, Russia

Pianoska, Tuscan Archipelago, Italy

Chateaux D'If, Mareseille, France

McNeil Island Correction Center, Puget Sound, Washington, USA

Black Beach, Bioko Island, Equitorial Guinea

Goree Island, Senegal

Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution, Los Angeles, California, USA