The number of prison breaks are marginal when you take into account the number of prisoners. Only the rare, meticulously-planned attempts succeed.
Escaped prisoners sometimes rely on those on the outside or prison staff. Other times, they simply rely on luck or a security lapse.
In Haiti, almost all female prisoners at the Cabaret prison escaped, helped by mafia organisations. Police forces intervened, only to be met with gunfire. In Mexico, an armed group attacked the Ciudad Juárez prison to help around twenty prisoners escape. The shootout resulted in the death of fourteen people, including ten police officers. The Democratic Republic of Congo reports mass prison escapes - one of which resulted in the escape of almost the entire Kinshasa prison population of 8,200 people.
In Belgium, a prisoner hid in the rubbish bins of Nivelles prison and was taken out of prison when the bins were collected. In Russia, a prisoner contorted himself out of his cell through the hatch used to pass the food trays. In Bolivia, a prisoner dressed up as a sheep to escape the staff’s attention. In France, a prisoner pretended to be someone else who was about to be released. He got out of prison after following the usual administrative process.
Being on the run hardly ever lasts forever. Living underground requires money and a solid support network. The escapee, when ecaught, faces severe consequences.
This is not the case everywhere. In Belgium and Switzerland, simple, non-violent escape is not punished. Their laws recognise the desire to regain freedom.
In prison, living without your rights can make life intolerable. Some prisoners think of suicide as the only way to gain their freedom. Prison authorities are responsible for keeping prisoners alive until the end of their sentence. In Norway, prisoners at risk of committing suicide are put in solitary confinement and continuously monitored. In France, at-risk prisoners are not allowed bed sheets and they are given paper pyjamas that tear easily so that they don’t have access to any material they could hang themselves with.
Successful escapes undermine the prison authorities. After each escape attempt, security measures are reinforced with buffer zones, electric fences, overhead anti-aircraft cables, movement detectors and window bars.
Bodies are observed, searched and scanned. Inspections become more stringent, activities are reduced, surveillance increases and mistrust grows. Isolation and alienation thrive in these conditions.
Certain everyday activities can create a sense of escape: cooking, playing, making love, running, getting drunk, dancing, reading. These are the many things that prison authorities restrict, control or repress. And so the lid is kept firmly on these feelings of freedom.
