Phonthong Prison
Encyclopedia
Phonthong Prison known as the 'Foreigners Prison', is a mixed sex prison near Vientiane
. The prison is used to hold non-Laotian prisoners.
According to former prisoner Kay Danes
, prisoners are regularly tortured using techniques including mock execution
s, beatings and waterboarding
, and some prisoners have had their genitals burned.
, an Australian couple, were held there after being arrested in 2000, but were pardoned in 2001. In August 2008, British woman Samantha Orobator was arrested in Laos after she was discovered with 680 grams of heroin. She was detained at the prison, and became pregnant while in custody. In June 2009, she was sentenced to life imprisonment
after a three-hour trial. Laotian law prescribed the death penalty for drug smuggling, but Orobator avoided this sentence
due to her pregnancy. She was deported to the UK in August 2009 to serve her sentence in a UK prison. In January 2010, the High Court
reduced her sentence of imprisonment from life to three years, the appropriate sentence for her crime under UK law. The court also ruled that she had not suffered a "flagrant denial of justice".
Vientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...
. The prison is used to hold non-Laotian prisoners.
Conditions
Prison conditions are poor. Prison cells measuring about sixteen square metres are used to hold up to six inmates. Rations consist of two bowls of pig fat water soup and sticky rice per cell per day.According to former prisoner Kay Danes
Kerry and Kay Danes
Kerry Arthur Danes and Kay Frances Danes are an Australian husband and wife who were controversially arrested on 23 December 2000 by authorities in Laos. The Danes were detained without charge in a detention centre in Vientiane, Laos for six months until formal charges were laid on 13 June 2001...
, prisoners are regularly tortured using techniques including mock execution
Mock execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
s, beatings and waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
, and some prisoners have had their genitals burned.
History
The prison has been used to hold foreigners, and has become notorious in two high-profile cases. Kerry and Kay DanesKerry and Kay Danes
Kerry Arthur Danes and Kay Frances Danes are an Australian husband and wife who were controversially arrested on 23 December 2000 by authorities in Laos. The Danes were detained without charge in a detention centre in Vientiane, Laos for six months until formal charges were laid on 13 June 2001...
, an Australian couple, were held there after being arrested in 2000, but were pardoned in 2001. In August 2008, British woman Samantha Orobator was arrested in Laos after she was discovered with 680 grams of heroin. She was detained at the prison, and became pregnant while in custody. In June 2009, she was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
after a three-hour trial. Laotian law prescribed the death penalty for drug smuggling, but Orobator avoided this sentence
Pleading the belly
Pleading the belly was a process available at English common law, which permitted women pregnant with late stage fetuses to receive a reprieve of their death sentences until delivery...
due to her pregnancy. She was deported to the UK in August 2009 to serve her sentence in a UK prison. In January 2010, the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
reduced her sentence of imprisonment from life to three years, the appropriate sentence for her crime under UK law. The court also ruled that she had not suffered a "flagrant denial of justice".