Prison 15H - March 2014

MrDan · Mar 26, 2014

Late one night I got a text message from UrbanX asking if I was off work over the weekend and feeling spontaneous, I replied as quick as possible
as I knew it would be something special. It turns out it most definitely was, a Euro trip!
After a quick run round to grab some Euros, my passport, camera gear, clothes and toiletries and I was counting down the hours with sheer excitement.

I met at the agreed meeting spot, and introduced myself to Priority 7 who had arrived just before me, UrbanX arrived shortly afterwards because
the selfish bugger had stopped for McDonalds! During our wait in KFC for Senbell we had a look at our pins and started to discuss rough plans.

Onwards on our quest and we were boarding the Euro Tunnel, my first time taking a car on a train, an extremely strange feeling but we were in
France before we could finish an episode of CSI!

Our destination was Belgium, but we stopped on the way to check out Prison 15H, unfortunately we only managed to do the men's prison due to
time constraints. After reading other reports about the travellers who now call the prison grounds their home we were keen to avoid them, and it
was due to them and our desire to avoid 'camera tax' that we didn't get to see the women's prison on the way home.

We walked the outer perimeter to find our access point. This is the first time I had felt like this, walking next to a giant razor-wired fence, it was
difficult not to feel like a prisoner, but we were hoping for a way in, probably the opposite to most.

UrbanX · Mar 26, 2014

Awesome shots dude! Don't know how you get your images so clean! Cheers for the company!

I’ve been to this place 4 times now, to be confronted with a solid wall. That’s the problem with prisons, they’re quite easy to seal. But it was 5th time lucky, as this time I obviously made it in. Visited with 3 other DP members: Senbell, Mr Dan, & Priority 7.

Normally I commentate on my thoughts and feelings throughout the report, but I managed to find a letter from a prisoner who wrote from this prison in May 2008. I think their words are far more poignant than mine.

“Finally I’ve decided to write, four and a half months after my arrest and imprisonment, because I’ve become incredibly sick of this giant, yet suﬀocating cage that haunts us, outside and inside.”

“The fear of macabre crime and hordes of barbarians, sometimes spontaneous sometimes organized, is indispensable for the State to justify a repressive strategy of security and policing that perpetuates its complete power. Citizens can sleep soundly, knowing that the State watches and condemns the criminal pedophiles, the murdering terrorists, the bloodthirsty bandits that nest in our neighborhoods. . . The threat is everywhere. And words are powerful for creating a danger.”

Makeshift weapon:

“The reality is that the economy of fear is a fertile and blooming market. Surveillance cameras are sprouting around, as are private security companies.New technologies excel when it comes to security and snitching. And the police swarm our streets and our transit stations, justice is mechanical and brisk, the prison of all kinds are ﬂourishing and overpopulated.”

“It is clear that the world is divided between honest people on the one side, and then on the other side the poor, unemployed, documented and undocumented immigrants, youth, strikers, people without permits, cons of social welfare, frauds, small traders of the black market, petty thieves, agitated people who oﬀend and rebel, unruly people who refuse identiﬁcation and data proﬁling, alcoholics, drug users, partisans of ﬁreworks and smokebombs, prostitutes, depressed people, bruisers, casseurs (hooligans), saboteurs, lazy people, people interested in subversive readings, vagabonds. . . In a world that is governed in favor of honest people, diﬀerent and guilty behaviour is not acceptable, and the struggle to be part of the honest class is admirable and worthy of merit.”

Isolation exercise yards:

“Does such a servile and narrow consciousness of the world really exist? Is that the sad order that governs us? We’re not dupes and do not play along with that game. We will not embody these horrors. We will not be scapegoats nor martyrs. In a society where it’s good to remain silent and stay in one’s place, revolt can be fought with beatings, walls and barbwire, and irradiated with the dominant and false discourse, but will not be stopped. Ideas and critical thought know neither masters nor boundaries and free spirits will always remain outraged over having to live under the eternal constraint of the exploiting oppressors and oppressed exploited.”

“In four months, I’ve explored the penitentiary of [15H]. In a month, I’ll enter the prison of Rouen. . .What to say about this unexpected dislocation that jerks our feet oﬀ the ground and our heads out of the clouds to compartmentalize us, to divide us, to reduce us to a thousand times and spaces, to a thousand places and realities, in a jumble of “self”, of self image, of multiple misshaped and amnesic faces?. . . How to deﬁne my uncertain paths between police, justice and prison?. . .”

“Every step is a step forward in a jungle of cages that interlock like Russian dolls, silent and censored. Every step has to be a return to yourself in order to bring back together the dispersed pieces of your mind, and to destroy the bars that slowly take shape inside your body. It would be ridiculous if my prison situation was getting under my skin! To deny our own consciousness for a paranoia of the State is an act of suicide!”

“To illustrate the insigniﬁcance of this condition I could for example recount how I spent two and a half hours in a cage in a police truck, with my hands cuﬀed, a few air holes, hardly any daylight, without food or water, until my arrival at the court. There I spoke for a few minutes with the lawyer whomI had not seen since my last transfer and then with an unbearable headache Iwas ﬁnally interrogated by the judge, knowing I had to look forward to the samething on the way back again. That is a thorough and precise representation ofour rights. And that is well known.”

“To go back a little, arriving in the prison was an terrible shock. After anightmare of ﬁve days under pressure, under arrest and observation, with heavyaccusations and in proportions which I could not have suspected, the neverending waiting has started. . . Until when? After two months I found a certainbalance, linking experiences. . . But they preferred to break me a bit more, in alogic of punishment and revenge, and I’ve ended up in [15H] ”.

“Once again, I lost my bearings. I ended up in an environment with moreapparent security, smooth, clean, but icy. Long lit-up hallways ﬁlled by cameras behind protective covers, a small soulless yard under video surveillance,covered in tar and surrounded by a double row of fences and barbwire, a cellwith a shower, a television from the State and ﬁve electric power boxes! And topopulate this bleak place with ghosts, a rationalization and discipline of movement, meant to repress life to every extent.”

“The spirit of this place has stronglycombined comfort and cleanliness in the service of order. The ﬂux and numbers are brought down to a minimum and are strictly regulated (three walks inthe yard for 150 prisoners, limited activities in small groups). The time in theyard does not exceed the obligatory maximum per day (one hour and ﬁfteenminutes per half a day). Exchange and solidarity between prisoners (besidesthe trade in stamps) are particularly complicated to develop in an atmospherewhere repression is widespread (even pen and paper are not allowed during yardtime). . . And not to be confused, when laundry service is oﬀered it is to avoiddisorder and confusion with clothes hanging from the windows; to avoid thepossibility that prisoners could “re-appropriate” and reshape the place withinwhich they’re trying to survive.”

“Elsewhere in this new prison, that is partly managed by a private that organizes prison labor, the laundryshift is an essential activity for the women. I think that 1.5 tons of laundry iswashed per day, coming from diﬀerent prisons in the region. The men have towork in the kitchen. According to the same principle, [15H] delivers mealsin trays to all prisons in this zone. The wages are less than 200 Euros for thewomen (for a full time job) and 100 Euros more for the men.”

Workshops:

“Now they are working to make it an ultra-secure wing. The security networkprogresses blindly: a new row of barbwire was recently added to the outside wall,the underground piping for the sewer was equipped with bars, etc.”

“I comparethis paciﬁed banality with the penitentiary institution for women in [14H],which has its history, its struggles, its evolutions, its accomplishments. . . Andwhat characterizes the old prisons, like “collective” showers or the distributionof warm water in the morning. . . Sunday afternoon the yard time is extendedto three hours with the authorization of a “picnic”. And never will a guard setfoot in the yard. . . In fact, the façade is more apparent in the absolute.At [15H], it’s like separation and erasure work on their own. Seldom doyou hear prisoners banging in unison on the doors. But I hope that the women’swing will be shaken in the future by the refusal of resignation, conquering new“rights” and freedoms, here and elsewhere. And ﬁnally, that these institutionsof imprisonment everywhere are torn down. At this moment I am still waiting,but with more conﬁdence and a progressive understanding of the mechanismsused to try to control us. . .The struggle continues!”

Time to go:

Cheers for reading

Mikeymutt · Mar 26, 2014

Just awesome.great pictures from you and urban x..I have always wanted to go to see a prison,maybe there might be some in this country to do soon with the closure of several prisons.thank you so much for this,and that letter is amazing.

flyboys90 · Mar 27, 2014

Well done both of you for producing some cracking images.

oldscrote · Mar 27, 2014

That's one of the most moving posts I think I've ever seen on the forum,thanks/

MrDan · Mar 27, 2014

Cheers guys, really enjoyed it here, I'm only gutted that we didn't get to see the Women's side. Very beautiful lighting in there.
The next report of the trip should be up today.

LittleOz · Mar 27, 2014

Great stuff from both of you. Very interesting to see such different perspectives of the place in one post. Thanks too for reproducing the prisoner's letter - it really adds some gravitas and atmosphere.

AgentTintin · Mar 27, 2014

Really enjoyed the letter, makes you view the place in a different way

Waspy · Mar 27, 2014

Wow..... Google search now.for me.... Fantastic collection of pics.

DirtyJigsaw · Mar 28, 2014

I hate you Dan!! LOL, only joking! Great write up and great photos. I really am jealous, i wanna go

Stealthstar79 · Mar 28, 2014

Fantastic both of you!
I would love to visit a prison one day.
Thanks. ..

MrDan · Mar 28, 2014

Stealthstar79 said:
Fantastic both of you!
I would love to visit a prison one day.
Thanks. ..

It's really not that difficult to be invited to visit a prison, the difficult bit is being able to leave

UrbanX · Mar 28, 2014

MrDan said:
It's really not that difficult to be invited to visit a prison, the difficult bit is being able to leave

Things to do in prison 15H:

1) Morgan Freeman voice: "Mr Dan Was a simple man..."
2) Whistle great escape whilst leaving
3) Pretend to drop a memory card in the shower....

DirtyJigsaw said:
I hate you Dan!! LOL, only joking! Great write up and great photos. I really am jealous, i wanna go

Danke!
I hear you've been pounding a ring hard today... hope it went well!

MrDan · Mar 28, 2014

^ Brilliant!

King Al · Mar 29, 2014

Great report guys! This one looks absolutely fantastic

PROJ3CTM4YH3M · Mar 30, 2014

top report guys! love this place!

Prison 15H - March 2014

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