Inside the World's Toughest Prisons

Apr 20, 2016

Paul Connolly heads to Honduras, the murder capital of the world, to spend a week living as a prisoner inside one of the most dangerous prisons - Danli Prison.

Apr 27, 2016

Connolly serves time in Poland's Piotrkow prison, a maximun security lockup where the country's most hardened criminals stay in cells 23 hours a day.

Mar 03, 2016

Mexico's el Hongo prison is home to murderers, hitmen, drug bossess and -- for one week -- Paul Connolly, who experiences life among the inmates.

May 04, 2016

Connolly spends time in two different prisons in the Philippines, where overcrowding, gangs and severe intimidation are a way of life.

Jul 06, 2018

Investigative journalist Raphael Rowe spends a few days -- both as a guard and a prisoner -- inside Brazil's gang-filled Porto Velho Penitentiary.

Jul 06, 2018

Ukraine's Zhytomyr Prison is operated with a skeleton crew that allows prisoners to freely roam the grounds -- often with potentially dangerous weapons.

Jul 06, 2018

Raphael Rowe visits the short-staffed Bomana Prison in Papua New Guinea, where near-constant food shortages keep the facility on the brink of chaos.

Jul 06, 2018

In Belize Central Prison, the inmates are told that rehabilitation comes through God. Raphael Rowe investigates if this evangelical approach works.

Dec 14, 2018

Though he's no stranger to life behind bars, Raphael Rowe concedes that Costa Rica's La Reforma Prison is certainly among the most intimidating.

Dec 14, 2018

While spending a week inside Bogotá's fortress-like prison, Raphael Rowe must negotiate the oppressive atmosphere and deal with an ominous threat.

Dec 14, 2018

Raphael Rowe spends a week at a maximum security prison in Craiova, Romania, where the inmates include rapists, murderers and contract killers.

Dec 14, 2018

Many prisons aim to punish and demean inmates. Norway's Halden Prison -- as Raphael Rowe is about to see for himself -- does things differently.

Jul 29, 2020

Raphael Rowe spends a week behind bars at Tacumbu prison in Paraguay, where inmates scrounge in the trash in order to pay their own way.

Jul 29, 2020

Schwalmstadt, a 12th-century fortress surrounded by a moat, houses some of Germany's worst offenders, many of whom attend intense therapy sessions.

Jul 29, 2020

The tropical island of Mauritius is home to Melrose maximum security prison, where even the smallest infraction is met with extreme punishment.

Jul 29, 2020

An unnerved Rowe contends with aggressive cellmates at Maseru prison, where a high number of inmates are behind bars for rape.

Jan 08, 2021

At Brandvlei Correctional Centre in South Africa, nearly all the convicts belong to dangerous gangs known for lethal stabbings.

Jan 08, 2021

Once again, Raphael Rowe volunteers to go behind bars, this time in the Philippines at Manila City Jail, one of the world's most overcrowded prisons.

Jan 08, 2021

Greenland's Nuuk maximum security prison houses extremely dangerous prisoners, many of whom grew up alongside the guards now watching over them.

Sep 28, 2022

Sep 28, 2022

Sep 28, 2022

Sep 28, 2022

Sep 15, 2023

At Finland's Kylmäkoski prison, Raphael meets violent offenders in the general population wing and bonds with the inmates, while a newcomer is attacked.

Sep 15, 2023

Surrounded by many inmates who struggle with crystal meth addiction, Raphael enters the Pilsen prison and discovers that some habits are hard to break.

Sep 15, 2023

Raphael gets a rare look inside Bangli prison, where drug offenders are forced to join a rehabilitation program and isolation is used as punishment.

Sep 15, 2023

At the Rove maximum security prison, many of the inmates serve time for sexual offenses while navigating grim conditions and extremely limited resources.