Raphael Rowe: Banged up!
Would you voluntarily spend a week inside one of the world’s toughest – and most dangerous – prisons? That’s exactly what investigative journalist Raphael Rowe did…
Raphael Rowe knows what the inside of a prison cell looks like. Twelve years locked up in a variety of British jails means he is all too familiar with the sounds, smells – and fear – of a life lived behind bars.
In 1990, Raphael was convicted of murder and three robberies as part of the M25 Three. It wasn’t his first brush with the law, and he was sentenced to life years behind bars.
But he always maintained his innocence. And, after 12 years, Raphael, then 32, was finally freed after the case went to the European Court of Human Rights, and his conviction was quashed.
In one of the most amazing stories of turning a life around, Raphael studied journalism while serving his sentence and, on his release, he joined the BBC as an investigative reporter. During his time with
Panorama, he carried out an investigation into the murder of BBC newsreader Jill Dando. His findings cast doubts over the evidence used to convict Barry George of her murder. And, in 2008, Barry George was acquitted and freed.
His latest project sees him exposing the terrible
conditions in some of the world’s most notorious – and dangerous – prisons for new Netflix series, Inside The World’s Toughest Prisons.
Raphael visits jails in Brazil, Belize, Ukraine and Papua New Guinea. Places where brutality and intimidation rule; places that make British prisons look like boutique hotels.
The first episode centres around Porto Velho prison in Brazil. Raphael explains that as the country has a zerotolerance stance on narcotics, 40 per cent of inmates are in prison for drug offences.
Porto Velho prison houses members of Brazil’s two most prolific gangs – the Red Command (Comando Vermelho) from Rio de Janeiro and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) from São Paulo.
Raphael says that, ‘Now sworn enemies, their battle to control the drug trade has turned to all-out war.’
The prison itself is thought of as one of the most dangerous in the world – and Raphael will be spending a week banged up there.
‘This is a terrifying experience,’ he says. ‘It’s an unnerving experience… ’
The prison is made up of nine facilities, which house 8,000 inmates.
Initially, Raphael is taken to a temporary holding area, where prisoners are sometimes monitored for over a year while they are interrogated to assess risk and decipher gang affiliation.
‘A harsh and unforgiving hellhole,’ is Raphael’s verdict.
‘I felt like a gladiator,’ he says. ‘I’m coming in here with just my pants – I’m naked other than that – and I’m in this environment that makes me feel like the next time I’m let out, I’m gonna go and battle with some other prisoner.’
In the group holding cell, he speaks to inmates and asks if any of them have been incarcerated in that specific prison before. One admits he has and when asked why he was back in jail, knowing the awful conditions, he says, ‘ Weakness. My family needed me; I was looking for work and didn’t find anything. The only way to look after my family was to do the one thing I know how to do… steal.’
Raphael is later taken to ‘Pavilion C’, where he’s incarcerated with 180 other inmates who are entirely PCC gang members. After two massacres of Red Command gang members in the last year, that part of the prison no longer mixes inmates from rival gangs.
He’s told he can choose his cell with the help of a prisoner called Danilo, who’ll work out the best fit for him. ‘It makes me wonder who is really in charge here – the guards or the prisoners?’ Raphael admits.
Raphael quickly realises he must chip in to earn the respect of his fellow cellmates, and that the men take pride in what little they have. But there are still tensions in the prison.
‘This is a pressure cooker,’ a member of the Red Command explains. ‘At any moment, it’s going to explode and then that’s it. It will be every man for himself. We are going to protect ourselves. If they break out, we are going to stab them as well, they’ll go there, back to hell.’
It’s a terrifying culture of violence, especially in a place that should be promoting reform. But there are places in the prison where inmates can try to change – or at least reduce their sentence. There is a prisoner-run initiative, which involves making footballs that are then donated to local schools and orphanages.
Raphael also spends a day with prison guards, or ‘agents’ as they call themselves. It’s a job fraught with tension and danger. They are always armed, and the agents are seriously outnumbered by the prisoners. With many serious riots during the past few years, the gang ringleaders are kept in lockdown in a super-max unit. They talk about spilling blood to protect their families, and to get revenge against rival gangs. It’s difficult to see how, even in prison, the violence will ever stop perpetuating. ‘The conditions in there will live with me for the rest of my life,’ Raphael says as he leaves the prison. It’s a good deterrent, if ever we’ve seen one…
Inside The World’s Toughest Prisons is available on Netflix now
‘Prison: A harsh and unforgiving hellhole... it’s a terrifying and unnerving experience’