4 – Urga, Mongolia
Even in the modern era, Mongolia’s prisons are notorious for their harsh conditions and cruel punishments. Although the nation has developed somewhat since it ceased to be a Soviet satellite state in the early 1990s, its prison system is still trapped in the mists of time. Today, the poorest members of society are badly treated with lengthy sentences given for seemingly minor crimes.
Mongolia is still laden with ‘detention centers’ that are designed for people awaiting trial. The trouble is, these facilities are even more dangerous than regular jails for convicted criminals. In 2008, a child was given a 7-year sentence for the heinous crime of stealing a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine. In the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, up to two-thirds of detainees accused of crimes were imprisoned without any court authorization. Back in 2002, Amnesty International released a report about Mongolian prisons which outlined the terrible treatment of inmates. It is not unusual for a detainee to starve to death.
Even this horrid state of affairs pales in comparison to the Mongolian prison system in the early 20th century. In 1918, Roy Chapman Andrews visited Urga, Mongolia, and visited the town’s jail. What he encountered became the stuff of legend. While it is common for prisoners to be confined to small cells with overcrowding a constant issue, nothing compares to the dreadful fate endured by prisoners at Urga.
Andrews was astonished to find that inmates were effectively trapped in coffins. Prisoners were stuffed in 3 x 4-foot wooden boxes kept in Urga’s dark dungeons. The prison was surrounded by 15-foot high sharpened timbers, and the captives were given food via a 6-inch hole in the box. The rations they received were meager to say the least, and their human waste was washed every 2-3 weeks. The cells were so small that prisoners couldn’t lie down or sit properly and to make matters worse; they were handcuffed.
These boxes were supposedly for people awaiting execution, but a high percentage of them died in their ready-made coffins. The temperatures in Urga drop below zero in winter, so it was common for inmates to freeze to death. If they lived long enough, their limbs atrophied from lack of movement.
