Just off the coast of New York City in the East River is Rikers Island, the world’s largest penal colony. Thousands of inmates are imprisoned in this sprawling jail complex.
Rikers has a notorious reputation, but recently, fresh stories describing a climate of violence among prisoners, and allegations of abuse by prison guards, has led to a public debate about the prison.
This story begins at a rally which launched a recent campaign pushing for closure of the notorious prison. At the rally, former Rikers prisoner Nathaniel Linden says the prison is ‘like a violent third world country.’
Listen to the story here.
(First broadcast on BBC World Service Radio in July 2016).
Golda Arthur 