Editing Devil's Island (section)

==History==

===Early penal system===
[[Image:Lebreton engraving-09-hulk.jpg|thumb|A French prison hulk in [[Toulon]] harbour, 1850]]

During the 16th and 17th centuries, prisoners convicted of felonies in the [[Kingdom of France]] were sentenced to serve as [[galley slave]]s in the [[French Navy]]'s [[Levant Fleet]]. Given their harsh conditions, this was virtually a death sentence. Following the decommissioning of all [[galley]]s of the Levant Fleet in 1666, the French government kept the majority of prisoners chained in pairs onboard [[Hulk (ship type)|galley hulks]] permanently moored in various harbours until they rotted and sank. Once a hulk sank, its prisoners, who relied on charity or their families for food, bedding and clothing, were transferred to live on adjacent [[Float (nautical)|pontoons]]. They were required to work 12 hours a day in the docks, earning up to 10–15 [[centime]]s, which they could spend on food and drink. Other prisoners were housed in prisons onshore, but conditions were reportedly so bad that many prisoners would beg to be transferred to the hulks.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

By the early 19th century, France's urban population had increased from under six million to over 16 million,{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} and crime kept pace. In 1832, legislation was passed mandating the state's provision of basic necessities to prisoners. Prison reform changed the previous reliance on corporal punishment through hard labor, to imprisonment with a goal of punishment and deterrence. Imprisonment was considered a way to remove offenders from society. [[Recidivism]] of up to 75% had become a major problem; released and unemployed prisoners entered cities to seek a way to live.

In the 1840s, the state set up internal agricultural penal colonies as a place to receive prisoners, thereby removing them from urban environments and giving them work. Prisoners were commonly sentenced under ''doublage'' by which, on completion of their sentence, they were required to work as employees at the penal colony for an additional period equal to their original sentence.<ref name = "toth">Toth, Stephen (2006). ''Beyond Papillon: The French Overseas Penal Colonies, 1854–1952''. University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|978-0803244498}}.{{pages needed|date=April 2025}}</ref>{{pages needed|date=April 2025}}

The French Navy, which had been given the task of managing the prison hulks, complained strongly about the cost of guarding the hulks and the disruption they caused to the work of the shipyards. Following his coup in 1851, [[Napoleon III|Emperor Napoleon&nbsp;III]] ordered that the hulks be permanently closed and that [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] convicts be transferred overseas to colonies. Debate over where the convicts would be sent was prolonged. [[Algeria]] was ruled out by the Navy as it was controlled by the French Army; [[Haiti]], [[Cuba]], the [[Dominican Republic]], and [[Texas]] in the United States were considered, but the government eventually chose its own colony of [[French Guiana]].

Since 1604, France had repeatedly failed to colonize French Guiana. The last attempt at colonization was in 1763. Some 75% of the 12,000 colonists who had been sent there died in their first year, often from tropical diseases. By the 1850s, the declining number of survivors were on the brink of extinction. In 1852, Napoleon called for volunteer prisoners from the hulks to transfer to the new ''Bagne de Cayenne'' (Cayennes penal colony) at French Guiana; 3,000 convicts applied. Two categories of prisoners were eligible for transportation: ''transportés,'' those civil-law prisoners sentenced under ''doublage,'' and ''déportés,'' prisoners convicted of political crimes, such as espionage or conspiracy. France also continued to use the hulks, housing an average of 5,400 prisoners at a time, until they were finally closed around the end of the 19th century. The agricultural penal colonies continued to be used for juveniles until the last was closed in 1939.<ref name = "toth"/>

===Use as penal colony===

Devil's Island and associated prisons eventually became one of the most infamous prison systems in history. While the prison system was in use (1852–1952),<ref name = "prison closure date"/> inmates included [[political prisoner]]s (such as 239&nbsp;republicans who opposed [[French coup d'état of 1851|Napoleon III's coup d'état]] in 1851) and the most hardened of thieves and murderers. The islands housed those convicted by juries rather than [[magistrate]]s.

The vast majority of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the Devil's Island prison system never returned to France. Many died<!-- The convicts were not buried. Their corpses were shrouded and immersed. This practice can be explained by the high mortality rate and by the scarcity of diggable areas. --> due to disease and harsh conditions. Sanitary systems were limited, and the region was [[mosquito]]-infested, with the insects transmitting [[endemic]] tropical diseases. The only exit from the island prisons was by water, and few convicts escaped.

The main part of the penal colony was a labour camp that stretched along the border with Dutch Guiana (present-day [[Suriname]]). This penal colony developed a reputation for harshness and brutality, and generated periodic calls for reform. Inter prisoner violence was common; tropical diseases were rife. Only a small minority of broken survivors returned to France to tell how horrible it was; they sometimes scared other potential criminals to go straight.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}  This system was gradually phased out and closed completely in 1953.

Convicts who were lucky enough to have family or friends willing to send them money had to have it sent to them in care of a prison guard. The standard practice was for the guard to keep for himself a quarter of the amount sent and give the rest to the prisoner.

On 30 May 1854, France passed a new law of forced residency.  It required convicts to stay in French Guiana after completion of sentence for a time equal to their forced labour time. If the original sentence exceeded eight years, they were forced to stay as residents for the remainder of their lives and were given land on which to settle. In time, a variety of penal regimes emerged, as convicts were divided into categories according to the severity of their crimes and the terms of their imprisonment or "forced residence" regime.<ref name="krakovitch"/>

An 1885 law provided for repeat offenders for minor crimes to be sent to the French Guiana prison system, previously reserved for serious offenders and political prisoners. A limited number of convicted women were also sent to French Guiana, with the intent that they marry freed male inmates to aid in settlement and development of the colony. As the results were poor, the government discontinued the practice in 1907.<ref name="krakovitch">{{cite journal  | last = Krakovitch  | first = Odile  | title = Les archives des bagnes de Cayenne et de Nouvelle-Calédonie : la sous-série colonies H aux archives nationales | journal = Revue d'histoire du XIXe siècle | volume = 1985–01  |date = January 1985 | url = http://rh19.revues.org/document4.html | access-date = 2007-11-15 }}</ref> On Devil's Island itself, the small prison facility did not usually house more than 12 persons.<ref name = "prison closure date"/>

[[File:Alfred Dreyfus in captivity on Devil's Island 1898.jpg|thumb|[[Alfred Dreyfus]] in his room on Devil's Island 1898,<br />
<small>[[stereoscopy]] sold by ''F. Hamel'', Altona-[[Hamburg]]...; collection Fritz Lachmund</small>]]

The horrors of the penal settlement were publicised during the [[Dreyfus affair]], as the French army captain [[Alfred Dreyfus]] was unjustly convicted of treason and sent to Devil's Island on 5 January 1895.<ref>Begley, Louis. ''Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009, p. 67.</ref> In 1938, the penal system was strongly criticized in [[René Belbenoît]]'s book ''[[Dry Guillotine]]''.

Shortly after the release of Belbenoît's book, which aroused public outrage about the conditions, the French government announced plans to close the ''bagne de Cayennes''. The outbreak of [[World War&nbsp;II]] delayed this operation but, from 1946 until 1953, one by one the prisons were closed. The Devil's Island facility was the last to be closed.

The [[Aerial lift|cable car]] system that provided access to Devil's Island from Royale Island deteriorated and Devil's Island is now closed to public access.{{clarify|reason=what cable car? which island|date=August 2016}}  It can be viewed from off shore by use of charter boats. The two larger islands in the Salut island group are open to the public, with some of the old prison buildings restored as museums. They have become tourist destinations.

===Fifteen women to camp===
Around the middle of the 19th century, an experiment was carried out in which 15 prostitutes were brought to Devil's Island, who were thought to encourage prisoners to live a dignified life and start a family. The women were guarded by nuns. No families were born, but the women offered [[Human sexual activity|sexual favors]] to anyone who could offer them rum. Disputes arose among the men, and eventually a [[syphilis]] epidemic raged on the island.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Overbye|first=Stine|date=2010|title=Pirunsaari|journal=Tieteen Kuvalehti Historia|volume=11|pages=50–57|issn=0806-5209}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2025}}

===Alleged and successful escapes===

====Charles DeRudio====
After an attempt on 14 January 1858, to assassinate Emperor [[Napoleon III]], [[Charles DeRudio]] was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. He escaped with twelve others, making their way to [[British Guiana]]. In later life, he joined the American Army and survived the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]].

====Clément Duval====
[[Clément Duval]], an [[anarchist]], was sent to Devil's Island in 1886. Originally [[Capital punishment|sentenced to death]], he later received a commuted sentence of [[hard labour]] for life. He escaped in April 1901 and fled to New York City, where he remained for the rest of his life. He eventually wrote a book about his imprisonment called ''Revolte''.

====François Frean, Paul Renuci, Raymond Vaude, and Giovanni Batistoti====
Four escapees from Devil's Island - François Frean, 37, Paul Renuci, 32, Raymond Vaude, 35, all French, and Giovanni Batistoti, 35<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=48AvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rUMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5954,2204552|title=The Virgin Islands Daily News – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref> - arrived in [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St.&nbsp;Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] on 18 October 1936. Their native boat was nearly wrecked on the reef and the convicts were initially entertained as guests and treated for injuries at the Municipal Hospital.

====Henri Charrière and Sylvain====
[[Henri Charrière]]'s bestselling book ''[[Papillon (autobiography)|Papillon]]'' (1969) describes his successful escape from Devil's Island, with a companion, Sylvain. They used two sacks filled with coconuts to act as rafts. According to Charrière, the two men leaped into heavy seas from a cliff and drifted to the mainland over a period of three days. Sylvain died in [[quicksand]] a short distance from the shore. From there, Charrière was to meet a man by the name of Cuic-Cuic who would help him continue and complete his escape to freedom; instead Charrière was caught again and served for a time in the Bagne at [[El Dorado, Venezuela]]. Once finally freed, he remained in Venezuela.

Charrière's account aroused considerable controversy. French authorities disputed it and released penal colony records that contradicted his account. Charrière had never been imprisoned on Devil's Island. He had escaped from a mainland prison. French journalists or prison authorities disputed other elements of his book and said that he had invented many incidents or appropriated experiences of other prisoners.<ref name="Mail & Guardian">[http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-06-26-papillon-alive-and-well-in-a-paris-retirement-home "Papillon alive and well in a Paris retirement home"],''Mail & Guardian'', 26 June 2005.</ref> Critics said he should have admitted his book was fiction.<ref name="Mail & Guardian"/>

====Felix Milani====
Felix Milani travelled on the same ship over as Henri Charrière and wrote a book about his experiences titled ''The Convict''.

====René Belbenoît====
[[René Belbenoît]] is perhaps the most renowned escapee of the penal colony, who wrote about his experiences in two well-received memoirs: ''Hell on Trial'' (1940) and '' The Dry Guillotine: Fifteen Years Among the Living Dead'' (1938). After leaving the colony with temporary permission in 1930, he eventually made his way to the [[Panama Canal]] where he worked for nearly a year. In late 1930, he decided to return to France to argue for his freedom. However, it was a crime for a Devil's Island convict to return to France. He was sent back to French Guiana in 1931 to the prison colony. This time he was sent to Île Royale rather than Devil's Island. He was put into solitary confinement for almost one year. In 1934, he was again released, but as a ''libéré'', or free prisoner, he was, as before in 1930, not allowed to return to France. He eventually made his way to the United States. He gained US citizenship in 1956. He died in California in 1959, age 59.

====Francis Lagrange====
[[:fr:Francis Lagrange|Francis Lagrange]] was a painter and [[forgery|forger]] who wrote a book about his experiences on Devil's Island.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}

==== Bernard Carnot ====
According to the second memoir of American sailor and writer [[William Willis (sailor)|William Willis]] (''Damned and Damned Again)'', a few days after New Years in 1938, he rented a room in New York City from a French immigrant named Madame Carnot. Her son, Bernard Carnot, had been sent to Devil's Island in 1922 for a murder that he did not commit, and the Carnot family had since moved to the United States. Out of compassion and a sense of adventure, Willis set out to the penal colony to effect Bernard Carnot's escape, which he eventually accomplished. The subtitle of the book indicates that it documents the 'true story of the last escape from Devil's Island'.

Carnot was smuggled to Brazil aboard a supply ship, and was never reunited with his family, although they learned via Willis that he had gained his freedom. On the outbreak of WW2 he returned to Europe and joined the French forces. He is believed to have been killed in action shortly before the liberation of Strasbourg.