Liberia’s Belle Yella Prison Camp (1910–1990): Repression, Stigma, and Forced Labor in the Heart of the Rainforest

Abstract

AbstractThis article represents research over a five-year period into the history of Belle Yella prison, an infamous prison associated with the incarceration of political prisoners and hardened criminals located deep in the rainforest of what is now Gbarpolu County, central Liberia. The article uses both extensive oral histories and archival documents to shed light on the eighty-year-long history of the site. The author argues that Belle Yella prison was utilized by past Liberian presidents as a place of banishment for political prisoners that were viewed as a threat to their regimes, especially during periods of political turmoil. These prisoners were forced to labor on private farms and survive under inhumane conditions that both violated their civil liberties and their human rights. In the conclusion, the author urges that the site of the prison be turned into a memorial so that visitors can pay homage to those who died there and learn lessons from the past.