The Hague Penitentiary Institution ( Dutch: ''Penitentiaire Inrichting Haaglanden'') is a Dutch prison that is part of the Judicial Institutions Department (''Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen'', DJI) of the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. It can accommodate more than 1,000 detainees and consists of two locations, at

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2023 this had grown to 126.998 ...

and

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

. The Zoetermeer location is for Systematic offenders and the Scheveningen location serves as a Penitentiary Psychiatric Center, the 'open design' Limited Secured Installation and Judicial Medical Center. A special independent unit in the Scheveningen location serves as a

United Nations Detention Unit The United Nations Detention Unit (UNDU) is a United Nations–administered jail. It is part of the Hague Penitentiary Institution's Scheveningen location, more popularly known as Scheveningen Prison, in The Hague, Netherlands. The UNDU was e ...

(UNDU) for international offenders where they remain in pre-trial detention under the responsibility of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

like suspects of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

(ICTY) and of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

(ICC).

Zoetermeer location

The

location of the Hague Penitentiary Institution was built in 1995 and is located in the Rokkenhage district of Zoetermeer, a city in western

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. The penal institution in Zoetermeer is a detention center and an Institution for Systematic offenders (ISD). The location has capacity for nearly 400 detainees.

Scheveningen location

United Nations Detention Unit - 01 Arrival area

The Scheveningen location of the Hague Penitentiary Institution more popularly known as Scheveningen Prison is a famous prison in

Belgisch Park Belgisch Park (; ) is a neighbourhood in the Scheveningen district of The Hague, Netherlands. The area has around 7,900 residents and contains many trees and the adjoining “Nieuwe Scheveningse Bosjes” and “Oostduinen”. The buildings da ...

, a neighbourhood in the

district of

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. The penitentiary in the east section of Scheveningen is located at the road Pompstationsweg. The complex Scheveningen includes a Penitentiary Psychiatric Center, Limited Secured Installation (also called 'open design') and the Justice Center for Somatic Care (formerly the Penitentiary Hospital or Judicial Medical Center).

United Nations Detention Unit

A special independently acting unit in the penitentiary's Scheveningen location hosts the

(UNDU), a UN-administered jail as part of the facility. The UNDU was established in 1993 as part of the

(ICTY) and the ICC Detention Centre for the detention of people awaiting trial before the

. The penitentiary was picked as a trial location for the International Criminal Court, through

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1688 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1688, adopted unanimously on June 16, 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia, Sierra Leone and West Africa, including resolutions 1470 (2003), 1508 (2003), 1537 (20 ...

of 17 June 2006.

Oranjehotel

The Scheveningen prison was built in 1919 to house minor criminals. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the prison was confiscated by the Germans and renamed ''Polizeigefängnis'', but was colloquially known as ''Oranjehotel''. More than 25,000 passed through the prison, the vast majority being Jews, resistance fighters, and political prisoners. Most went on to German prisons and

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s. 215 prisoners were executed at the

Waalsdorpervlakte The Waalsdorpervlakte () is a clearing in the dune area "Meijendel" (The Hague, Netherlands), where between 250 and 280 members of the Dutch resistance were killed by the Germans during World War II. After the liberation of the Netherlands, Collab ...

, the dunes opposite the prison. The complex became a prison again after the liberation, however cell 601, one of the cells for people condemned to death, remained in authentic condition. The original buildings were decommissioned in 2009, and were designated a national monument in 2010. About two-thirds of the complex was torn down much to the dismay of the Oranjehotel Foundation.

References

{{coord, 52, 6, 35.45, N, 4, 18, 5.17, E, display=title Buildings and structures in The Hague Prisons in the Netherlands nl:Penitentiaire Inrichting Haaglanden