Prison A prison was one of several forms of punishment after committing a crime in which an individual was confined against their will and deprived of various personal freedoms . A prison used for short periods of confinement was known as a jail . Prisons aboard starship s and starbase s were known as brig s or holding cell s , which were typically used as short - term prisons , or for the containment of unprocessed fugitives . Klingon philosophy indicated that , if taken prisoner , a Klingon should kill himself rather than be held prisoner , unless there were enemies to fight or hope of escape . ( ) Tuvok once opinied that if all species were as enlightened as Vulcan s , there would be no need for prisons . ( ) Noted prisons . Argrathi . The Argrathi Authority used prisons that were , in reality , interactive programs that created an artificial reality filled with memories of things that never actually happened , modeled to fit each offender ' s personality . The Argrathi used this form of punishment as they found it more efficient and more effective than maintaining an extensive prison system . Miles O ' Brien was incarcerated in an Argrathi prison for twenty cycle s , during which he experienced several horrific memories . In recalling his memories , he explained that the Argrathi guards did not care whether or not their prisoners lived or died , noting that sometimes they would starve the prisoners for day s to week s at a time . O ' Brien learned to adapt to this situation by eating as little as possible and saving the rest , following the times that he was actually fed . The Argrathi also demanded that all offenders have a dormancy period each night . Their policies indicated that " any offender still active during the dormancy period will be disciplined . " Death , as a form of discipline , was not uncommon . ( ) Cardassian . At one point prior to 2369 Quark was able to get Durg released from a Cardassian prison . ( ) Dominion . The Dominion converted an ultritium mine , located on an asteroid , into a prison that was later referred to as Internment Camp 371 . This conversion included the addition of a dome and the consolidation of the mining barracks , where each formerly had its own life support system embedded in the walls . ( ) Ekos . During a bizarre social experiment in 2268 , during which Federation historian John Gill turned the Ekos ian society into a replica of Nazi Germany , a security prison was established in the Ekosian capitol known as the Chancellery Detention Center . Here , members of the Zeon resistance movement were taken and torture d for information . When Captain James T . Kirk and his first officer Spock attempted to infiltrate the Ekosian Chancellery , they were discovered and taken to the Chancellery Detention Center . After being beaten , the two were due to be executed but were spared for one hour by Eneg ( who was himself a member of the underground resistance ) . The two Starfleet officers then managed to escape with the help of crystal s inside two wrist subcutaneous transponder s . ( ) Mokra Order . The Mokra Order had a detention facility in the north - east - corner of a city on a planet in the Delta Quadrant . The prison was subterranean and equipped with a force field which could not be penetrated by sensor s . Several soldiers guarded the prisoner s who were held in small cells equipped with force field which could shock anyone who tried to escape . In 2372 , B ' Elanna Torres , Tuvok , and later Darod were held in this detention facility . Kathryn Janeway , posing as a prostitute , and Caylem were able to get inside the prison and free the prisoners . ( )