Penal colony Penal colonies were remote prison facilities with characteristics that varied in accordance with the needs and philosophies of their governing cultures . Typically , a sentence to a penal colony differed from normal incarceration by charging the inmate to perform a service or labor , or to help facilitate their own rehabilitation . James T . Kirk expressed his concern to the Organian s with how Klingon s treat their subjects , during the mind - 23rd century , saying the Organian people would " " be far better off on a penal planet . " " During his visit to Deep Space 9 in 2369 , Q referred to the station as " dreary little gulag " and commented that Benjamin Sisko was penalized there . ( ) Federation penal colonies . In the mid - 23rd century , the penal systems of the United Federation of Planets shifted focus from incarceration and punishment to humane rehabilitation , made possible by new technologies and drug therapies . A key figure of this transition was Doctor Tristan Adams . From the late 2240s and into the 2260s , his practices were replicated in many Federation penal colonies , turning what were essentially cages into effective hospital s . Until promising therapies were developed , those few criminally - insane beings deemed incurable and incorrigible were kept in the secure isolation of Asylum facilities . ( ) Ambassador Robert Fox threatened to have Montgomery Scott sent to a penal colony for disobeying his direct orders while Captain James T . Kirk was held captive on Eminiar VII . ( ) Keto - Enol penal colonies . In the 22nd century , the Enolian government operated at least two penal colonies : Other penal colonies . Mab - Bu VI - A . During the mid - 19th century , a penal colony was established on the moon orbit ing Mab - Bu VI that included hundreds of prisoners from the Ux - Mal system . As punishment , the prisoners were separated from their bodies and left to drift in the moon ' s electromagnetic storm s . ( ) Rura Penthe . Established sometime prior to the mid - 22nd century , the Klingon gulag of Rura Penthe was a prison with no stockade , guard tower , or electrified frontier . Its only form of protection was a magnetic shield surrounding the inhabited dilithium mines to prevent unauthorized beam outs . The stipulations for the inmates of the prison included the simple fact that no one could escape from below . If prisoners worked well , they would be treated well ; if they worked badly , they would be exiled to the asteroid ' s frozen surface , where nothing could survive for very long . In late 2152 , Jonathan Archer was captured by the Klingons after assisting Arin ' Sen rebels . Put on trial on Narendra III , he was sentenced to labor on Rura Penthe , but managed to escape . ( ) In 2293 James T . Kirk and Leonard McCoy were sentenced to Rura Penthe to spend the rest of their natural lives mining dilithium , but also escaped . ( ) Lunar V . The Angosian Lunar V colony was created for its genetically - enhanced soldiers who previously participated in the Tarsian War . According to the Angosian government , the soldiers were placed there " for their own protection as well as that of others . " Despite the fact that they made every effort to make the colony as amiable for its " colonists " as possible , the fact remained that it was still a prison . ( ) Ennis / Nol - Ennis penal moon . Located in the Gamma Quadrant , this moon served as a place of banishment for the Ennis and Nol - Ennis factions after mediator s on their shared homeworld were unable to resolve their conflict . The moon had an automated orbit al defense system and its atmosphere contained artificial microbe s which would regenerate the dead . Because permanent death was impossible , the Ennis and Nol - Ennis were condemned to fight each other for eternity . In 2369 , the Starfleet runabout crash land ed on the moon , killing one of the passengers , Bajoran Kai Opaka . As she , too , was regenerated , Kai Opaka decided to remain on the moon to attempt to mediate between the Ennis and Nol - Ennis . ( )