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Prisons in North Korea (often referred to by Western media and critics as "North Korean gulags") have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of inmates have died each year,[1][2][3][4] since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment.[5] Public and secret executions of inmates, including children, especially in cases of attempted escape, are commonplace.[6] Infanticides (and infant killings upon birth)[7] also often occur. The mortality rate is exceptionally high, because many prisoners die of starvation,[8] illnesses,[9] work accidents, or torture.[10]
During the height of the North Korean famine, the government's response was to set up many low-level labor camps for those who were caught crossing the North Korean-Chinese border or were repatriated from China. These labor training facilities were also used in response to the black market activity that resulted in people searching for food throughout the countryside.[11][citation not found]
In 2004, these “labor training” facilities were made a regular form of punishment under the new reforms of the criminal code which included a list of economic and social crimes. This list was increased in 2007 with the corresponding punishments growing.[11][citation not found]
The DPRK government denies all allegations of human rights violations in prison camps, claiming that this is prohibited by criminal procedure law,[12] but former prisoners testify that there are completely different rules in the prison camps.[13] The DPRK government has released no information on inmates or prison camps and has not allowed access to any human rights organizations.[14] According to a North Korean defector, North Korea considered inviting a delegation of the UN Commission on Human Rights to visit the Yodok prison camp in 1996.[15]
Lee Soon-ok gave detailed testimony on her treatment in the North Korean prison system to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 2002. In her statement she said, "I testify that most of the 6,000 prisoners who were there when I arrived in 1987 had quietly perished under the harsh prison conditions by the time I was released in 1992."[16] Many other former inmates, including Kang Chol-hwan and Shin Dong-hyuk, gave detailed and consistent testimonies on the human rights crimes in North Korean prison camps.
According to the testimony of former camp guard Ahn Myong-chol of Camp 22, the guards are trained to treat the detainees as subhumans. He gave an account of children in one camp who were fighting over corn retrieved from cow dung.[17]
North Korean prison camps are of two types: large internment camps for political prisoners (Kwan-li-so in Korean) and reeducation prison camps (Kyo-hwa-so in Korean).[18]
- ^ "North Korea: Political Prison Camps". Amnesty International, May 3, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ World Report 2013 North Korea. 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Pillay urges more attention to human rights abuses in North Korea, calls for international inquiry". United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, January 14, 2013. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ "2009 Human Rights Report: Democratic People's Republic of Korea". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "North Korea: Torture, death penalty and abductions". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (page 74–75)" (PDF). Korea Institute for National Unification. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "The Hidden Gulag – Part Four: Racially Motivated Forced Abortion and Infanticide (page 122)" (PDF). The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ "Running Out of the Darkness". TIME Magazine. April 24, 2006. Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2006.
- ^ "N. Korean Defectors Describe Brutal Abuse". The Associated Press. October 29, 2008. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
- ^ "HRNK, Holocaust museum to work together again N. Korean prison camps". 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ^ a b Haggard & Noland, 2012
- ^ "Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Democratic People's Republic of Korea (page 7)" (PDF). United Nations Human Rights Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ "Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (page 8)" (PDF). Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) and Korean Bar Association (KBA). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ "Report by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Theo van Boven: Democratic People's Republic of Korea". United Nations/Derechos Human Rights. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ Yi Baek-ryong (Alias). "Yodok, Prison Camp of Death [죽음의 요덕 수용소]". Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee, North Korean prison camp survivor". United States Senate Hearings. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
- ^ Inside North Korea. 2006. History Channel. National Geographic – via Netflix.
- ^ "The Hidden Gulag – Part Three: Kwan-li-so political panel-labor colonies (page 24 - 41), Kyo-hwa-so prison-labor facilities (page 41 - 55)" (PDF). The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.