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THE NORTH KOREAN GULAG
I'm amazed at how little the South Korean's openly and honestly discuss the horrific regime of the NorthSoon Ok Lee, who defected from North Korean in 1994, was held prisoner in the Kaechon prison camp from 1987 to 1992. In testimony scheduled for delivery today before the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights, she will lay out in gruesome detail the horrors of life in the camps, among them beatings, torture, human biological testing, forced abortions, infanticide, and endless hours of hard labor. The hearing at the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights signals the opening of a second front in the case against Kim Jong Ilâs dictatorial regime. The "axis of evil" nation has acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, making it a serious security threat. However, there has been comparatively little attention paid to the countryâs human rights violations. "The crimes against humanity that have been perpetuating in North Korea for decades have destroyed the humanity and personalities of all North Koreans. The personality cult of the leaders, the father and son, was the norm that came to replace respect for humanity," Ms. Leeâs testimony says. "To achieve this purpose, the North Korean leadership operates secret concentration camps and prisons for political prisoners in at least 12 locations. Their goal is to eliminate all forms of opposition. Over 200,000 innocent victims, including women and children, are detained there for life without a judicial process." "I experienced a living hell there during the seven years that I was there. The ordeal at that time was to such an extent that even today I am not sure whether I am alive or merely dreaming," says Ms. Leeâs testimony, an advance copy of which was obtained by The New York Sun. Perhaps the most dramatic part of her account involves the treatment of pregnant women. They "were unconditionally forced to abort because the unborn baby was also considered a criminal by law," Ms. Leeâs testimony says. "Women in their 8th or 9th month of pregnancy had salt solutions injected into their wombs to induce abortion," her testimony says. "In spite of these brutal efforts, some babies were born alive, in which case the prison guards mercilessly killed the infants by squeezing their necks in front of their mothers. The dead babies were taken away for biological tests. If a mother pleaded for the life of her baby, she was publicly executed under the charge of âimpure ideology.â" According to Ms. Lee, the 6,000 prisoners at the Kaechon prison "were treated as being lower than beasts." Of that number, 2,000 or so were housewives, she says, arrested for trying to find food after the regime discontinued rations. Prisoners worked 16 to 18 hour days, slept three to four hours, and were only allowed to use the toilet three times a day at fixed times. "Our cells were about 6 by 5 meters and contained 80 to 90 prisoners per cell. The cells were so crowded that the prisoners slept with the feet of the next prisoner right under their noses," she says. (con't see link) Posted by: Anonymous 2003-04-30 |
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