On one occasion, Ms X noticed that a fellow inmate was lying in the cell without moving. When she brought this to the attention of the guards, they punished her by stomping on her and hitting her with a stick until her head started bleeding. In addition, the entire group of people in her cell was punished by being deprived of food for three days.
Not all inmates survive their ordeal as you can imagine…
Mr Ji Seong-ho testified that his father was arrested as he tried to escape to China. When it became apparent that his father would not survive, SSD agents wheeled him in a cart to his home and dumped him there even though no one was home to take care of him. Neighbours later found him dead. In August 2011, SSD agents arrested a 17-year old boy for watching South Korean movies. He was so badly tortured that his left ankle was shattered and his face was bruised and grossly disfigured. The SSD only released him after the family raised a massive bribe. Shortly after his release, the boy died from a brain haemorrhage which he suffered as a result of the beatings under interrogation.
At the Interrogation Detention Centre of the MPS in Musan, Mr Kim Song-ju witnessed how a cellmate was punished for having spoken without authorization. The guard ordered him to stick his hand through the narrow gap between the cell bars. The guard then beat the prisoner’s hand about 30 times, using a metal gun cleaning tool swung with full force. “Seeing this prisoner’s hand I was shocked… He had a lump as a result of the hitting with this device that was as thick as his own hand. The guard told the prisoner to return to the cell but the prisoner could not retrieve his [swollen hand through the narrow bars] and the prisoner just squatted down and continued crying, he couldn’t do anything else”.
In February 2011, a witness was repatriated from China. After enduring 12 days of beatings and interrogations by the SSD, she was handed over to the MPS. During two months of detention in an MPS interrogation detention centre, she and other inmates were beaten with various objects. People who fainted during an interrogation session were accused of faking it and made to start over. Although she paid bribes in exchange for more lenient treatment, the witness was still subjected to beatings with wheelbarrow handles, gun barrels and pieces of wood. Detainees had to engage in forced labour during the day. Two men were beaten to death because they hadn’t reached their work targets and one woman starved to death.
While in their cells, inmates had to sit still the entire time in a cross-legged position with their hands on their knees. If they moved, they would be forced to do headstands and squats or they were beaten. Some guards took advantage of the coercive setting to rape female inmates, who were taken to a nearby field for “questioning”.
☛ Now: North Korean Death Camp Inmate Releases Bleak Cartoons Of Ordeal
