GETTY / HRNK
North Korea news: Gruesome gulags revealed in new satellite images
20 previously unseen satellite photos of North Korea have revealed guard towers, huge walls and cramped housing areas in the hermit state’s inhumane prisons.
New photos were published in a new report which describes the gulags as “instruments of fear and control” where suffering is almost unimaginable.
The report, ‘The Parallel Gulag: North Korea’s An-jeon-bu Prison Camps’, aims to refocus the West’s attentions on the atrocities being committed in Kim’s kingdom.
It says while “the world is transfixed” by Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump’s escalating war-of-words and nuclear threats, horrifying human rights violations continue in North Korea’s prisons.
HRNK
North Korea news: One of the gulag’s captured by satellite images
The bodies of deceased prisoners are frequently dumped into unmarked graves
The report by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) shows a series of prison camps deep in the countryside or on the outskirts of grey industrial towns, where dozens or even hundreds of inmates are held at a time.
And the shocking report also describes appalling scenes of forced starvation, dangerous work and dehumanising treatment by officials.
It said: “Overall, the brutal and arduous labour, grossly inadequate diet, and lack of medicine lead to a dreadfully large number of deaths in detention.
“The bodies of deceased prisoners are frequently dumped into unmarked graves near the prison or prison camp without the traditional Korean funeral rites or arrangements.
HRNK
A North Korea gulag captured by satellite imagery
“This is a deep cultural offence frequently commented on by prisoners who survived their sentence.”
North Korean citizens are imprisoned after committing perceived slights against the Kim dynasty or falling victim to rampant wrongful imprisonment.
They are forced to march long distances to workplaces, where they mine raw materials, chop wood or carry out factory work in dangerous conditions.
The report said: “Prison labor is arduous and sometimes dangerous manual labour. Mining is done with picks and shovels, and logging is done by axes and handsaws.
“Even with the safety equipment and precautions unheard of in North Korean prisons, mining and logging is dangerous work.
“Some of the prisons and prison camps have sick rooms for seriously ill prisoners but former inmates report that there is hardly any medicine.
“Female prisoners report the complete unavailability of provisions or products for their menstrual cycles.”
Some prisoners are tortured or made to have forced abortions by cruel prison administrators.
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The report said: “Torture manifests itself in the form of solitary confinement in tiny cells, the deliberate imposition of extreme levels of starvation as a disciplinary measure, and the infliction of severe beatings and other atrocities to punish inmates.
“The suffering resulting from the prolonged starvation, coupled with other inhumane conditions of detention, imposed on inmates to aggravate their punishment generally often also meets the threshold of torture.
“The forced abortions to which pregnant inmates have been subjected constitutes a form of sexual violence of a gravity that meets the threshold required for crimes against humanity.”
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The executive director of HRNK said more needed to be done to fight these conditions in North Korea.
Greg Scarlatoiu said: “Even as the world is transfixed by the slings and arrows surrounding vital nuclear weapons considerations, it is more important than ever to ensure that the fate of everyday North Koreans trapped in the unyielding gulag systems remains at the forefront of our efforts and the efforts of the international community.
“Furthermore, there is an undeniable nexus between North Korea’s human rights violations and the security threats it poses.