Pukch'ang Detention Center

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Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 북창 제 18 호 관리소
Hanja : 北 倉 第十八 號 管理所
Revised Romanization : Bukchang Je18ho Gwalliso
McCune-Reischauer : Pukch'ang Che18ho Kwalliso

The Pukch'ang Detention Center (also Bukchang ) is a labor camp in North Korea that is mainly used for political prisoners . It is sometimes also called Tŭkchang internment camp ( Hangeul : 득장 관리소 , also Deukjang or Dukjang ). The official name is Kwan-li-so (prison camp) No. 18 .

location

The camp is located in Pukch'ang and Tŭkchang counties , P'yŏngan-namdo Province in North Korea . It extends in the valley of the Taedong River , which forms the northern limit, and also includes the mountains south of the river. On the other side of the Taedong River is the Kaech'ŏn internment camp (Kwan-li-so No. 14).

description

Pukch'ang camp was established in 1958 and, according to former party secretary Hwang Jang-yop, is the oldest North Korean prison camp. It is surrounded by a 4 m high fence and, like the Yodŏk internment camp, includes both a penal colony for life prisoners and a re-education camp. It is possible that these areas were once separated, hence the two names Pukch'ang and Deukjang. In some cases, family members of political prisoners in Kaechon camp were deported to Pukch'ang camp. Due to their close relatives, they are considered politically unreliable and are held captive without a trial. The warehouse covers an area of ​​approximately 78 square kilometers. It consists of several colonies with prisoner barracks and accommodation for the guards, after which the colonies are designated as 4th Division, 5th Division and 6th Division. Families are often allowed to live together in these colonies. In total, around 50,000 prisoners live in the Pukch'ang camp. Kim Yong also reported on individual foreign prisoners, but this has not been confirmed by other sources.

function

The camp serves to isolate and punish people from society. These are not only dissidents (especially political opponents of Kim Jong-il ), but predominantly families who are suspected of not supporting the system simply because of their origin and classification into the "enemy class" . These people are exploited in the camp through dangerous and heavy physical labor. There are at least five coal mines in which all prisoners who are somehow able to work have to work around 12-16 hours a day. Together with other work, the daily workload is 16-18 hours. There is also a brick factory, cement plant and other factories in the camp.

Human rights situation

Compared to the human rights situation in other detention centers , the rules in Pukch'ang are a little less strict. But here, too, the prisoners are shot if they try to escape, steal food or ignore orders. Public executions are carried out as a deterrent, in which over 100 prisoners are tortured and then shot or hanged every year.

The most common causes of death are permanent malnutrition, accidents at work and illness. The daily food ration consists of around 50 g of cereal porridge and occasionally some bean paste ( Doenjang ) or salt. Since the prisoners have to work in the mines without any protection, they suffer from dust lung after a few years . Accidents at work often lead to mutilations of the limbs. Many children have chilblains because they don't have shoes and have to go barefoot even in winter.

In order to humiliate prisoners, they are forced to kneel down, spit in their mouths and then swallow. Those who do not obey the orders immediately will be beaten. The prisoners are monitored almost continuously by state police officers and are encouraged to spy on and denounce one another.

Prisoners (eyewitnesses)

  • Kim Yong (1996-1998 in Pukch'ang) was initially imprisoned in the Kaech'ŏn internment camp after his (previously veiled) relatives to his father and brother, who were executed as alleged US spies, came out. He was later transferred to Pukch'ang following the intervention of his former boss.
  • Kim Hye-sook (1975-2002 in Pukch'ang) was imprisoned at the age of 13 because her grandfather had fled to South Korea.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hidden Gulag - Satellite imagery: Kwan-li-so No. 14 Kaechon and Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang Partial Overview (page 209). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
  2. ^ Federation of American Scientists: Hwang Jang-yop speaks
  3. ↑ Life & Human Rights in North Korea, Vol. 60; Witness Account: Twenty-eight Years of My life in Political Prisoner Camp (Gwalliso) No. 18 (page 24). Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Article “Curious about Dukjang Gulag Where Jeong Ha Cheol Has Been Imprisoned?”, Daily NK, December 14, 2005
  5. ↑ Article "North Korea's Hard Labor Camps" with Interactive Map, Washington Post, July 20, 2009
  6. ^ The Hidden Gulag: Kwan-li-so Political Panel Labor Colonies (section: Testimony Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang) (pp. 70-76). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on December 9, 2010 .
  7. ↑ Article “N Korean officer saw 'Westerners' at prison camp,” ABC News, Oct. 23, 2003
  8. ↑ Kim Hye-sook: 'I saw prisoners turned to honeycomb by the bullets'. The Independent, accessed July 29, 2011 .
  9. ↑ The Hidden Gulag - Satellite imagery: Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang 4th and 5th Divisions (page 219). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
  10. ^ Subcommittee on International Human Rights, 40th Parliament, 3rd session, February 1, 2011: Testimony of Ms. Hye Sook Kim (section 1315). Parliament of Canada, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  11. ↑ The Hidden Gulag - Satellite imagery: Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang 4th and 5th Divisions (page 220). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Kim Hye-sook: 'I saw prisoners turned to honeycomb by the bullets'. The Independent, accessed July 29, 2011 .
  13. ^ Subcommittee on International Human Rights, 40th Parliament, 3rd session, February 1, 2011: Testimony of Ms. Hye Sook Kim (section 1320). Parliament of Canada, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  14. ↑ Life & Human Rights in North Korea, Vol. 60; Witness Account: Twenty-eight Years of My life in Political Prisoner Camp (Gwalliso) No. 18 (page 30). Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  15. ^ The Hidden Gulag: Kwan-li-so Political Panel Labor Colonies (section: Testimony Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang) (pp. 70-76). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
  16. ↑ Escaping North Korea's prison (radio interview with Kim Hye-sook, 30th June 2011) (approx. 0:30). BBC News, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  17. ↑ Life & Human Rights in North Korea, Vol. 60; Witness Account: Twenty-eight Years of My life in Political Prisoner Camp (Gwalliso) No. 18 (page 30). Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  18. ↑ Life & Human Rights in North Korea, Vol. 60; Witness Account: Twenty-eight Years of My life in Political Prisoner Camp (Gwalliso) No. 18 (page 29). Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  19. ^ Subcommittee on International Human Rights, 40th Parliament, 3rd session, February 1, 2011: Testimony of Ms. Hye Sook Kim (section 1315). Parliament of Canada, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  20. ↑ Escaping North Korea's prison (radio interview with Kim Hye-sook, 30th June 2011) (approx. 1:15). BBC News, accessed August 22, 2011 .
  21. ↑ The Hidden Gulag: Kwan-li-so Political Panel Labor Colonies (section: Testimony Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang) (page 76). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
  22. ^ Freedom from Morbid Concentration Camp - and then Gloomy Fate. Daily NK , accessed August 2, 2011 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 32 ′ 46.2 "  N , 126 ° 3 ′ 47.6"  E