Kwan-li-so

Korean spelling
Korean alphabet :	관리소
Hanja :	管理所
Revised Romanization :	Gwalliso
McCune-Reischauer :	Kwalliso

The Korean term Kwan-li-so (also Kwanliso, Gwalliso or Kwalliso ; written in Hangul (in the Korean alphabet ) 관리소) stands for internment camps for the permanent placement of political prisoners in North Korea . They are to be distinguished from the re-education camps known as Kyo-hwa-so , in which apolitical prisoners are also held, and represent one aspect of the human rights situation in North Korea .

General

The Kwan-li-so, in which people accused of political offenses or politically unreliable people are interned, are operated by the State Security Ministry. The principle of kin liability applies to political prisoners . They are picked up together with their parents, children and siblings, sometimes even grandparents and grandchildren, without trial or conviction, and deported to the penal camps, where they usually remain interned for the rest of their lives.

The penal camps are located in the center and northeast of North Korea. They consist of numerous penal colonies in remote and isolated mountain valleys. The total number of prisoners is estimated at around 200,000. The internment camps Yodŏk and Pukch'ang are divided into two areas: In one part live the political prisoners who have been interned for life , in another part, similar to the re-education camps , prisoners sentenced to long prison terms live in the hope of possible release.

Human rights violations

In the Kwan-li-so, human rights are massively violated . Forced labor is imposed on the prisoners , mostly by simple means in mines or agriculture . Malnutrition, workload and a lack of medical care lead to the death of many prisoners. In addition, many show mutilations caused by accidents at work , frostbite or torture . Inside the camp there is a of arbitrariness embossed punishment system . This is made possible not least by the fact that the inmates of the camps are no longer listed as registered citizens, according to the information provided by a former guard. Working too slowly and disobedience are usually punished with mistreatment and torture, theft , including of food , or attempts to escape with public executions .

Data

Pukch'ang

Ch'ŏngjin

Haengyŏng

Hwasŏng

Kaech'ŏn

Yodŏk

Detention Center in North Korea

Abandoned and merged warehouses

Originally more than twelve penal camps, some were merged or closed, including the Onsŏng internment camp , Kwan-li-so No. 12, after a suppressed uprising that killed around 5,000 people in 1987.

Recent situation

Around 2009 there were probably six penal camps in North Korea (size determined on the basis of satellite images , number of prisoners estimated from former prisoners). The conditions in some camps have been documented through testimony from former prisoners.

List of known Kwan-li-so

Missing numbers result from the merger or closure of individual warehouses.

Penal camp	province	Official name	size	Prisoners	Remarks
Kaech'ŏn	P'yŏngan-namdo	Kwan-li-so No. 14	155 km²	15000	not identical to the Kae'chŏn re-education camp
Yodŏk	Hamgyŏng-namdo	Kwan-li-so No. 15	378 km²	46500
Hwasŏng	Hamgyŏng-pukto	Kwan-li-so No. 16	549 km²	10,000	located at P'unggye-ri nuclear weapons test site
Pukch'ang	P'yŏngan-namdo	Kwan-li-so No. 18	73 km²	50000
Haengyŏng	Hamgyŏng-pukto	Kwan-li-so No. 22	225 km²	50000	not identical to Haengyŏng Re-education Camp
Ch'ŏngjin	Hamgyŏng-pukto	Kwan-li-so No. 25	0.25 km²	> 3000

According to a 2013 report by Amnesty International , internment camp expansion continued under Kim Jong-un's government .

Reports from prisoners

A former inmate of Yodŏk No. 15 Penal Camp is South Korean journalist Kang Chol-hwan , who wrote a book about his time in the camp. The fate of a prisoner who fled from prison camp No. 14 Kaech'ŏn , Shin Dong-hyuk , is also the subject of a book that was also made into a film .

literature

Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today . Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), 2011, ISBN 978-89-93739-16-9 (English, digitized version ( Memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.6 MB ] comprehensive analysis of the camps for political prisoners with detailed testimony).

Web links

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (PDF; 5.5 MB) - Summary of the North Korean internment camps with satellite images (English)

Amnesty International: North Korea: Political Prison Camps (PDF; 93 kB) - Living conditions (torture, executions, hunger, child labor, forced labor) in the North Korean camps (English)

Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Word; 3.9 MB) - Report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights and Internment Camps in North Korea

Sophie Mühlmann: The starved living corpses of North Korea , Die Welt , February 18, 2014

North Korea's Gulags , northkoreanow.org, undated, accessed February 16, 2014

Mike Chinoy: Grim fate for N. Korean prisoners , CNN , October 31, 2003

Individual evidence

^ Pierre Rigoulot: Crime and Terror in North Korea. In: igfm.de. 1998, archived from the original on April 27, 2008 ; accessed on April 21, 2019 . (Section: Prisons and Camps )
↑ Exiled to Hell . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 1995 ( online - 19 June 1995 ).
↑ http://www.n-tv.de/politik/Nordkorea-baut-Straflager-aus-article3246406.html
^ Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (PDF; 3.5 MB) In: documents-dds-ny.un.org. UN Human Rights Council, February 7, 2014, p. 233 , accessed on August 29, 2019 .
↑ The Hidden Gulag - Part Five: Summary of Torture and Infanticide Information, pp. 148-154. (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
↑ 5000 Prisoners Massacred at Onsong Concentration Camp in 1987. Chosun Ilbo in the Internet Archive , December 11, 2002, archived from the original on October 17, 2007 ; accessed on September 21, 2011 .
↑ Article "North Korea's Hard Labor Camps" with Interactive Map, Washington Post, July 20, 2009
^ The Hidden Gulag - Part Two: The Kwan-li-so Political Penal Labor Colonies (pp. 25-82). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .
↑ North Korea - New satellite images show that penal camps are being expanded. In: amnesty.ch. December 2013, accessed November 4, 2019 .
↑ Article “Ten Years in Hell”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 24, 2003

[1] Pierre Rigoulot: Crime and Terror in North Korea. In: igfm.de. 1998, archived from the original on April 27, 2008 ; accessed on April 21, 2019 . (Section: Prisons and Camps )

[2] Exiled to Hell . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 1995 ( online - 19 June 1995 ).

[3] ttp://www.n-tv.de/politik/Nordkorea-baut-Straflager-aus-article3246406.html

[4] Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (PDF; 3.5 MB) In: documents-dds-ny.un.org. UN Human Rights Council, February 7, 2014, p. 233 , accessed on August 29, 2019 .

[5] The Hidden Gulag - Part Five: Summary of Torture and Infanticide Information, pp. 148-154. (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .

[6] 5000 Prisoners Massacred at Onsong Concentration Camp in 1987. Chosun Ilbo in the Internet Archive , December 11, 2002, archived from the original on October 17, 2007 ; accessed on September 21, 2011 .

[7] Article "North Korea's Hard Labor Camps" with Interactive Map, Washington Post, July 20, 2009

[8] The Hidden Gulag - Part Two: The Kwan-li-so Political Penal Labor Colonies (pp. 25-82). (PDF; 5.5 MB) The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, accessed on September 21, 2012 .

[9] North Korea - New satellite images show that penal camps are being expanded. In: amnesty.ch. December 2013, accessed November 4, 2019 .

[10] Article “Ten Years in Hell”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 24, 2003