The Hidden Gulag Second Edition the Lives and Voices of “Those Who Are Sent to the Mountains”
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The Hidden Gulag Second Edition The Lives and Voices of “Those Who are Sent to the Mountains” Exposing North Korea’s Vast System of Lawless Imprisonment David Hawk H R N K A Report by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1 The Hidden Gulag Second Edition Copyright © 2012 by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 0615623670 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939299 The Hidden Gulag Second Edition The Lives and Voices of “Those Who are Sent to the Mountains” Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 435 Washington, DC 20036 The Hidden Gulag Second Edition ABOUT THE COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA In October of 2001, a distinguished group of foreign policy and human rights specialists launched the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) to promote human rights in that country. HRNK seeks to raise awareness and to publish well-documented research that focuses international attention on North Korean human rights conditions, which have been so closed off from the rest of the world. The Committee’s studies have established its reputation and leading role in the growing interna- tional network of organizations committed to opening up and promoting reform and transition in North Korea. The Committee’s reports have addressed many of the fundamental human rights issues in North Korea. Its 2003 report, “The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps” (by David Hawk), was the first comprehensive study of the camps. Other reports published by the Committee have included: • “Hunger and Human Rights: The Politics of Famine in North Korea” (by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, 2005) • “The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response” (by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, 2006) • “Failure to Protect: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in North Korea” (published with DLA Piper LLP, 2006) • “Legal Strategies for Protecting Human Rights in North Korea” (published with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Florn LLP, 2007) • “Failure to Protect: The Ongoing Challenge of North Korea (published with DLA Piper LLP, 2008) • “Lives for Sale: Personal Accounts of Women Fleeing North Korea to China” (by Lee Hae- young, 2009) • “After Kim Jong-il: Can We Hope for Better Human Rights Protection?” (by Kim Kwang-jin, 2009) • “Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries” (by Yoshi Yama- moto, 2011) • “North Korea after Kim Jong-il: Can We Hope for Better Human Rights Protection?” (by Kim Kwang-jin, 2011) The Committee is currently finalizing reports on: “Songbun,” North Korea’s social classification system, which is at the root of human rights violations in North Korea; the structure and operation of North Korea’s public security agencies, which shows the system of political repression employed by North Korea; and the restrictions on information circulation inside North Korea. I BOARD OF DIRECTORS (affiliations provided solely for identification) Roberta Cohen Co-Chair Paula Dobriansky Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Senior Fellow, Belfer Center, John F. Kennedy Institution, specializing in humanitarian and School of Government, Harvard University human rights issues Nicholas Eberstadt Andrew Natsios Co-Chair Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, Former Administrator, USAID American Enterprise Institute Professor, Georgetown University Carl Gershman Suzanne Scholte Vice-Co-Chair President, National Endowment for Democracy President, Defense Forum Foundation Steven Kahng Seoul Peace Prize Laureate General Partner, 4C Ventures, Inc. Gordon Flake Vice-Co-Chair David Kim Executive Director, Mike and Maureen Mans- Coordinator, The Asia Foundation field Foundation Thai Lee Helen-Louise Hunter Secretary President, SHI International Inc. Attorney Debra Liang-Fenton John Despres Treasurer U.S. Institute of Peace Consultant on International Financial & Former Executive Director, HRNK Strategic Affairs Greg Scarlatoiu Winston Lord Former Assistant Secretary for East Asia, Executive Director, HRNK Department of State Morton Abramowitz Marcus Noland Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Peterson Jerome Cohen Institute for International Economics Of Counsel (Retired Partner), Paul, Weiss, Jacqueline Pak Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Fellow, East Asia Program, Cornell University Lisa Colacurcio Katrina Lantos Swett Advisor, Impact Investments President and CEO, Lantos Foundation for Rabbi Abraham Cooper Human Rights and Justice Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center, LA Richard Williamson Jack David Principal, Salisbury Strategies Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute II The Hidden Gulag Second Edition TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................................................................VII-XII About the Author ..........................................................................................................................1 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................2 Preface .........................................................................................................................................4 Map .............................................................................................................................................6 Part One: Introduction .......................................................................................................7 Not in a Vacuum ...................................................................................................................10 The Second Edition of Hidden Gulag ....................................................................................11 Notes on Research, Limits of Information, Sources, Translations, and Transliterations .....................................................................................................................13 Organization of the Report ....................................................................................................18 Scope of Information: Documenting the Hidden Gulag ..........................................................18 Glossary of Repression ..........................................................................................................22 Part Two: The Kwan-li-so Political Penal Labor Colonies ...................................25 The Prisoners: Who They Are ................................................................................................25 Overview of the Prison Labor Camp System ..........................................................................27 Guilt by Association ........................................................................................................29 Forced Disappearances and Incommunicado Detention without Trial .................................29 Systemic and Severe Mistreatment ...................................................................................30 Induced Malnutrition, Slave Labor and High Rates of Deaths in Detention ..........................31 Prisoner Informants and Intra-Prisoner Surveillance and Hostility .....................................33 Execution and Extreme Punishments ...............................................................................33 Sexual Relations, “Marriage,” and Prison Camp Schools ..................................................34 The Sexual Exploitation of Women ..................................................................................34 Prisoner Releases .............................................................................................................34 The Economic Role of the Forced Labor Camps ...............................................................35 The Absence of Due Process: Arbitrary and Extra-Judicial Detention................................36 Successive Waves of Political Imprisonment: A Historical Overview........................................37 How Do We Know: A Brief Historical Recounting .................................................................41 Scholary Insights..............................................................................................................42 Early Non-Governmental Organization Documentation ...................................................42 Prisoners’ Memoirs and Testimonies.................................................................................44 The First Satellite Photographs of the Prison Camps .........................................................44 Hidden Gulag (first edition) ..............................................................................................48 Google Earth: Mapping the Fences.........................................................................................48 Contemporary Witnesses and Testimony ................................................................................48 Kwan-li-so No. 14 ..............................................................................................................48 Mr. Shin Dong-hyuk ..................................................................................................49 Mr. Kim Yong ............................................................................................................51 Kwan-li-so No.15 ..............................................................................................................53