North Korean authorities plan to carry out a special pardon of reeducation camp (gyowhaso) prisoners on Sept. 9, which marks the 75th anniversary of the regime’s founding, Daily NK has learned.
“In early January, provincial reeducation camp bureaus received Ministry of State Security plans following a decision made [about the amnesty] during the Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee last December,” a reporting partner in North Korea told Daily NK last Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to North Korea’s regulations for reeducation camps, special pardons can be granted only on the fifth and 10th anniversaries of the country’s four major holidays: the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the anniversary of the founding of the DPRK (Sept. 9) and Party Foundation Day (Oct. 10).
“Sometimes sentences are shortened through government orders in years when there are no such holidays,” the reporting partner added.
He further told Daily NK that it remains unknown how many people will be pardoned for the Sept. 9 holiday.
“Sentences will be shortened by six months to three years,” the reporting partner said, emphasizing that the focus will be more on shortening sentences than pardoning inmates.
During special pardons, the authorities generally shorten sentences of inmates to a greater degree than during ordinary sentence reductions. During 10th anniversary pardons, sentences are shortened by up to five years; fifth anniversary pardons, meanwhile, are shortened by up to two or three years. However, regulations stipulate that a sentence reduction should not exceed half of an inmate’s existing sentence, the reporting partner explained.
NO PARDONS FOR POLITICAL PRISON CAMP INMATES
Inmates at political prison camps were included in last year’s special pardon, but they are not included this year, the reporting partner said.
Many inmates at the Ministry of Social Security’s political prison camps and reeducation camps received special pardons last year for the 110th birthday of Kim Il Sung and 80th birthday of Kim Jong Il.
According to the reporting partner, people incarcerated for violating the DPRK Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture (the “anti-reactionary thought law”), illegally using foreign-made mobile phones, and involvement in human trafficking will be excluded from the special pardon. In short, people who committed crimes considered directly related to eroding people’s loyalty to the regime appear to have been excluded from the special pardon.
Meanwhile, inmates who have been model prisoners in their rehabilitation and disciplinary tasks in the camps will be eligible for pardons.
“People who received special pardons last year for the 110th birthday of Kim Il Sung and 80th birthday of Kim Jong Il will be excluded, as will be criminals who committed murder, burglary, narcotics crimes, violations of the anti-reactionary thought law, or violated laws against using or concealing foreign-made mobile phones,” he said.
Based on the reporting partner’s report, North Korea appears intent to keep violators of the anti-reactionary thought law and users of foreign-made mobile phones separated from society. This may be due to the fact that the authorities are working hard to stop the spread of capitalist culture and the leakage of information about North Korea’s domestic situation.
North Korean authorities likely excluded drug criminals from the pardon because the authorities designate drug crimes as an anti-state crime. Likewise, human traffickers were probably excluded because the authorities believe they bring international shame upon the country.
The reporting partner said that the families of some inmates who have learned of the upcoming pardon are looking forward to it.
“The families are happy because they hope their relatives will be released sooner than they had expected,” he said. “Families are unhappy during years when the government conducts only a few pardons or reductions in sentences.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
