Guards at North Korea’s political prison camps face no punishments even if they poorly treat the prisoners under their care, Daily NK has learned.
“Soldiers managing political prison camps are involved in the guarding of prisoners, production activities on the part of prisoners, and overall management of the facilities, and receive specialized training in their respective fields,” a reporting partner in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “Their training programs are united by the fact that they are told not to think of prisoners as people or human beings.”
He said guards continue to be trained to “treat prisoners as sworn enemies and class enemies” and to “mercilessly shoot dead prisoners on-the-spot if they can cause potentially unmanageable problems and to just report [the shooting of the inmate] later.”
This kind of training, however, cultivates guards who have little sense of human rights and encourages abuse against prisoners.
Inmates not counted as people
In North Korea’s political prison camps, inmates are not counted as “people” or called by their names. Instead, they are counted as “things” like items or animals, and called by their numbers or nicknames, the reporting partner said.
“Guards receive psychological and ideological training to think of prisoners as a group of things that must never be treated with emotion. The goal is to instill in guards the idea that the last days of people who betray the Workers’ Party, fatherland and revolution should be as painful as possible.
“The training is also aimed at making guards self-aware that as fortresses and shields protecting the security of the Workers’ Party and Supreme Leader, they are holy revolutionary warriors who manage the most dangerous individuals and stand at the most dangerous front lines of the war against reactionaries. In short, the training instills in the guards the idea that they must eradicate threats when they emerge.”
In fact, guards in North Korea’s political prison camps are not held responsible for exacting violence upon prisoners. On the contrary, guards who oppress, torture or abuse prisoners are praised for their revolutionary posture.
Guards who are nice to prisoners are sacked
North Korean authorities immediately remove guards who show sympathy for prisoners, according to the reporting partner.
“The guards have created a frightening system of mutual surveillance and reporting. If there are guards who feel sorry for treating the prisoners in a sub-human way, they are mercilessly punished, replaced and never allowed to wear the uniform of a security officer again.
“As for guards who are transferred elsewhere after serving in the political prison camps, other people can still tell where they worked even if they keep it a secret. The nasty speech, actions and personalities and vulgar character they reveal make it all too clear where they had worked.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea and China. 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.
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