People convicted of crimes related to watching or distributing illegal visual content accounted for the largest percentage of inmates at North Korean forced labor camps last year, Daily NK has learned.
According to a comprehensive report on the offenses committed by forced labor camp inmates distributed to the country’s bureau of corrections last year, the most common offenses were related to “impure videos,” a reporting partner in North Korea told Daily NK last Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This suggests that many people were sent to the camps for violating the DPRK Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture, which was implemented by the Supreme People’s Assembly in late 2020.
Article 27 of the law calls for sentences of five to 15 years of correctional labor against people caught watching, listening or possessing “films, recordings, publications, books, songs, drawings or photos from South Korea,” and life sentences of correctional labor or death for individuals who import and distribute such materials.
“In the past, people who were caught distributing foreign videos were unconditionally sent to political prison camps, but nowadays, it they don’t seem able to send all of them to political prison camps because there are so many students and young people [watching and distributing illegal visual content],” the reporting partner said.
The report suggests that despite severe punishments, there has been no reduction in the number of violations of the law, with students and young people partial to foreign culture accounting for many of the violators.
The reporting partner said people caught using mobile phones for smuggling also accounted for many of the prisoners, as well as burglars, murderers and drug criminals.
“Perhaps because of the border closure, the number of inmates in for human trafficking was half that of 2021,” he said.
Forced labor camp inmates reportedly receive no medical or legal assistance.
“In North Korea, when you’re being tried, your lawyer either takes the prosecutor’s side or just sits next to the defendant without saying a word,” said the reporting partner.
“Lawyers here are all mutes during trials. If you’re breathing, you’re sent to forced labor camps, unless you’re a pregnant woman or about to give birth,” he continued, adding, “since you don’t even get help from lawyers in this country, it goes without saying that you don’t receive medical care.”
The reporting partner said violations of human rights continue inside the camps, including beatings.
“Inmates continue to be sexually assaulted and beaten,” he said. “There are many prison camp guards that never share their addresses or family situation with inmates because there are many cases of ex-cons seeking revenge after they are released, perhaps because of the abuses.”
However, the reporting partner added that some ex-inmates visit their former guards to express appreciation about their treatment during incarceration.
North Korea currently operates 11 forced labor camps in Chongo-ri, Kaechon, Kangdong and elsewhere.
Except for the camp in Sariwon, which is a showcase for the international community, the camps reportedly hold between 2,500 and 4,000 prisoners, with the nation’s total prison population at around 40,000 people.
Besides the forced labor camps where people sentenced to “reeducation through labor” are sent, there are plenty of other incarceration facilities, including detention centers, collection centers, labor bridges and political prison camps.
There are reportedly about 200,000 people in political prison camps, though North Korea denies they even exist.
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.
