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Torture, humiliation, forced confessions and starvation appear to be “core features” of North Korea’s pre-trial detention system, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday, citing testimony from former officials and detainees in the country since Kim. Jong Un. took power in 2011.
HRW’s 88-page report adds to documentation of widespread rights abuses in North Korea’s opaque criminal justice system by United Nations investigators, who in 2014 said the country’s Supreme Leader Kim , and his security chiefs should face justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings that were comparable to the atrocities of the Nazi era.
The report was based on interviews with eight former government officials and 22 former detainees, one of whom told the US-based group that detainees were treated as if they were “worth less than an animal” and “that’s what you end up becoming. “.
“North Korea’s investigation and pretrial detention system is arbitrary, violent, cruel and degrading,” said Brad Adams, HRW Asia Director.
“North Koreans say they live in constant fear of being trapped in a system where official procedures are generally irrelevant, guilt is presumed and the only way out is through bribery and connections,” he said.
All detainees interviewed for the report told HRW that they were forced to sit on the ground, kneeling or cross-legged, with their fists or hands in their laps, with their heads down and their gaze directed at the ground, during seven to eight hours a day. day or in some cases 13-16 hours. If a prisoner moved, the guards punished her or ordered a collective punishment for all detainees.
A former soldier who was arrested multiple times for smuggling and trying to escape to South Korea said the punishments for moving included beatings, push-ups and sit-ups.
“Some guards forced us to put our faces between the bars or stick our fingers in the bars with a stick or a pistol,” he added. “If they were really upset, they would enter the cell and beat us. This happened every day, if not in our cell in the others, we could listen to it, it was to maintain the tension … There were moments when I was on the point of giving up life.
‘Extreme pain’
Another woman said guards forced detainees to stand and squat, up to 1,000 times, if they fell asleep while being ordered to sit immobilized.
“You think there are too many and you can’t do it, but if they force you, you can. The body is in extreme pain and you think you are going to die, but you do, ”he said.
The woman, a former merchant in her 50s, said an investigator raped her, while another police officer sexually assaulted her during interrogation.
All those interviewed for the report said the abuses were especially harsh in the early stages of pre-trial interrogation and interrogation facilities.
“Regulations say there should be no beatings, but we need confessions during the investigation and the early stages of the preliminary examination,” said a former North Korean police officer.
“Then you have to beat them to get the confession. [One] you can hit them with a pine stick or kick them with your boot ”.
A man who was arrested four times for smuggling told HRW: “They beat me so much that all I could do was say I was wrong.”
The man, identified as Kim Keum Chul, also described how being able to bribe officials improved his treatment, including how his father gave a pig to the police investigator to conclude the case with a sentence of just three months at a facility. detention of forced labor. .
All the people interviewed for the report said that inmates were not allowed to look at the faces of guards or investigators, while some said they had to refer to themselves by their assigned number instead of their name. This is because the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea views the detainees as inferior human beings, four former officials told HRW.
The former detainees also informed HRW about unsanitary and unsanitary conditions, including too little food, overcrowded cells, few opportunities to bathe, and a lack of blankets, soap and menstrual hygiene items.
“The beatings, humiliation and uncertainty were terrible, but the worst thing for me was the hunger,” said one man. “Especially during the beginning of the interrogation. They starve you and you lose your mind, you simply exist, you become an animal and you are no longer rational. “
Meanwhile, another former police officer described the smell from the detention center where he had worked as “unbearable”.
“The smell was so strong that some found it difficult to sleep,” he said. “I had to change my clothes every time I left the station, because people complained a lot [about the smell of my uniform]. “
HRW said the North Korean government should end torture and degrading treatment in detention centers and before trial, and ensure basic standards of hygiene, medical care, nutrition, clean water, clothing, space in the floor, light and heat.
“The North Korean authorities should bring the system out of the dark ages by requesting international assistance to create a professional police force and investigation system that relies on evidence rather than torture to solve crimes,” Adams said.
North Korea’s ambassador to the UN had previously told the global body’s Human Rights Council to “mind your own business” when faced with criticism for rights abuses.
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