The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
E. Human Rights Violations Inside Collection Centers
II. The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
and run just like other inmates.192
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- A defector testified that on October 10, 2005, four drunken detainees at the same center beat up another detainee who was from Kangwon Province. The man ultimately died from the beating.195
- A defector testified that when she was detained in Chongjin “Collection Center” in November 2003 she saw an agent beat up a mother simply because her baby was crying aloud.196
- A defector testified that when she was detained in Shinuiju
“Collection Center” in 2005 she saw the agents force inmates to beat a woman who was caught while trying to flee. In the end, she died. The agents would force the inmates to walk in a single file on their way to the mess hall. The inmates were ordered to strike an inmate who had violated some internal rules. If an inmate failed to strike the guilty party, the agents would not provide meals for that inmate.197
- Defector XXX testified that when he was detained in the Nongpo Collection Center in Chungjin in December 2006 an 18-year-old girl died. If an inmate died in the camp, the responsible party would be penalized. So they performed an autopsy on her body. The autopsy concluded that the girl had died of diarrhea.198
Many defectors have testified on the reality of human rights abuses, including sexual harassment, forced abortions on pregnant women, and other cases of abuse.
- A defector reported that in mid-June 2002 she was detained
195_ Ibid.
196_ NKHR2008000025 2008-11-20.
197_ NKHR2008000011 2008-08-12.
198_ NKHR2008000019 2008-09-16.
II. The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
in Shinuiju Collection Center. A People’s Security agent conducted interrogation at his office. The agent demanded to know the reasons for her border crossing, whether she
“lived” with a Chinese man while in China, why she gave birth to a child, and so forth. During the interrogation, he told her to kneel, and then he stepped on her feet and knees.199
- On May 15, 2005, a defector was being detained at the provincial collection center in Chongjin City. It was reported that a female inmate died from malnutrition and physical abuse. In June 2005, a detainee who was being held there on charges of illegally crossing the border said that a security guard at the center had struck her head with the blade of a hoe.200
- A defector testified that when she was detained in the Provincial Collection Center in Chongjin in April 2007 there was a 22-year-old pregnant woman named XXX from Hwanghae Province. She said she had heard that they were taking her to the hospital for abortion.201
- Defector XXX testified that when she was held in Nongpo Collection Center in Chongjin in 2005 she had heard from the inmates from Shinjuiju that six pregnant women had been sent to the hospital for abortion. She further testified that one of those who looked after the inmates after abortion was currently living in South Korea.202 - Defector XXX testified that when she was in Chongjin
Collection Center she saw the agents force several pregnant
199_ Testimony of defector XXX during an interview in Seoul on Mar. 17, 2007.
200_ Testimony of defector XXX during an interview in Seoul on Mar. 10, 2007.
201_ NKHR2008000004 2008-07-17.
202_ NKHR2008000019 2008-09-16.
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women from Hweryong to carry cement blocks and run up to the top of a construction site. This was done to induce abortions. She said she was also pregnant but her baby was not aborted. If the agents took a pregnant woman to the hospital for abortion, the collection center would be responsible for the costs.203
- Defector XXX testified that the chief of Chong jin Collection Center was a close friend of his, so he used to see him frequently. He saw forced labor at cement factories and cement block factories, as well as collecting firewood from the hills. He also said he saw female inmates continue to work during their monthly periods.204
- A defector testified that she saw agents force pregnant women to run up a hill and haul timber downhill. A pregnant woman died as a result.205
- A defector testified that she was detained at the Nongpo Collection Point in 2009. Prior to this detention, she was three months pregnant, but the baby was aborted during the interrogation at Musan Security Agency.206
The detainees held at the collection centers suffer from chronic malnutrition and abuse, just like inmates held in other detention facilities. Some simply collapse and die due to physical exhaustion. A defector testified that one inmate was suffering from tuberculosis. The agents knew this well, but they did not care for the patient. When the inmate died, they took the corpse to
203_ Ibid.
204_ NKHR2008000007 2008-07-30.
205_ NKHR2008000019 2009-09-16.
206_ NKHR2009000075 2009-12-04.
II. The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
the hospital and made it look like she had died there.207 Another defector testified that a 40- or 50-year-old man from Pyongyang, known to him as a person of rank, repeatedly protested at the Provincial Collection Point and died from constant beatings and excessive bleeding.208
People from the inner provinces like Pyongan, Hwanghae, and Kangwon have more difficulty trying to cross the border; and after being forcibly deported from China back to North Korea, they normally suffer more ordeal and a longer period of detention.
Without doubt, the right to life of the detainees in these centers is seriously being breached.209
- In November 2004, while being detained at the Chongjin Provincial Collection Center, a defector personally saw another detainee (about 43 years of age) from Hyesan City, Yangkang Province, die of starvation.210
- A defector testified that she frequently visited Chongjin Provincial Collection Center in July 2003 because her younger sister was detained there. She said she saw a female corpse covered with sheets.211
- Defector XXX testified that when she was detained in Chong jin Provincial Collection Point in April 2007, she had heard that three female inmates had died from contagious diseases.212
207_ NKHR2009000032 2009-05-19.
208_ NKHR2009000047 2009-07-30.
209_ Good Friends, “North Korea Today,” No. 11 (Dec. 12, 2005).
210_ Testimony of defector XXX during an interview in Seoul on Mar. 17, 2007.
211_ NKHR2008000007 2008-07-30.
212_ NKHR2008000004 2008-07-17.
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