January 24-June 21, 2002: tens of thousands of political...

January 24-June 21, 2002: tens of thousands of political prisoners face starvation, torture and summary execution in prison camps in North Korea, according to the testimony of a prisoner to a US Senate inquiry.
In a detailed, frequently harrowing first-hand description of conditions inside Kaechon camp and other detention centres run by North Korea's communist regime, Soon Ok Lee has told the inquiry of apparent biological and chemical weapons experiments on prisoners.
Ms Soon told Congress that prison inmates were frequently tortured with electricity and water and were used as targets when guards practised martial arts skills.
There were also frequent public executions at Kaechon of "anti-party elements" and "reactionaries". It was not unusual for prisoners to be driven to suicide.
She said secret executions were also carried out using a small compression chamber. Prisoners were forced inside and then the temperature was adjusted to produce lethal extremes of heat or cold. Such executions happened "at midnight, without trial, and [they] bury the corpses in a nearby valley".
Ms Soon said that the estimated 6,000 prisoners in the jail when she was first incarcerated had nearly all died by the time of her release five years later.
"About 1,000 prisoners died each year and a fresh supply was obtained each year in order to meet the quotas."