Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your freedoms taken away? To not be able to say what you think, or do what you want. Well, believe it or not in the country of North Korea there are people that experience those kinds of limits every day along with the cruelty of being starved, beaten, and worked to death. These harsh conditions are found within prison camps that were set up by previous leaders Kim Ill Sung, and Kim Jong Ill after the Korean War. These camps were originally created to capture political traitors along with scare North Korean people into being fully committed to the regime. Today, the current leader Kim Jong-Un has still continued the prison camps and has taken it to the extreme of capturing any North Korean …show more content…
that tries to cross the border, along with people who have done small misdemeanors as crimes. Through numerous firsthand accounts we are able to discover how terrifying life is to be a North Korean. For instance, in a special report from the Huffington Post a women named Kim Young told her story of what she experienced during her nine years in one of the prison camps.
The reason she ended up in such a cruel place was simply because she was friends with the women who was allegedly having an affair with the leader at the time Kim Jong Ill (Meredith). That not only forced her to be put to such cruel punishment but also her close family, because in North Korea they have a strong ‘guilt by association’ policy which means the family of the accused gets punished along with the person who committed the crime. She was put in the camp of Yodok and witnessed many horrifying things including people eating rats that they found crawling around the camp, along with people eating the corpses of younger children that died of hunger. There were also many other cruel things that happened such as rape, and abortion because the pregnant women did not want their children to be born in such harsh …show more content…
conditions. Along with being a prisoner kept in one of these camps, there were also guards who wanted to escape so that they would not have to continue to inflict such pain on human beings. For example, in a report from the Mirror they sat down and interviewed a previous guard named Mr. Lee. This was not his real name, but for the protection of his family who still lived in North Korea it was to remain confidential. He explained how he witnessed murder numerous times, and how the dead body was just simply thrown down into a hole to rest on top of the other bodies. Mr. Lee explained how it was like seeing skeletons walking around doing the labor because “Their bones would show through their skin and their clothes would hang off them. Prisoners were all isolated” (Mudie). He continued on by saying that many starved to death, and being beaten was an everyday thing. He hopes that his story will help eventually change things in North Korea. Luckily, with the survivors of North Korea being able to share the experiences that they had within the camps there has been a group able to form called the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights.
This commission is focused on trying to save the humanity of the North Korean people. Before the abuse of human rights came up within North Korea, international attention was focused on trying to stop the nuclear weapons that were being developed there. Now, after hearing these firsthand accounts and seeing satellite imagery of the amount of land that these camps take up, the attention has shifted. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights has tried to get the North Korean government to agree to have them come in and investigate, but they are holding back. Although there are efforts being made from the outside world, nothing can actually be accomplished unless North Korea takes
action. Along with many of the accounts that have been recorded, there have also been books published pertaining to North Korea and their government. The one novel in particular is Jia which we read and discussed throughout numerous classes. In the novel, there are several parts where the topic of prison camps come up. For example, in the beginning it brings up how Jia’s father uses his freedom of speech and criticizes the University he is working at, and because of that gets sent away to a prison camp. Even worse, with North Korea’s guilt by association policy his wife, daughter, and parents are all sent to a political offender’s village which is where Jia is born and raised. Likewise, later in Jia’s life she has to see her good friend Sunyoung be taken away to a camp for getting blackmailed. Along with that, she listens to the painful story of what a little boy named Sangwon has to go through when he is sent to one of the camps for crossing the border from North Korea to China. Not specifically focusing on the prison camps, there are also details about what people living on the streets have to go through including selling their bodies to support their families, and doing dangerous stunts so that they can impress the people who have food. All of these situations are different examples of the cruelty that North Koreans have to face simply because their leader reassures them that starvation and punishment is happening all over the world.
Shin Dong-hyuk was born in a labor camp, more specifically known as Camp 14. In this camp, Shin was considered to be living “below the law” (3) because of his father’s brother’s crimes. In this camp, Shin went through things many people couldn’t even fathom. He survived on his own. His mother would beat him, his father ignored him, and he trusted no one. “Before he learned anything else, Shin learned to survive by snitching on all of them.” (3). In this camp, the word “family” did not exist. All of this sounds horrific to many people living outside of North Korea, but that’s just the beginning of it. His life became increasingly worse when his mother and brother made the decision to try and escape the camp. On April 5, 1996, Shins older brother, He Guen, came home. As He Guen was talking to Shin’s mother, he overheard that “his brother was in trouble a...
Shin Dong-Hyuk was born a prisoner in Camp 14, a long established North Korean labor camp. The author, a writer who has set up a series of interviews with Shin to reveal his life story and his incredible status as the only person born in a North Korean labor camp to escape. He grew up learning to snitch on his friends and family would earn him food in an environment where almost everyone was always starving. His parents were chosen because of their “good behavior” in the camp to get married and have children; they could only see each other five days per year. Common camp activities included: executions for those who tried to escape, beatings for anyone caught stealing food or misbehaving, and prisoners disappearing if they tried to speak out against the leaders of the camp. Shin learned quickly to keep his head down, food being his only motivation, if he was going to survive this living hell.
...Report 2013: North Korea." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 May 2014. .
It was 1864 when Horatio Kirkland Foote was taken to a prison camp. Horatio was taken to Andersonville which is located in south-west Georgia where within the 14 months that the prison was open over 45,000 other people were taken as well. Andersonville was the largest prison camp out of more than 150 recorded camps between both sides. When Horatio was at Andersonville, the conditions were vile along with all prison camps of the Civil War. If you were in one of the prisons you could expect to be deprived of clothing, nutrition, and stable living conditions. It is said that Horatio ''bunked'' (they were got actually given rooms or romates but Horatio shared blankets so they would stay warm better) with three others. As was said earlier living conditions were unstable Horatio and his three ''roommates'' were using few blankets to make a haven for the duration that they were together. Later Horatio was sent on a train from Andersonville to Charleston which is located in South Carolina. When they first arrived he was so debilitated that he was barley able to stand on his own due to an illness he acquired on the train. Fortunately unlike many others, Horatio was able to fight off the illness and become as virile as a person could get in a place of such conditions. He became equipped with better clothes and a blanket to keep warm from a boy who gave them to Horatio just before he passed away.
Raised by both her mom and dad, she revealed that her most important females in her life were her mom and her older siblings. Her family is a very blended family with her dad having three daughters previously to meeting her mom and her mom having one other daughter previous to meeting her father. Her parents had her and her brother and also raised their cousins making a house of six kids and two adults. Kim explained to me that growing up the girls were expected to cook, but all the kids had chores. She narrated how her mother was fair in assigning chores to everyone, but her dad did not make the boys help with cooking, so it was left to the girls. Kim noted learning how to behave from her mother as well as learning right from wrong, which kept her out of trouble growing up. Another important influence on her growing up was the church, as she tried to live as Godly as she
(migrationinformation, 2008). Citizens of North Korea do not attain the freedom to leave and experience other states. North Korea’s lack of freedom not only affects their citizens but also individuals from other countries in a negative sense, cutting off social bonds as a result. Not having mobility rights is an infringement on their negative liberty on account of the option of immigrating or emigrating not being available to them due to the laws placed by the government. In actuality, citizens “caught emigrating or helping others cross the border illegally are detained” (migrationinformation, 2008).
First, Lee needed courage in order to go against the rules of her country and escape. People who left North Korea and was deported back were often killed. Lee went against these risks, just to live a better life. As shown in paragraph 7 “North Korean refugees in China are considered as illegal migrants.” “I would be repatriated… back in North Korea.”
In human history, the most famous prison camp is the Auschwitz concentration camp where millions of human beings spent the last of their days. The most notorious group from Auschwitz being the Jews who lost the greatest number of its people and also the most remembered from the concentration camp. A prison camp is defined as “a camp for the confinement of war or political prisoners” (“Prison camps,” Dictionary.com). Prison camps found in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPNK) have been found to treat its prisoners little more than beasts. The atrocities done in North Korea are unknown but the severity of the camps have left great scars on the people of North Korea. If left unknown, the prison camps in North Korea can mirror Auschwitz’s mass genocide on millions of people.
Little is known about North Korea except for news stories concerning international terrorism, nuclear arms threats, and prison camps. From space, North Korea is shrouded in darkness like the history that surrounds this country. This is due to the nation's strict closed-country policy: not many outsiders have visited there and not many North Koreans have traveled to the outside world. While little action can be taken to help the North Korean people, action taken by the United Nations is crucial. Recently, United Nations human rights investigators issued a horrific report documenting massive human rights violations in North Korea. The United Nations feels these crimes of humanity should be brought to the International Criminal Court. UN members work to "promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion” (Youth For Human Rights). North Korea unlike any other country in the world cannot be reported on fully because of regulations on people entering its boundaries.
“’How many logs did you chop today?’ People would answer ‘Two logs were cut at my section’, or ‘No logs were cut at my section’” (Simkin). This conversation was not a discussion on the productivity of a day’s work of cutting wood, no this was far worse. The discussion between these men was about the vivisection of live human subjects. Here was a daily part of the lives of workers and researchers of the Japanese Covert Biological and Chemical Warfare Research Department Unit, or better known as Unit 731, and the atrocities committed by the “Asian Auschwitz”. So what happened to the leaders and men of Unit 731? If they surrendered to the Americans after World War II, then they were granted immunity and allowed to live their lives free without any worry of prosecution for their crimes on humanity. So the question is, was it correct of the United States to grant immunity to human experimenters of Unit 731 and cover-up all knowledge of Unit 731’s existence?
“On November 21, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted resolution 174 (II), establishing the International Law Commission and approving its statute.”[2] The International Law Commission encourages the development of international law and its codification. The Commission deals primarily with public international law, but also hears private cases as well.[3] International law is applied within an international community, such as the United Nations, and functions to define the proper norms or standards for members to abide by in a collective manner. Examples of such standards could be a ruling on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights or on threats to peace within the International Community.
The Security Council of the United Nations has the primary responsibility under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Everyone is unique in their own way so a society where people are sitting in a room and everyone is wearing the same clothes, same shoes, same hairstyle, and basically the same of everything would never work. A world where everyone has no individuality and no unique personality. It’s like a big robot factory and every robot is built the same way. Similar to a daily life in North Korea. People would think that since there are no differences, people won’t be able to bully each other and there would be no judgements. A world like that means no individuality, no expression, no fun, no talent, no inventions, and no beauty.
In addition to Hong Kong being a place of torture, we will examine the Seodaemun Prison in Seoul, Korea that takes punishment and panoptics to another level. During the time of Japanese occupation in Korea, the prison was built to hold Korean patriots/resistance fighters. The main type of punishment that was dealt out to the anti-Japanese fighters was torture in a way that would make you cringe if you were in their position. Regarding panopticism, they completely copied and used the panopticon in a closed courtyard to watch over the prisoners and used televisions for surveillance and even torture. We will start with the narrative on the prisoners held here
Throughout history multiple empires and countries have come and gone to power. That is all due to how much oil, land, allies, how high their population is, and how their military preforms. With all of these playing into a role on how strong their empire or country is represents them across the entire world. Depending how strong they are depends on how much of a threat or helpful ally they could be. Weapons of mass destruction play a critical part of power plays between countries of the world. This is why North Korea is such an immediate threat due to the countries insane leader. Kim Jong Un is a unstable dictator who isn't in the right state of mind to control millions of lives and millions and millions of dollars in weapons