Should the American government consider the prison camps in North Korea to be the same as concentration camps during World War II?
I don`t see how it`s too much different...and we are forcing a war with Iraq instead of with them?? The picture is a satellite image of the camps.
Jan. 15 — In the far north of North Korea, in remote locations not far from the borders with China and Russia, a gulag not unlike the worst labor camps built by Mao and Stalin in the last century holds some 200,000 men, women and children accused of political crimes. A month-long investigation by NBC News, including interviews with former prisoners, guards and U.S. and South Korean officials, revealed the horrifying conditions these people must endure — conditions that shock even those North Koreans accustomed to the near-famine conditions of Kim Jong Il’s realm.
- At one camp, Camp 22 in Haengyong, some 50,000 prisoners toil each day in conditions that U.S. officials and former inmates say results in the death of 20 to 25% of the prison population every year.
- Products made by prison laborers may wind up on U.S. store shelves, having been “washed” first through Chinese companies that serve as intermediaries.
- Entire families, including grandchildren, are incarcerated for even the most bland political statements.
- Forced abortions are carried out on pregnant women so that another generation of political dissidents will be “eradicated.”
- Inmates are used as human guinea pigs for testing biological and chemical agents, according to both former inmates and U.S. officials...
This is really sad stuff, I didn't even know about before. If you don't mind shedding a tear, here's a story and transcript of a little boy in one of the camps.
They put salty water into the pregnant women’s womb with a large syringe, in order to kill the baby, even when the woman was eight months or nine months pregnant. And then, from time to time there a living infant is delivered, and then if someone delivers a live infant, then the guards kick the bloody baby and kill it. And I saw an infant who was crying with pain.
I have to express this in words that I witnessed such an inhumane hell (crying). I was captured in October ’86, and I was imprisoned until May 1988. I cannot forget about this. Once they picked out 50 persons from our group, and they put them in the auditorium and gave them a piece of boiled Korean cabbage, and then as soon as they ate it, blood came out from their mouth and anus. And they died. I saw that in 20 or 30 minutes they died like this in that place. Looking at that scene, I lost my mind. Was this reality or a nightmare?
This little girl's store is amazing - sorry this is the last excerpt I'll post but it's just blowing my mind.
"When they do the water torture, they use a specially designed 10-liter kettle. They put the mouth of the kettle into the prisoner’s mouth, then automatically the throat is opened. At that time I had a scar here on my face, by that tenure. Still you can see a bit here. And they hung me from the ceiling, two hands together and then beat me. Because of the heavy weight of my body, when I was hung, I have a wound on my wrists and the flesh removed, because of the handcuffs. While they were torturing me, sometimes for a couple of days, I lost consciousness, and when I came to, I saw I had a wound on my back and the large flies defecated on the bloody part and then sometimes maggots."
This was a 7 year old girl! :(
These are sad stories. I am sure if the United Nations stepped and did their job, the USA would mobilize in support. But as in Iraq, it seems the world wants us to back off and not get involved.
I believe that war is never the answer but we should do something to help those in the camps as well as the Iraquis. There are ways to make Saddam "disappear" and forcefully bring down the camps.
It gets worse and worse the more we learn about what is going on in North Korea.
Also in the prison camps the guards rape the women, and when they get pregnant they are moved to a "seperate" part of the prison. At first I thought this was to give them better treatment, but actually it is so horrific torture and eventual murder can be slowly and secretly carried out. I can't even write about all the really horrible stuff they do to these poor, helpless women.
I'm glad you pointed out a parallel to Iraq Kiki because I see North Korea as an opportunity to learn from our diplomacy failures in Iraq. The first step I think we need to take is to stop all aid to North Korea. Then maybe they'll listen to our demands. Until then, we're talking in the wind.
I don't think the camps in N. Korea & the one's in Germany are the same because the camps in Germany had always been set up for one thing only, annilation of the Jews and other undesirables. Dachua was the only camp to be used primary for political prisoners and that was only between 1936 and 1939 I think.
if bush is dumb enough to piss the world off by attacking iraq, why, oh why has he refused to even get involved with north korea? that bastard kim is the most dangerous man alive, but because he's smart enough to keep silent when everyone else is looking at the middle east, nothing is going to happen to make this situation any better...which is too bad, because we really do need to help the people of north korea
KikiPeepers, That is horrible. Sorry to hear about that. I saw some documentaries on this. I can't understand why we dont do something about it. When I say we I mean the world, but as an American I think we have to help. It just seems sick to sit there and let it happen, when I know the world could stop it.
First of all, North Korea is evil, and so was Iraq. We'll get to them.
Second, moonschild is a moron. "He's smart enough to keep silent"? What? Kim Jong-il has been extremely vocal in his bragging about nuclear weapons.
Tasdavil has his facts a little switched around. China is not "good friends" with North Korea. They share a common idealogy, but their relations are considerably strained. And what makes you think we can't stop a nuke? It's not like interception missiles are a terribly new invention.
KikiPeepers - If we had attacked North Korea first instead of Iraq, you would be posting pictures of Iraq's prisons and death camps, wondering why we attacked Korea and not Iraq. There are plenty of stories you could find on Saddam Hussein, and his men, torturing, killing, and raping thousands upon thousands of people. I doubt you're interested in that, though. You're more preoccupied with criticizing Bush than you are with actually liberating people. Shame.
If we were in Iraq purely for oil we certainly wouldn't be suffering the current prices. Action has to be taken in NK, but not aid cuts. Aid in the form of food goes to the suffering people of North Korea, and to block it because we don't like the leader would be torture. And to anyone that thinks America would lose a war with NK, it is very implausible. They could hurt us badly, but we literally could cover every square mile of NK with explosives, and they have an ocean to cross. Plus, America would stop at nothing to avoid the shame of losing to Kim Jong-Il.
On 6/16/2005 10:33:25 PM inwalkedadam wrote: If we were in Iraq purely for oil we certainly wouldn't be suffering the current prices. Action has to be taken in NK, but not aid cuts. Aid in the form of food goes to the suffering people of North Korea, and to block it because we don't like the leader would be torture. And to anyone that thinks America would lose a war with NK, it is very implausible. They could hurt us badly, but we literally could cover every square mile of NK with explosives, and they have an ocean to cross. Plus, America would stop at nothing to avoid the shame of losing to Kim Jong-Il.
Of course you guys could "win". But at what cost?
How many cities are you willing to sacrifice? North Korea has nukes and a decent army.
Going to war with North Korea would make Iraq look like a small skirmish in comarison.
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