N. Korea seen as expanding gulags: satellite imagery 
 
 By Lee Chi-dongWASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is expanding its main political prison camps, apparently due either to hikes in the number of prisoners or the consolidation of its facilities, a human rights group said here Monday.The findings came from joint research by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and DigitalGlobe, a commercial earth image provider.An analysis of satellite photos of Camp No. 25 in the remote northeastern area of Chongjin-si showed that agricultural development, maintenance and construction activities have continued there, the HRNK said in a report."Between 2009 and 2010, the camp perimeter increased from approximately 3,710 meters to about 5,100 meters, a 37 percent expansion," it said. "During the same period, the camp size increased from approximately 580 square meters to about 1,000 square meters, a 72 percent increase."It added the number of guard posts has also sharply grown.The HRNK said the reasons for the expansion could include an intensified crackdown on attempted defectors, the purge of political dissidents after Kim Jong-un assumed power, and the consolidation of the nation's political prison camp system."It appears that North Korea's vast system of unlawful imprisonment may be undergoing an alteration involving the consolidation of some of its political prison camps, and the expansion of others,”Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the committee, said in a press release.If the dismantlement of some of North Korea's political prisoner camps and prisoner transfers to expanded facilities are in progress, he added, it is essential to ensure that the North Korean regime does not attempt to erase evidence of atrocities at the camps or execute the surviving prisoners.Multiple civic groups around the world estimate there are 150,000-200,000 political prisoners in North Korea.leechidong@gmail.com(END) ||||| A satellite image of Camp 25 in 2013.(Committee for Human Rights in North Korea) 
 
 New satellite images released this week by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea chronicle what it says is steady growth in a prison camp on the northeast coast. 
 
 Camp 25, one of dozens of gulags in North Korea, grew 72 percent between 2009 and 2010 alone, the report says. Between 2003 and 2013, the camp expanded to include several new buildings, agricultural fields and almost two dozen guards, the committee says. The camp is estimated to house about 5,000 prisoners. 
 
 As the Post’s Chico Harlan has reported, gulags are alive and well in North Korea -- despite official claims to the contrary: 
 
 Today Pyongyang operates six giant political prison camps as well as dozens of smaller facilities that emphasize “re-education” as well as pure labor. At all but one of those major gulags, prisoners stay for life and remain officially “missing” even after they die. Amnesty International estimates that the North holds roughly 200,000 people at these gulags — one in every 120 citizens. 
 
 In October, rumors spread that North Korea had shut down Camp 22, its largest labor camp. While that doesn’t appear to be true -- satellite photos show well-tended fields and piled coals -- HRNK theorizes that downsizing and consolidation at other facilities could explain the growth at Camp 25. A crackdown on would-be defectors and political opponents could also be behind the expansion. 
 
 In either case, it’s impossible to do more than guess at the reasons for Camp 25’s shifting borders. The gulags remain one of the most shadowy corners of the already secretive North Korea -- they only recently showed up on maps. And because most inmates are imprisoned for life, even to the second or third generation, few people have managed to share stories from inside the camp. 
 
 Shin Dong-hyuk was the first known escapee when he fled to South Korea in 2008. 
 
 “It is just a matter of time before Kim Jong Il thinks of this," Shin said in an interview with the Post, referring to video footage he’d seen of the Holocaust. "I hope that the United States, through pressure and persuasion, can convince Kim not to murder all those people in the camps." ||||| North Korea’s vast infrastructure of repression is further exposed in new satellite images showing the on-going development of two of the country’s largest political prison camps, Amnesty International discloses today. 
 
 In a comprehensive assessments of camps 15 and 16 - known as kwanliso - Amnesty International found new housing blocks, an expansion of production facilities, and continued tight security. 
 
 The analysis, along with newly released testimonies, is included in Amnesty International’s latest briefing North Korea: Continued Investment in the Infrastructure of Repression. 
 
 A former security official at kwanliso 16 – the largest political prison camp in North Korea – has never spoken publicly before. He describes detainees being forced to dig their own graves and women being raped and then disappearing. 
 
 “The gruesome reality of North Korea’s continued investment in this vast network of repression has been exposed. We urge the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those prisoners of conscience held in political prison camps and close the camps immediately,” said Rajiv Narayan, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher. 
 
 Amnesty International has shared the latest evidence with the UN Commission of Inquiry investigating human rights abuses in North Korea. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of people – including children – are detained in political prison camps and other detention facilities in North Korea. 
 
 Many of those have not committed any crime but are merely family members of those deemed guilty of serious political crimes. They are detained as a form of collective punishment, “guilt-by-association”. 
 
 Kwanliso 16, near Hwaseong in North Hamgyong province, is approximately 560 km2, three times the size of the US capital Washington DC. It is one of the least investigated areas in the vast political prison camp system. In 2011, an estimated 20,000 people were believed be imprisoned at kwanliso 16. 
 
 The latest images, taken in May 2013, indicate a slight increase in kwanliso 16’s population with new housing blocks clearly visible. The pictures captured housing being built, giving a possible insight into the living conditions detainees face. 
 
 Significant economic activity - such as mining, logging and agriculture - is clearly visible in the satellite images. The images show an expansion of an industrial area within kwanliso 16. 
 
 Forced hard labour is common in North Korea’s political prison camps. Testimony from former detainees and officials reveals how detainees spend most of their time being forced to work in dangerous conditions with little time to rest. 
 
 Security remains tight, with perimeter fences and security points clearly marked. Movement appears to be restricted and controlled through secured entrance gates, guard towers and internal check points. 
 
 Mr Lee, a former security official at Camp 16 in the 1980s until the mid 1990s, told Amnesty International in an interview in November 2013 of the methods used to execute prisoners. Detainees were forced to dig their own graves and were then killed with hammer blows to their necks. He also witnessed prison officers strangling detainees and then beating them to death with wooden sticks. 
 
 According to Mr Lee women were disappeared after being raped: “After a night of ‘servicing’ the officials, the women had to die because the secret could not get out. This happens at most of the political prison camps.” 
 
 Kim Young-soon, a former detainee in Camp 15 between 1980 and 1989, described a public execution she witnessed of two detainees who were caught attempting to escape: “They were brought to a stage after they were badly beaten. The prisoners were tied to wooden stakes and shot three times in their head, chest and feet.” 
 
 The recent images of Camp 15 - also known as Yodok – show that 39 housing blocks have been demolished since Amnesty International last assessed satellite pictures of the camp in 2011. Only six new housing blocks have been built. The decrease in housing could indicate a slight reduction in the kwanliso population. However, Amnesty International is not able to verify the prisoner population or the fate of the detainees. 
 
 Kwanliso 15 covers an area of 370 km2 and is located in central North Korea around 120km from the capital Pyongyang. In 2011, an estimated 50,000 people were imprisoned within the camp and the population is concentrated in river valleys. 
 
 Similar to kwanliso 16, security remains tight in Yodok, and there is significant economic activity. For example, logging activities are clearly visible, as is the processing of raw lumber in a likely furniture factory.
– North Korea's economy may not be growing, but one of its prison camps sure seems to be. New satellite photos show that Camp 25, thought to house about 5,000 of the 200,000 people believed to be held in North Korea's gulags, has grown steadily over the past decade, reports the Washington Post. Its perimeter grew 37% between just 2009 and 2010, according to the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, which says new buildings, guard posts, and fields have been added. Experts are unsure whether the expansion of Camp 25 signals an overall growth in political prisoners in North Korea or a move to accommodate existing prisoners as other camps are downsized. "It appears that North Korea's vast system of unlawful imprisonment may be undergoing an alteration involving the consolidation of some of its political prison camps, and the expansion of others," said the executive director of the committee, according to Yonhap News.