North Korea: New satellite images show continued investment in the infrastructure of repression 
 
 ASA 24/010/20135 December 2013 
 
 In October 2013, Amnesty International commissioned analysis of satellite images of political prison camp (kwanliso) 15 at Yodok in South Hamgyong province and kwanliso 16 at Hwaseong in North Hamgyong province. The rights group released satellite images, purportedly showing evidence of expansion, including the construction of new housing blocks and production facilities, at two of the isolated regime's largest camps or "kwanliso" --15 and 16 -- used to hold political prisoners. "The gruesome reality of North Korea's continued investment in this vast network of repression has been exposed," said Rajiv Narayan, Amnesty International's East Asia Researcher. 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. In September this year, a United Nations inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea highlighted the "unspeakable" and "widespread" atrocities being carried out in camps that required an international response, including a mother forced to drown her own baby and a prison camp inmate compelled to eat rodents and lizards just to survive. Camp 16, which is located near Hwaseong in North Hamgyong province, housed an estimated 20,000 people, according to previous analysis by Amnesty in 2011. The satellite images, taken in May 2013, indicate a slight increase in population at Camp 16, the largest political prison camp in North Korea, with new housing blocks visible. While Amnesty conceded this might indicate a reduction in prisoner numbers, it said significant industrial activity was visible in the area, including logging. Lee said detainees were forced to dig their own graves and were then killed with hammer strikes to their necks. He told Amnesty in an interview that he witnessed prison officers strangling detainees and then beating them to death with wooden sticks. How voice from gulag affected human rights discourse 
 
 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. Camp 15, also known as Yodok, is located in the river valleys of central North Korea just 75 miles (120km) from the capital Pyongyang.
– More horrific tales have emerged from North Korea via a new Amnesty International report that indicates the country's prison camps are expanding. Satellite images from May of this year indicate one of the largest sites, camp 15, features new housing blocks and production facilities; a review of images featuring camp 16 show it has added six new housing blocks since 2011, but razed 39. Meanwhile, in his first interview a former guard at camp 16 during the 1980s and '90s explains prisoners were forced to dig their own graves before they received a hammer blow to the neck; women were raped by prison officials, then vanished, Fox News reports. "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," the man said. A former prisoner also recalled public executions of two caught trying 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," she said. Up to 200,000 people, including children, are held "in horrific conditions in six sprawling political prison camps," Amnesty noted per CNN, adding the UN now has the group's findings.