Survivors of a North Korean prison camp bravely testified about their horrifying experiences at an United Nations inquiry this week, exposing a brutal reality where public executions and torture were a daily occurrence at the camps.
During a U.N. panel hearing in South Korea, an ex-prisoner named Jee Heon-a recalled how a North Korean mother living in one of the notorious prison camps was forced to kill her own baby, reports the Huffington Post.
The 34-year-old defector told the Commission of Inquiry Tuesday in Seoul that a security guard at one camp made the mother turn the baby upside down into a bowl of water.
"The mother begged the guard to spare her, but he kept beating her," she said, according to Reuters. "So the mother, her hands shaking, put the baby face down in the water. The crying stopped and a bubble rose up as it died. A grandmother who had delivered the baby quietly took it out."
Shin Dong-hyuk, another defector who was born in a prison camp and was punished for dropping a sewing machine, said he was grateful when guards cut off his finger, rather than his entire hand. He was born in a prison called Camp 14 and forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother. He delivered his grim testimony the U.N. panel in hope that the outcome would result in improved human rights in the isolated and impoverished state.
"Because the North Korean people cannot stand up with guns like Libya and Syria ... I personally think this is the first and last hope left," Shin said. "There is a lot for them to cover up, even though they don't admit to anything."
North Korea denies allegations that they acted in violation of basic human rights, and refuses to recognize the U.N. commission. Furthermore, the country has blocked U.N. investigators from entering the country.
There are believed to be up to 200,000 people being held in prison camps.
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