According to a report published by Radio Free Asia, the death rate in North Korean prison camps has decreased in the wake of a policy change that allows for daily visits from inmates’ families. At Jongori prison, also called Reeducation Camp No. 12, relatives are now allowed to bring prisoners formerly banned items such as underwear, socks, and footwear, as well as food and drink. Jongori is located in Hoeryung City in North Hamgyeong Province near the border with China. This prison has long been known for severe human rights infringements, including forced labor in harsh conditions, beatings, torture, and executions for attempted escape. A former Jongori inmate told RFA that, “North Korean authorities had to allow family visits, as the prisoners’ environment had become really bad.”
Originally only Jongori convicts with sentences of at least seven years were forced to work mining copper; however, beginning last year, most inmates were forced to work in the mines. These expanded work requirements increased the death rate in the prison which gave prison officials, “No choice but to keep prisoners alive with help from their families,” stated RFA’s source. Still in September 2013, the head of a UN team investigating human rights abuses in North Korea cited “unspeakable atrocities” in North Korean prisons and called for the international community to take action against Kim Jong Un’s regime. North Korea responded to the commission’s report saying it was, “fabricated by hostile forces aimed at sabotaging the socialist system and defaming it.”
