{"id":265344,"date":"2022-04-02T13:23:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T18:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=265344"},"modified":"2022-04-01T16:39:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T21:39:13","slug":"north-korea-defectors-forced-abortions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/north-korea-defectors-forced-abortions\/","title":{"rendered":"New report reveals North Korea defectors face beatings, torture, and forced abortions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new report detailing human rights and international law violations in North Korea has found that defectors were put into prison, where they faced unspeakable horrors. Those imprisoned were subjected to beatings, torture, sexual violence, and forced abortions \u2014 experiences previously reported by women serving in the North Korean military.<\/p>\n

Over 200 people contributed to an investigative database compiled by Korea Future<\/a>. One of them was Lee Young-joo, who tried to escape North Korea in 2007. She was caught in China and sent back, where she was imprisoned. Young-joo told the BBC<\/a> she was made to sit cross-legged, with her hands on her knees, for 12 hours each day, not allowed to move. Even whispering to other cellmates would cause prisoners to be beaten, and they were given very little water or food.<\/p>\n

“I felt like an animal, not a human,” she said.<\/p>\n

At one point, Young-joo took a chance and whispered to a cellmate about trying to escape. “We would talk about plans for another defection, plans to meet with brokers, these were secretive talks,” she recalled. “The guard would ask me to come to the cell bars and put out my hands, then he started beating my hands with a key ring until it got all bloated and blue. I didn’t want to cry out of pride. These guards consider those of us who tried to leave North Korea as traitors. You could hear others getting beaten because of the cells sharing this corridor. I was in cell three but I could hear beatings from cell 10.”<\/p>\n

READ:<\/strong>\u00a0After decades of forced abortion, China claims it wants to \u2018improve reproductive health\u2019 for certain groups<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Saerom, another woman held at Onsong Detention Centre with Young-joo, confirmed the stories of beatings. “They beat your thigh with a wooden stick. You walk in but you crawl out. I couldn’t look at other people being beaten and if I turned my head away they would make me look at it. They kill your spirit,” she said. “If there is a way, I want them to be punished.”<\/p>\n

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