“The camp is controlled and operated by violence. Perhaps, the work we do in the camp may be less strenuous than in ordinary prisons. In the camp you can even marry or be allowed to take a rest if your performance record is good. The camp is different from a prison in terms of its system of operation. In the camp, you are not directly supervised by guards but by the work unit chief, who makes you work hard.” (Shin Dong-hyuk former prisoner from PPC Camp No. 14) “A severe punishment for us was a reduced meal ration, that is, half an ordinary meal. The system to control a school goes like this: a captain is selected from each class, appointed by the teachers. We were frequently beaten by the teacher, but also by the class captain under orders by the teacher. In upper middle school, as in primary school, there is a student chief for each grade and a captain in each class. The chief and captain are smart children and appointed by the teachers. The chief and captain are beaten by teachers if the rest of the children do not perform well. So the chiefs and captains beat children very hard and they are given the right to do so by the teachers. “I was tortured in a torture chamber of a secret prison. I was stripped, my legs were handcuffed and my hands were tied with a rope. I was lashed to a bar near the ceiling and hung by my legs and hands. Someone started a charcoal fire and brought it just under my back, which hovered above the floor. I felt the heat at my waist and shrieked. I instinctively struggled hard to avoid the flames. They would move the fire to follow my desperate attempts to get out of the way, and kept burning me. Then, my torturers pierced me with a steel hook near my groin to stop my writhing. After the torture, they left me in solitary confinement for about 20 days. Once that period was over, they started to give me three meals a day.” (Shin Dong-hyuk, former prisoner at PPC Camp No. 14) “For any wrong remarks you would make, SSA officers would beat you badly, then you’d be jailed. Or your meals would be denied. Prisoners would get hard labor details added to their daily work quota, be made a target of criticism by other prisoners, or humiliated at disciplinary meetings attended by all prisoners.” (A04, former prisoner from Sorimchon, PPC No. 15, 2002~2005) “At work, SSA officers yell at prisoners, but do not beat them. The company commander would beat prisoners. He is forced to be tough with them to accomplish the work quota. One day, a prisoner was called by a SSA officer and put in jail. Nobody knew why. Prisoners are normally jailed for about a month. The prisoner is dragged like a dog from the jail when released. It was said that, in the 97