DPRK Human Experimentation

From Scientist Describes Chemical Tests on Prisoners and North Korea's Use of Chemical Torture Alleged:

"'It is not easy for me to speak about this because I am a criminal myself,' said the chemist, a man in his 50s, at the beginning of a halting and emotional three-hour interview last week that was arranged by a U.S.-based human rights group.

"The chemist said the experiment he witnessed took place at a military prison near Pyongsong, 15 miles north of the capital, Pyongyang. At the time, he was a PhD candidate. He was invited to witness the experiment because his dissertation involved the chemical compounds being tested — cyanide and ortho-nitrochlorobenzene.

"The chemist said that the prison was known to house political prisoners. He said that they were kept in stacked cages made of concrete and wire 'like rabbit hutches.' The two men in the experiment, he said, were unshaven and emaciated and 'they looked barely human.' They were brought to the chamber in wheelchairs, he said. He could not determine their ages.

"The chemist said the men were tested separately in a chamber with a large window on one side — where scientists and officials observed. It was outfitted with bright lights, a speaker system that allowed the scientists to clearly hear the prisoners' screams and a nozzle to spray the chemicals.

"'One man was scratching desperately. He scratched his neck, his chest. He was wearing a gray prison uniform, and he tore it off. He was covered in blood…. I tried to look away,' said the chemist, who said he watched with other researchers from behind the glass. 'I kept trying to look away. I knew how toxic these chemicals were in even small doses.'

"It took three hours for each man to die, the chemist said.

"'It was horrible. They were screaming and yelling…. They seemed to develop some superhuman strength before they died. I kept thinking: It is not so simple to kill a human being after all,' he said, his voice cracking. 'This is not something you want to remember.'

"After the men were dead, guards in gas masks and full body suits pulled the prisoners into an uncontaminated compartment of the chamber to examine them."