| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
24 Nov 2004 10:54:08 AM |
| Object: |
N. Koreans detail deadly experiments on prisoners |
N. Koreans detail deadly experiments on prisoners
By Jeremy Kirk
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
SEOUL — North Korean scientists are said to have conducted lethal gas
experiments on political prisoners in the 1970s that were still
happening as recently as 2002.
In 10 hours of interviews Monday, three North Koreans detailed
chilling experiments in which prisoners were placed in glass chambers
and exposed to chemicals that killed them within hours, said Rabbi
Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a
Jewish human rights group based in Los Angeles.
Mr. Cooper said the accounts came from North Koreans now living in
South Korea and who purportedly were involved in the experiments.
"The openness and the specificity of the description of these murders
was quite remarkable," Mr. Cooper said. "On the other hand, the lack
of any inkling of remorse on the part of the individuals decades later
— this kind of action I found to be quite shocking.
"The attitude of the scientists ... was these were political
prisoners, they were as good as dead anyway, and therefore, utilizing
them for experiments held really no moral implications whatsoever."
Mr. Cooper said the interviews were arranged by other human rights
activists in Seoul, not by the South Korean government.
None of the three North Koreans were present at the press conference,
and few other details were released about them.
In a meeting later with South Korean Foreign Ministry officials, Mr.
Cooper said, "there was absolutely no attempt to deny these kinds of
activities on the part of the South Korean official I met. He did say
it was unfortunate."
Mr. Cooper detailed an account from a 31-year-old North Korean chemist
who said he was involved in one of two parallel groups involved in
experiments.
The chemist's group experimented on animals, and recorded data on a
chart.
The defector told Mr. Cooper that if the experiments were successful,
"we then turned over the results to our colleagues, and they were
experimenting on human guinea pigs."
Two of the North Koreans Mr. Cooper spoke with were sources for two
presentations by the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) earlier this
year.
Those programs featured interviews with North Koreans who said
chemical experiments were conducted on humans, as well as documents
that were said to have been smuggled from inside the country.
Pyongyang denied the reports.
The experiments are on a different scale and for different reasons
than those of the Nazis, Mr. Cooper said. But the reports underscore
the importance of incorporating human rights issues into discussions
with North Korea, he said.
South Korea has avoided direct confrontation with North Korea on human
rights issues. The North Korean Human Rights Act, signed into law in
October by President Bush, was criticized by several members of the
ruling Uri Party, who saw the measure as antagonistic and a threat to
reconciliation between the Koreas at a time when economic cooperation
is increasing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why would I listen to losers?" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
