North Korea's Use of Chemical Torture Alleged

Although the chemist's information is dated -- he says he saw one experiment personally in 1979 and heard about others until the mid-1990s -- his statements mark the first time a high-level scientist from North Korea has spoken out about human experimentation.

Similar allegations have been made before. Last month, papers said to have been smuggled out of North Korea appeared to show that prisoners were sent to a chemical complex for gas experiments in 2002. But many of the prior reports had been made by former political prisoners and guards whose credibility has been questioned.

The chemist said fear of retribution against family members still in North Korea had kept him from speaking out until now but he decided to break his silence because of the need for the world to know. He asked that his name not be published.

"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

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