Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries
The incarceration rate of the People's Republic of China varies depending on sources and measures. According to the World Prison Brief, the rate for only sentenced prisoners is 118 per 100,000 (as of 2015). The rate for prisoners including estimations for the number of pre-trial detainees and those in administrative detention is 164 per 100,000 (as of 2015). In a 2010 interview Harry Wu, a U.S.-based human rights activist and ex-Chinese labor camp prisoner, estimates that "in the last 60 years, more than 40–50 million people" were in Chinese labor camps, but that period includes the mass incarcerations of the 1950s or the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and is not representative of modern China.
Chongori concentration camp
Chongori concentration camp is a large prison compound, around long and wide. The main section is surrounded by a high wall, while the branch offices are surrounded with barbed wire and an electrified fence. In 2005 there used to be around 2000 prisoners, mostly non-political criminals, but often sentenced there for desperate offences such as stealing food. They are guarded by around 300 prison guards with machine guns. From 2006 on the number of prisoners increased significantly, as many defectors deported from China were arrested in Chongori camp. Theoretically, prisoners should be released after reeducation through labor and serving their sentence, but since the prison sentences are very long and the conditions are very harsh, many do not survive their prison sentences. A former prisoner estimates, that during his eight months of detention, around 800 prisoners died from hard labor and sub-subsistence level food rations.