A South Korean nongovernmental group helping North Korean defectors on Friday claimed that Pyongyang is torturing residents who attempted to flee the impoverished communist country.

The Democracy Network Against North Korean Gulag also urged the National Human Rights Commission to investigate North Korean defectors who are suffering from aftermaths of alleged torture in the North.

The group also claimed its survey of 100 North Korean defectors showed that all of them had been tortured by North Korean authorities.

The group said it will investigate the situation with international human rights organizations and deliver the results to the United Nations Human Rights Council.