Tensions between totalitarian ruled North Korea and the United States have never been higher, as just last week American student Otto Warmbier was released from a North Korean labor camp in the capital city of Pyongyang after 17 months of detainment and intensive efforts for his release.

Otto was 21 years of age when he entered North Korea through a Chinese tour group offering exclusive trips into the communist country. He was first detained at the Pyongyang airport after being accused of “hostile acts,” due to the discovery of a propaganda poster he tried to bring back as a souvenir. As typical of other foreign detainees, Otto was given a phony trial where a forced confession was apparent. Videos taken during Otto’s trial show him literally begging for his life, and for forgiveness. People couldn't peel their eyes away from their screens as the 22 year old man was sentenced to 15 months hard labor, with Otto sobbing in defeat throughout.

Only a few months after the trial, Otto’s communication with his family ceased. Not until recently did it become apparent that the young man had been in a coma for the past year, leading to increased pressure from American officials, and his family in Cincinnati, for his release. Otto Warmbier died on Monday the 19th of June after being taken into the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Here is the big question being asked around the world: What exactly happened to Otto? It is no secret that the government of North Korea is known for its beyond harsh treatment of its citizens, with disappearances of innocent people who are then thrown into labor camps being very common. Otto’s family has been on the record blaming North Korea for the death of their son, claiming torture in the camp and lack of proper medical care for his condition. However, American doctors and other professionals have been unable to strictly identify a specific cause of death. As of now, his cause of death has been attributed to cardiopulmonary arrest, with his comatose state at the time of his death being due to extreme loss of brain tissue.

The mystery: North Korean officials deny improper treatment at their labor camps. During the years that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been in power, and even throughout the history of North Korea’s totalitarian regime, the existence of labor camps have also been continuously denied, with no more than ignorant recognition. Because of this, the only information on these prison camps that we as the public have access to exist in the form of personal accounts from those who have escaped or have been released from the camps. All accounts create the same picture: the North Korean labor camps offer intolerable conditions where prisoners are starved, beaten and worked to death, with solitary confinement and intense interrogations also included.

And what about other people condemned to the labor camps? With all eyes on Otto, many seem to have forgotten about the other three Americans being held in North Korean labor camps. As the United States government continues to work hard in order to ease tensions and get back these prisoners, the mysteries remain the same. It’s obvious that the North Korean government has no real reasons for these detainments, other than to uphold its control over the citizens. In fact, two of these three American prisoners worked at the same science institute on the border of China and North Korea, and both were imprisoned for no known reasons. This atrocious form of ruling a country is not new for North Korea; however, this does not make it less shocking.

Otto Warmbier did not deserve whatever atrocities were committed against him, and neither do the thousands of prisoners who suffer each day in these labor camps. However, his story serves as a lesson. American people must work harder to understand the danger that communist countries pose, and we must use the story of one of our own in order to become aware of these violations of human rights. The differences between our democratic society and those societies that exist under communist rule are so extreme that they can only be described as a form of heaven and hell. And although we still have the freedom to discuss issues in our own government, stories such as those of Otto Warmbier should make us feel immense gratitude towards the liberties provided by our government.

As always, become aware and start important conversations, for this can change the world.