And it had a set of post-release oppressions clauses built in.
Most of the "camps" weren't prisons. Sure, there might be jail time or time in a camp. You might be released from the camp to work for a factory, maybe work in agriculture, perhaps a work gang for road-building, construction, or mining. That's bad enough.
But after officially "free" you'd be tied by residency registration laws. Not allowed to move without the "militia's" approval, and that approval not permitted, they were stuck there or wherever you were granted residency. (The "police" are capitalist and serve the capitalist power structure, they taught, so they had a "militia".) In some cases they could move to an approved larger town or city, but seldom one that was important. Residency formally granted, with restrictions, the opportunity to work and have an apt. Work opportunities were still limited because the government had to approve your hiring--as well as your living space. Can't have the wrong people in sensitive positions. Oh--and not having a job when you were physically fit, even because the government refused to let you be hired, was the crime of "parasitism"; a good citizen must contribute to society with his (or her) labor. Moreover, released prisoners were still required to report to what amounts to a kind of probation officer--don't check in and an order for your arrest was issued, just in case you decided to leave town, go underground and stay with friends and relatives. The end result was that the GULag, even after a "thug" was released, provided monitoring, provided a captive workforce. Factories and industries could be placed in a town with the all-wise planners knowing they'd have a dedicated workforce--dedicated by those who know how to run society to benefit "the people".
It was a nice scam, all around.
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