Executions --Trials by the People’s Court
While officials and officers of the civil and military personnel of the puppet administration were undergoing registration for reeducation, rumors of and reports on the execution of traitors in the liberated areas reached Saigon. In the suburban area of Cau Son and Hang Xanh areas, Gia Dinh Province, dead bodies of RVN cadres and officials attributed as traitors were seen with hands tied and mouths agape drifting along the canals towards Saigon River. Trials of crimes by the People’s Court of the Revolution tool place here and there. The scenario was the same: a platform, a table, three judges, red flags, and a criminal coming forward to confess his crimes against the people. That was the case of Le Trinh, a policeman on the Special Police Forces in Quang Ngai (April 17, 1975), of Le Van Hoi, block leader in Fourteenth Ward of Binh Hoa District (June 19, 1975), and of a certain puppet by the name Tuy, the village leader in Tan Qui Dong, Nha Be District (July 4, 1975).
The traitors who were brought to stand trials before the People’s Court were described as the "debtors of blood to the people." by the new authorities. Many of them had not turned up for registration for fear of reprisals, and, therefore, were forced to confess their crimes during the People's accusations. The journal Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberated) assigned these processes as trials. Others registered the incidents and portrayed those confessors of crimes as criminals. Debtors of blood to the people and criminals |deserved to serve treatment harsher than the normal hoc tap cai tao (reeducation reform). There were, of course, no written laws or precise criteria by which one could establish the degree of the crime or the extent to which a penalty could be defined.
In general, those who "owed debts of blood to the people" and, at the same time, had committed counterrevolutionary acts after April 30, 1975 suffered the more serious consequences. The authorities made no secret of these cases. And, certainly, one of the reasons for which Saigon Giai Phong regularly published in its new items such as the following report, from July 12,1975, to discourage other obstinate elements from committing similar crimes:
"The tribunal of the Military Management Committee of Chau Doc, as a case in point, has tried and sentenced to death Le Nhat Thanh, former puppet lieutenant, who had committed many crimes against the people, hiding himself from public after the Liberation, and committing numerous acts of sabotage against the Revolution. Denounced by the population and arrested by the security forces, he was found in possession of six pistols. The revolutionary authorities tried to educate him, but, since he remained obstinate, the tribunal that took place in the presence of the thousand people sentenced him to death and confiscated all his property.’
Reeducation Camps and Prisons
The system of reeducation and comprised approximately 150 camps and prisons. They were most notorious for comprehensive brainwashing and bestial treatment. Among them were the Quyet Tien Camp known as Cong Troi (Gate to Heaven) in Hoang Lien Son Province run by the most sadistic irrational bureaucratic wardens; Lien trai I in Yen Bay where 13, 500 prisoners interned in 54 camps; Thanh Liet (B4) in Ha Son Binh Province; Nam Ha (Ba Sao) Camp in Ha Nam Ninh Province held; an estimate of 4,000 inmates, mostly ARVN officers and religious personalities. The prisoners did hard work on starvation. The use of torture was common. Thanh Phong (K1, K2), Thanh Lam (K3), Thanh Cam (K4), and Thanh Son (K5) in Thanh Hoa Province; Gia Trung, and Pleibong (T15) in Lam Dong Province; Xuan Phuoc (A20) in Phu Yen Province; Phu Khanh (A30), Cia Trung, Gia Lai - Kontum, 5,000 prisoners including RVN officers and officials, civilians. criminals, and FULRO members; Ham Tan (Z30c, Z30D) in Thuan Hai Province; 4,000 prisoners including priests, religious leaders, and female personnel in the ARVN; Long Thanh, Dong Nai Province, with 4,000 prisoners housed with criminals; Phuoc Long, Vuon Dao, Tien Giang Province 1,800 prisoners; Xuyen Moc, Dong Nai, 4,500 prisoners including political leaders; Song Be Province, with an estimated 3,000-4,000 prisoners, mostly ARVN officers; Ben Gia, Cuu Long Province, 1,800 prisoners; three camps: Bau Co, Cay Cay, and Ka Tum Tay Ninh Province, with a thousand of prisoners each; Thu Duc Camps including Z30 complex, 10,000 prisoners, male and female, . and Chi Hoa and Phan Dang Luu prisons in Saigon where the most reactionary elements were incarcerated.
The prisoners were also interned in the prisons. Not only did former prisons remained in use, but new ones were constructed, and other buildings were transformed into prisons and camps to hold the growing number of prisoners At Cay Cay Camp, Tay Ninh Province. where Cao Dai leaders, officers and women from nursing health sectors were held, the camp authorities used torture tiger cages and executions as a means of repression. At Ha Ray Camp, Dong Nai Province, 4,000 were held. K1,2,3 contained officers of the VNAF and K7, police officers; Camp A, members of the old administration; and Camp B, Catholic priests. .Camp A20 in Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province, for instance, was enlarged and divided into eight separate sections. One building was demolished to be added with more cells. One building was used as a warehouse and clinics. Six remaining sections housed an average of 80 people each, allowing approximately 70 square centimeters per person. Phan Dang Luu prison in Saigon, under the old regime held 200 inmates. It then had 2,000 prisoners behind its walls.
The prisoners were classified into three categories: the most fortunate, the less fortunate, and the least fortunate. The most fortunate were housed in cells built by the French more than 30 years before that, measuring 20 meters long by 5 meters wide. The front and back walls of the cell were filled with bars allowing the circulation of air. The prisoners had to provide their of water supply. Under the former regime, these cells contained 20-25 inmates each. Under the new regime, 60-70 prisoners were crammed into each cell. There were 8 cells, which formed Zone A of the prison. The less fortunate were crowded in the newly constructed zones, C1, C2, and B, that had originally built by the Republic of Vietnam Secret Police. Each cell measured 8 meters in length 5 meters in width, and 3.50 in height. The ceiling was covered with only a sheet of corrugated iron, creating an unbearable temperature. All sides were blocked, and the only air supply for all 30-40 prisoners came from an air vent in the wall measuring 10 cm x 15 cm. There was no water supply. The least fortunate were thrown into dungeons measuring 2m long, 1m wide, and 2m high. Air could only come through a hole measuring 10 cm x 15 cm. Prisoners were kept handcuffed with the left foot attached to the left hand. These cells were reserved for new arrivals and for those who committed some breach in discipline (Area League for Human Rights, 1978: 17).
Camp Conditions
Punishment was bestial in all reeducation camps and prisons. Camp and prison officials used bestial forms of punishment such as detention in living graves, tiger cages, and dark cells, and torture with steel-bars, interrogations with torture for confessions of crimes such as shacking, fatal beatings, and executions
"Anyone who was caught when trying to escape from camp was shot on sight. Accomplices are dragged in and judged in the presence of other prisoners. They are executed on the spot to set an example. Usually, they are bludgeoned on the sides of their feet and left lying on the ground and preyed upon by swarms of flies and ants until they died. Another common practice is chaining the victim to a jeep, dragging him around town until he dies like in the Italian Westerns! This was the fate of the prisoners who took part in the uprising on the second day of the 1078 Tet (New Year’s Days) in the center of Ben Tre.
Many officials at reeducation camps used executions a means of repression, especially at such camps as Ben Gia, Cay Cay, Dong Nai,, Gia Trung, Ba Sao, Phu Khanh Quang Nam, Trang Bom,, Vuon Dao, and Xuyen Moc.Two twenty-five prive prisoners were reportedly executed near Dinh Ong Mountain, Phu Khanh Province. Witnesses testified the witnessing of a bloody massacre at Phu Khanh. On April these 375 victims were massacred at the different locations: Lu Ba, Ho Ngua, Tho Vuc, Cay Xop, and Cau Dai. Reliable sources reported that a Communist Lieutenant gave the Chief of Dinh Thanh Camp a list of 225 individuals resigned to reeducation in Ho Chi Minh City. These individuals were subsequently tied together removed to Lu Ba Hill and were killed with automatic rifles and submachine guns. The first to die was Dang Thanh Thuc, former Chief of Hoa Thanh Village, and the last Nguyen Thang, a stallf ,ember of the Rural Area Education Program.
The interviews with former prisoners of Washington Area League for Human Rights (1978) and Aurora Foundation (1984) revealed the following incidents: Lieutenant Colonel Pham Ba Thanh was executed in that way at Long Thanh Camp, Bien Hoa Province. Lt. Phong and Capt. Quan Quang Thanh were shot to death at Vuon Dao Camp for allegedly attempting to escape in February 1979. At Cay Cay Camp, Lt. Mai Duy Hanh was killed with shots from a K54 pistol by a cadre when he complained about his treatment. Sgt. Vo Tan Tai who was wounded while attempting to escape was brought back to the camp and shot to death.
Major Nguyen Thanh Tham, detained for 13 years in various reeducation camps, reported in an interview with Vietnam Human Rights Watch that he knew as an witness the cases of execution of Lt. Col. Vo Vang, Lt. Ha Thuc Long. and Capt. Nguyen Dien. Lt. Col. Vo Vang was maliciously executed when he was sent to clear forest at Bong Mieu, Ky Son, Quang Nam Province, in 1976. He was separated from his work team and ordered by a camp warden to go with him in another direction. Fifteen minutes after that, three gunshots were heard. Back at camp in that evening the warden reported that Vo Vang tried to escape and was shot dead! Lt. Ha Thuc Long was shot dead in a similar situation at Ky Son in 1977. After an abortive plan to escape from the camp, Air Force Capt. Nguyen Dien was secretly executed in An Dien, Quang Nam Province in 1979.
Various sources reported cases of execution and death of the military and civilian personnel of the old Republic of Vietnam and political prisoners at the time and the period after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. The Vietnamese Federation of Veteran Prisoners (1995) in San Jose, California U. S. A., compiled 718 cases of executions and deaths at the camps and prisons. Although the causes of death were not specified, in most cases, statistics show: 165 (22,98%) of 718 prisoners were reportedly executed at the camps; 72 (10%) died as a result of hard labor and lack of medical treatment or of cold and starvation; 31 (4.3%) committed suicide; 33 (4.59%) were murdered or tortured to death; and 24 (3.62) died soon after release from the camp.
Among those prisoners who died for unspecified reasons were Prof. Vo Van Hai of Da Lat University; Hon. Trinh Quoc Khanh of Hoa Hao Buddhism; Sen. Tran The Minh; Prof. Ta Quang Hoi alias Ta Nguyen Minh, the Leader of the Dai Viet Quoc Gia Xa Hoi (Greater Vietnam National Social Party; Nguyen Van Thai alias Thai Nam, a leader of the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (National Party of Vietnam), Hon. Phan Ba Cam, Secretary-general, Viet Nam Dan Xa Dang (Vietnam Democratic Social Party); Congressman Bui Minh Nghia; Lieutenant General Lam Thanh Nguyen; Hon. Nguyen Manh Nhu, Presiding Judge of the Court of Appeal; Sen. Son Thai Nguyen; Major General Doan Van Quang; the Lawyer Tran Van Tuyen; Fr. Nguyen Quang Minh; Hon. Nguyen Ba Luong, Chairman, the House of Representatives; Hon. Vu Tien Tuan, Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court; Rev. Bguyen Van Thang of the Evangelical Churches; Hon. Duong Duc Thuy, Secretary of Justice; and Dinh Van Bien, party member, Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang.
Among those prisoners who were executed without a trial were Prof. Tran Thanh Dinh, the Principal of Nhan Chu High School, Saigon and party member of Duy Dan Party (Vietnam National Party); Col. Ho Ngoc Can, Province Chief, Chuong Thien Province; Le Quang Cho, Village Chief; Doan Van Chau, cadre, Rural Rehabilitation Center, Lt. Col. Duong, National Police; Capt. Doi, Company Leader, Regional Forces; Councilman Hieu of Kien Hoa Province; the Lawyer Nguyen Van Huyen, Appeal Court of Saigon; Nguyen Van Nghiem, Leader, National Restoration Forces; Vo Van Nghi, member, National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam; Tran Quang Pho, civilian, Lt. Col. Le Chon Tinh, Hoa Hao Buddhism; Nguyen Duy Tam, Canton Chief; Thai Van Ut, Master Sergeant, Vietnam Armed Forces; Non. Nguyen Duc Xich, Province Deputy-chief, Bien Hoa Province; Pham Van Ung. Village Chief; Lt. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh; Nguyen Van Sang, cadre, Open Arm and Information Service; and Vo Van Nhon, Village Chief.
Among those prisoners who died as a result of hard labor, lack of medical treatment or of cold and starvation were Col. Pham Van Son, historian; Lt. Col. Doan Van Anh; Capt. Nguyen Van Chuong; Lt. Le Quy Ky; Lt. Col. Nguyen Van Nam; Nguyen Dang Hai, Vice-district chief; Col. Chung Van Bong; Lt. Do Rang Dong; Lt. Do Tan Hoang; Lt. Col. Nguyen Tran Louis; Lt. Col. Ha Hau Sinh; Col. Le Van Tho; Col. Lu Phong Van; the millionaire Hoang Kim Quy; Col. Pham Ngoc Loi; Col. Pham Nhu Hien; Lt. Col. Nguyen Quang Hung; Nguyen Dang Bao, Village Chief; Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, government official; Ngo Ngoc Loi, government official; Col. Dang Quang Tiep, and Lt. Tran Duc Quan.
Among those prisoners who were murdered or tortured to death were Lt. Col. Vo Vang; Regiment Commander, Regiment 911; Nguyen Duc Diep, sculptor; Minh Ky, musician; Capt. Tien, Signal Corps; Col. Dang Van Thanh, Regiment Commander, Infantry Division 21; Capt. Tran Van Thang, National Police; Capt. Mao; Le Quang Lac, civilian; Maj. Le Thom; Congressman Dang Van Tiep; Doan Van Xuong, civilian; Capt.Tran Canh Dien; Capt’ Kha, M.D.; Col. Dang Van Thanh; Bao Trong, Assistant to the Commander, National Police; Capt. Tran Van Thang; Lt. Col. Nguyen Van Thanh; Capt. Nguyen Van Tho; Capt. Nguyen Duc Tho; Lt. Nguyen Hong Viet alias Paul, and Lt. Col. Sam.
