USSC Public Meeting - January 12, 2023

Re-education camps after April 30, 1975: A 1981 Amnesty International report Quynh Vi 23/06/2017 0 In December 1979, Amnesty International made a 10-day official working trip to Vietnam on the detention of former soldiers, employees and officials of the government of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) after April 30, 1975. They met and worked with the government, as well as arranged to visit some of the prisoners at Chi Hoa (Saigon), Xuyen Moc (Dong Nai), Ham Tan (Thuan Hai), Ha Tay (Ha Son Binh), and Nam Ha (Ha Nam Ninh). In March 1981, Amnesty International published a 26-page report on the outcome of that trip, outlining the situation of prisoners held in re-education camps across the country. The report also includes correspondence and correspondence between the organization and the Vietnamese state in 1980. The Amnesty International report said that the Vietnamese state's persecution of former soldiers, staff and officials of the ARVN, and other dissidents, as well as their repeated detention without trial from 1975 to 1979, constituted a serious violation of human rights under international human rights law. First of all, Amnesty International said that it has always been concerned about the situation of former soldiers, staff and officials of the ARVN after April 30, 1975. In fact, the re-education camps are set up no different from ordinary prisons. However, those brought here have not been charged with any crimes, nor have they been prosecuted or tried according to the law. They were sent to re-education only because they had joined the army or the former ARVN government. History of the formation of the reform regime for former soldiers, employees and officials of the Republic of Vietnam On April 30, 1975, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (CPCM) successfully overthrew the ARVN government and established the Republic of South Vietnam (CHMN). For 15 months, the PRC was an independent state, administering all of South Vietnam from April 30, 1975 to July 2, 1976. The Saigon – Gia Dinh Military Administration Committee held an international press conference on May 8, 1975. The person standing in the middle, wearing sunglasses, was General Tran Van Tra. Source: Herve GLOAGUEN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images. On May 4, 1975, just 5 days after the capture of Saigon, the Saigon-Gia Dinh City Military Administration Committee was established by the People's Republic of Vietnam to take over South Vietnam. The Military Administration Commission has required all former soldiers, employees and officials of the former regime to register to appear locally. By May 31, 1975, 44,369 people had come to register. On June 11, 1975, the Military Administration Committee decided to open re-education classes only for soldiers, government employees, and other "core" members of the old Saigon regime, in order to help them become "new citizens." By the beginning and middle of 1976, the People's Republic of Vietnam issued two decrees on policies for military personnel, generals, civil servants, and officials of the ARVN: Decree 1-CS/76 of January 28, 1976 on "the policy for soldiers, non-commissioned officers, officers, undercover officers, and members of reactionary parties who have registered to report and study for good rehabilitation." Decree 2-CS/76 was issued on May 25, 1976 on "the policy towards all persons working in the military, the government and the reactionary political organizations of the former regime." According to Amnesty International, Articles 9, 10, and 11 of Decree 2-CS/76 state that those who are subject to concentrated study and rehabilitation must only participate for a maximum of three years, from the date of commencement of rehabilitation. They could have been released sooner, but none were held for more than three years. Those who have clear evidence that they committed crimes during the time the former regime was in power and belong to the category of "blood debt to the people" will be brought to prosecution and tried according to the law. A 1981 report by Amnesty International stated that the Vietnamese government admitted that more than one million Vietnamese military personnel, employees and officials had come forward and registered for re-education. However, the report adds, more than 40,000 of them were detained continuously between 1975 and 1979, that is, for four years without going through any prosecution and trial procedures, nor were they informed of any crimes. According to Amnesty International, this is a violation of Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as Articles 5 and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention without a state trial. By December 1979, the Vietnamese government informed Amnesty International that about 26,000 people were still detained. Amnesty International argues that the admission of the detention of members of the ARVN army and regime for longer than the three-year period (from May 1975) also shows that Vietnam has violated Decree 2-CS/76 issued by the People's Republic of Vietnam itself. The main hall at Thu Duc Correctional Camp on weekends, 1988. Photo: Kienthuc.net.vn. From 3 years of "study" to indefinite detention without trial When he came to Vietnam to work with the government, Amnesty International explained that the fact that some individuals of the former regime were still detained without going through the prosecution and trial process was due to changes in the application of the law here. Decree 2-CS/76 was no longer applied in Vietnam after July 2, 1976. It was the day that two countries, the People's Republic of Vietnam in the South and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (VNDCCH) in the North, unified and established a new country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Decree 2-CS/76 was replaced by Resolution 49 NQ/TVQH issued by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam on June 20, 1961 in North Vietnam, focusing on the education and rehabilitation of those who commit acts harmful to society. From the date of reunification, Resolution 49 was applied to the whole country and invisibly, invalidating Decree 2-CS/76 of the CHMN. Under Resolution 49 NQ/NLQH, the government can detain a person for education and rehabilitation without trial, if the person is a "stubborn counter-revolutionary element who acts detrimental to public security" or a "professional thug." The duration of rehabilitation is fixed at three years, and a person can be released earlier than this period if the rehabilitation is good. However, if after three years of rehabilitation, they are still considered stubborn and refuse to rehabilitate, the rehabilitation period can be extended without a deadline for the end. A 1981 Amnesty International report assessed Resolution 49 as a serious violation of human rights and should be abolished immediately, as it deprived a citizen of his right to a fair trial. However, until now, in June 2017, Resolution 49 is still in effect. In theory, it can still be applied to any Vietnamese citizen, right now. Arrest and rehabilitation of people who do not belong to the military or the South Vietnamese government A former ARVN soldier works at a re-education camp in Tay Ninh, June 1976. Photo: Getty. Amnesty International also cites the records of detention and rehabilitation of people who were not part of the military or the former Saigon government. Prominent and named cases in the report include former Dean of Saigon Law University (1973-1975) Vu Quoc Thong, an opposition politician in the South Ho Huu Tuong, and writer Duyen Anh. These people are not at all required to submit for study and rehabilitation at the request of the Military Administration Committee. They were professors, opposition politicians, journalists, and writers, who were typical intellectuals of South Vietnam. Amnesty International also said that it did not receive any information from the Vietnamese government to conclude that these people were in contact with the South Vietnamese government. On the contrary, the international community knows that Dean Vu Quoc Thong is a famous jurist and intellectual in the South. Like Ho Huu Tuong, he not only did not participate in the ARVN government but was also one of the opposition voices and a keen political critic. Writer Duyen Anh is a well-known writer with realistic works, vividly criticizing the current state of society in the South before 1975. They were Amnesty International's first Vietnamese prisoners of conscience files after 1975. In addition, the report also addresses the issue of the application of compulsory re-education to those who have been arrested when trying to leave Vietnam unofficially. That is, those who "crossed the border" unsuccessfully in Vietnam after April 30, 1975. The 2015 Penal Code, which was just passed in June 2017, still retains Article 347 on criminal handling of illegal entry and exit, and Article 121 for the crime of fleeing abroad to oppose the people's government. Meanwhile, since 1981, Amnesty International's report has said that the state cannot criminally handle those who want to leave Vietnam, no matter how they leave. Amnesty International cites Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12, part 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Accordingly, a person always has "the freedom to leave any country, including their homeland". And so, Amnesty International has expressed its concern, as well as asked Vietnam to end the detention and rehabilitation (albeit short-term) of those who fail to cross the border. Because it is also a violation of human rights based on international law. Outside the Z30D Correctional Camp, Ham Tan district, Thuan Hai province (now Binh Thuan province). After 1975, about 2,000 former officials and soldiers of the old regime were rehabilitated here. By 1988, most of them had left the camp. Photo and information source: Kienthuc.net.vn. The detention conditions in re-education camps are poor, showing signs of torture and corporal punishment Amnesty International's report also raised concerns about torture and corporal punishment among detainees in re-education camps. First of all, re-education camps are not ordinary prisons. There are no legal provisions applicable in these places. Without specific and clear regulations, the risk of abuse of power, as well as the possibility of prison managers using postural punishment, is also higher. Amnesty International also said that even the arrest and detention of former soldiers, personnel and officials of the ARVN without informing their families of the place of detention or the duration of their detention was a form of torture for detainees and their relatives. In addition, the scarcity of food, as well as poor health care in the re-education camps, make the situation even more worrisome. The 1981 report cited the case of politician Ho Huu Tuong. By the time the Amnesty International delegation arrived in Vietnam, Mr. Tuong had been detained without trial for more than 2 years. In June 1980, despite knowing that he was terminally ill and in the final stages, the authorities still refused to release him so that he could be reunited with his family in Saigon. On the contrary, they transferred him from the re-education camp in Xuyen Moc, Ba Ria to the infirmary of Ham Tan prison, Minh Hai. Three weeks later, he died shortly after being returned to his family. Amnesty International concluded that the Vietnamese government should immediately end the arbitrary and indefinite detention of former soldiers and employees and officials of the ARVN regime. They also demanded the elimination of the use of Resolution 49 on detention for rehabilitation without trial, as well as for the state to improve detention conditions at these re-education camps as soon as possible. Bibliographic references: Report on Amnesty International's working trip to Vietnam in December 1979 Resolution on the implementation and formulation of a unified law for the whole country New Hanoi Newspaper, No. 2282, 13/6/1975 Maintaining order and security in Ho Chi Minh City in the early days after liberation Resolution 49 NQ/NLQH Land Reform, Land Reform, and Ploughman with Fields Obviously, the S-shaped strip of land in modern Vietnam has not only witnessed a land reform. At both ends of the country, each country has its own land orientations and policies aimed at political, economic and social goals. Law Faculty Journal Nguyen Quoc Tan Trung 1954-1975: How the two Vietnamese states were recognized internationally Which institution really represents Vietnam? 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