HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICERS VISIT TWO VIETNAMESE PRISONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000491 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL SOCI PGOV VM SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICERS VISIT TWO VIETNAMESE PRISONS HO CHI MIN 00000491 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: As a follow-up to USG requests made at the February 2006 Human Rights Dialogue in Hanoi, on May 9 and 10, HCMC and Hanoi PolOffs visited two prisons in southern Vietnam; An Phuoc and Z30A. We had requested access to the Z30A, which reportedly also housed a number of political and religious prisoners. The GVN recommended that we visit An Phuoc. ¶2. (SBU) Access was controlled and we were accompanied throughout. No photography was allowed. However, at the two prisons, PolOffs were able to meet with 10 inmates -- two in private. We toured cell blocks, prison grounds, infirmaries, and in Z30A the solitary confinement area and kitchen. Although the areas we visited clearly had been cleaned thoroughly before our arrival and almost all prisoners were out working, we did not detect any effort to beautify or otherwise alter prison appearances on our behalf. ¶3. (SBU) In our judgment, prison infrastructure, while basic, appears to meet international norms as described reftel. While it is much harder to evaluate overall treatment of prisoners, none of the prisoners we saw working on prison grounds or that we met appeared malnourished, overly nervous, or had suffered visible abuse. While the physical labor prisoners performed was hard, it appeared no more difficult than that performed by agricultural workers "on the outside." Medical care was available. Prison officials did respond to direct questions for information and additional access. They appeared open to receive additional international visitors. While thanking our hosts for facilitating these two visits, we pressed them to pass the message to Hanoi that additional prison visits are needed, especially by relevant UN officials. The visiting "minder" from the Hanoi prison administration office said that UN and other international representatives are welcome to visit Vietnamese prisons "any time." End Summary and Comment. Overview of An Phuoc and Z30A prisons -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The An Phuoc prison director told us that his prison houses roughly 3,000 inmates. The Z30A facility currently houses 750, but is in the process of expanding its facility to double inmate capacity. Within the past five years, Z30A moved from an older facility that "was no longer suitable," to the new prison area. ¶5. (SBU) According to officials from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) prison administration authority (internal MPS designation is V-26),the prison authority can assign newly-convicted prisoners to any of the 43 prisons in the system. However, officials generally tend to locate prisoners in the general geographic area where they lived to facilitate family visitation. Our interviews with prisoners at the two facilities tended to confirm this assertion. (Comment: At least some political, religious and ethnic minority prisoners of concern have been assigned to prisons far from their homes. For example, HCMC-based dissident Nguyen Dan Que was imprisoned in Thanh Hoa province near Hanoi in 2004. End Comment.) ¶6. (SBU) According to prison officials, the vast majority of prisoners had a ninth-grade education or below; less than one-percent of the inmates had a university degree. Most of the prisoners were jailed for criminal cases, principally theft and murder, some for financial crimes. Neither prison had a vocational training program for inmates, although An Phuoc had a prison community center and a rudimentary library, and Z30A has plans for a similar facility. No Political and Religious Prisoners? -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Z30A commander acknowledged that his facility used to house political and religious prisoners, but maintained that "they all have been released." Post can confirm from contacts in the Catholic and Buddhist communities that imprisoned members of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were released from Z30A, but others may remain. Prison Labor Finances Prison Operations -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Although prisons are centrally funded, prisons are supposed to supplement central funding as much as possible, prison officials told us. An Phuoc and Z30A have rubber and cashew plantations run by prisoners. An Phuoc owns 200 hectares (500 acres); Z30A has 700 hectares (1750 acres). The harvest is sold to provincial-level state-owned companies. Prisoners also are responsible for construction of new buildings in the prison complexes and for growing a large part of the vegetables, meat and fish that are consumed by the prison population. An Phuoc HO CHI MIN 00000491 002.2 OF 003 prison officials told us that prisoners are paid between 50,000 to 200,000 VND (USD 3.25 to USD 13.00) monthly depending on their productivity. The prisoners can use those funds to purchase goods at a prison-run kiosk. We saw the kiosk at Z30A, which was stocked with toiletries, snack foods and non-alcoholic drinks and other small consumables. Prisoner belongings that we could see in both prisons (stored in small suitcases, baskets or plastic containers) contained varied quantities of these small items. ¶9. (SBU) According to the prisoners we interviewed, reveille was at 0600, breakfast at 0700. The work day began at 0730, with workers expected to walk to their assigned jobs in the fields. The work day ended at 1800 with dinner shortly thereafter. Some prisoners indicated that they broke for lunch at 1130 and resumed at 1400. Most of the prisoners we spoke with described one or more reductions of sentence for good behavior ranging from one to four years. The prisoners we spoke with were among the small number who were engaged in cleaning work, kitchen work, or clerical work related to the internal prisoner organizations. ¶10. (SBU) During our tour of An Phuoc, we saw roughly 50 prisoners -- male and female -- tending the rubber plantation, constructing buildings and undertaking other duties. All appeared to be healthy and were not malnourished. Some groups were unaccompanied, some had one unarmed guard, some had two policemen with AK-47s supervising. Police officials explained that the level of supervision varied with their threat assessment of the prisoners. Physical Layout -------------- ¶11. (SBU) According to prison officials, all prison blocks throughout Vietnam are standardized and conform to what we saw in An Phuoc and Z30A. The typical cell block houses 700 to 800 prisoners. Cell blocks are further subdivided. Each subdivision contains two bi-level concrete barracks for 50 prisoners. The barracks are large open rooms without internal dividers or cells, and prisoners sleep side-by-side on raised platforms. Each prisoner's sleeping space (approximately the size of a twin bed) is clearly defined with a folded blanket and small pillow beneath one shelf containing the prisoner's belongings in a suitcase, duffel, or basket the size of an airplane carryon bag, labeled with the prisoners' names, numbers, and cellblock affiliation. We were not allowed to examine the contents of the prisoners' bags (for privacy reasons, the authorities said) but in some of the barracks the prisoners' belongings were in baskets or buckets and thus visible. We noted foodstuffs, toiletries, papers and letters, small notebooks and spare shoes. The barracks were spartan -- tile floors, one shelf for each prisoner, but space, lighting, ventilation and communal restroom facilities (three or four toilet holes with running water for 50 inmates, plus a large, 5-foot deep basin of clear water with plastic buckets for bathing) appeared adequate. Prisoners took their meals in their individual barracks. ¶12. (SBU) The kitchen in the Z30A prison was basic but adequately equipped and staffed to prepare food for the prisoners. The prisoners told us -- publicly and privately -- that the food was sufficient in quantity, although they were not enthusiastic about quality. Prison Life -------------- ¶13. (SBU) All the prisoners we interviewed told us that they were allowed to receive visitors. Most received visits monthly, some quarterly, depending on their particular family situation. They were allowed to receive care packages, which were screened by prison officials. Family visits normally last from 30 to 45 minutes. The visiting room at the Z30A facility was clean and functional. We did not see the visiting room at An Phuoc prison. The visitors' area at Z30A also had two private rooms for conjugal visits. Only married couples are allowed conjugal rights under Vietnamese law. ¶14. (SBU) The Z30A facility was exclusively for men. An Phuoc had a small community -- roughly 100 -- female prisoners that were segregated into two barracks. That area also had a rudimentary beauty salon and sewing area. All the barracks we visited in both prisons -- for males and females -- were supplied with a television and lights. Health Care and HIV/AIDS -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Each cell block we visited had an infirmary. They were rudimentary, but were staffed by trained medical personnel. HO CHI MIN 00000491 003.2 OF 003 Very basic medical equipment (stethoscope, inhaler) was on display in both prisons, as was a small glass cabinet with a few boxes of common medicines including acetaminophen, vitamin C and general purpose antibiotics. The medicine cabinets were undersupplied for the populations they were supposedly intended for, and may have been trotted out for our visit. The attending physicians told us that if they diagnose anything serious -- including broken bones -- prisoners are sent to the district- or provincial-level hospital for treatment. Mentally ill patients are transferred to the centrally-administered mental institution near HCMC. Prisoners we talked to privately said that if they feel sick or are hurt, they have ready access to the medical clinic, and in An Phuoc we saw seven prisoners resting in the infirmary area, in close proximity to each other. Prison officials advised us to keep our distance from those prisoners due to the risk of contagion. From where we were, we could hear deep coughs and obvious respiratory problems. Officials admitted that tuberculosis is a problem, and public service posters warning against tuberculosis and describing symptoms were displayed in both prisons. ¶16. (SBU) HIV/AIDS is a growing issue for the prison administration. The An Phuoc prison doctor said that about 400 inmates were HIV positive; four in the prison infirmary we visited were suffering from opportunistic illnesses indicative of AIDS. Roughly 80 prisoners in Z30A were HIV positive and seven had AIDS. Virtually all afflicted were former IV drug users. ¶17. (SBU) Prison officials told us that all prisoners received blood tests upon entry into the prison system. Prisoners who are HIV positive are not informed of their condition, although prison officials say they take other, unspecified, measures to ensure that HIV is not spread through the prison population. In cases where HIV positive prisoners are married, their spouses are informed and advised not to request conjugal visits. Prison authorities said that all married prisoners that have conjugal visits must use condoms, although they did not explain how they assure compliance, and no supply of condoms was in evidence near the family visitation area. Security and Discipline -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Prison authorities said that all Vietnamese prisons have the same security standards. There are no "maximum security" prisons in Vietnam, they said. "Difficult" or violent prisoners can be housed in a separate isolation area for up to seven days as punishment. Z30A officials said that they have three levels of discipline for inmates who break the rules. The first level is "community education" whereby other inmates persuade the violator to follow the rules by "educating" him about the prison's regulations. Escalating the punishment scale, prison authorities can cut rations up to one third for a certain number of days. "That almost always is effective," one official said. Finally, the most difficult cases can be put in the isolation area. The V-26 official from Hanoi said prisoners receive 150 percent of the minimum caloric and nutrition standard used by the GVN, which allows enough flexibility to cut rations as a control technique without harming the inmate's health. ¶19. (SBU) At our impromptu request, we were allowed access to the isolation block at the Z30A facility. It contained seven adjacent cells, each measuring roughly 70 square feet. The cells were windowless with two concrete benches and a heavy iron bar used to secure chained prisoners. There were no toilet facilities in isolation; but prisoner were given a bucket. Prison officials told us that those assigned to the isolation area were only locked down during the night; during the day they ate with other inmates and continued to perform labor. ¶20. (SBU) Each prison block has a "self-regulatory" committee of 18 to 22 inmates. It principal function appears to be to assist prison guards to maintain order. Committee members are "elected" by the prison community and approved by the prison administration. The self-regulatory committee also is supposed to act as an interface to raise problems with prison management, although one representative of the self-regulatory committee of the Z30A prison told us that he never had need or occasion to do so. Both prisons had "suggestion boxes" prominently displayed where prisoners may deposit anonymous reports of illegal activity or complaints about treatment. The family visitation area at Z30A also had a similar box. WINNICK