Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HOCHIMINHCITY491
2006-05-11 10:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Cable title:  

HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICERS VISIT TWO VIETNAMESE PRISONS

Tags:  PHUM PREL SOCI PGOV VM 
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VZCZCXRO0960
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0491/01 1311010
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111010Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0815
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0593
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0854
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


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