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| Reeducation camp (tr?i h?c t?p c?i t?o) is the official name given to the prison Prison prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or internment and usually deprived of a range of personal Freedom .... camps operated by the government Government A government is a body that has the authority to make and the Political power to enforce laws within a civil, corporation, religious, academic, or other organization or group.... of Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia. Situated in eastern Indochinabordering China, Laos, Cambodia, as well as the South China Seait is the most populous country among the mainland Southeas... following the end of the Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a conflict in which the North Vietnam and its allies fought against the South Vietnam and its allies .... . In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former South Vietnam South Vietnam South Vietnam is the commonly used name for the former Vietnamese country that existed from 1954 to 1976 in the portion of Vietnam that lay south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.... . Reeducation as it was implemented in Vietnam was both a means of revenge and a sophisticated technique of repression Repression Repression may refer to the following:* Psychological repression* Repressed memory* Genetic repression... and indoctrination Indoctrination Indoctrination is instruction in the fundamentals of a science, or other system of belief.The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual defines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to g... which developed for several years in the North and was extended to the South following the 1975 North Vietnam North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic , also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hn?i on September 2, 1945 as a provisional government.... takeover. The term 'reeducation camp' is also used to refer to prison camps operated by the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China The People's Republic of China , is a country in East Asia. The PRC has a coastline of 14,500 kilometres , and borders Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, a... during the Cultural Revolution Cultural Revolution The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China, which grew to include large sections of Chinese society and eventually brought the People's Republic of C... , or to the laogai Laogai Laogai, the abbreviation for Laodong Gaizao which means "reform through labor," is a slogan of the China criminal justice and has been used to refer to the use of prison labor in the People's Republic of China.... and laojiao Reeducation through labor Reeducation through labor is a system of administrative detentions in the People's Republic of China which is generally used to detain persons for minor crimes such as petty theft, prostitution, and illegal drug use for periods up to four years... camps currently operated by the Chinese government Politics of the People's Republic of China Politics of the People's Republic of China takes place in a framework of a single-party socialist republic.... . The theory underlying such camps is the Maoist theory of reforming anti Anti Anti may refer to:* Anti, was the ferryman who carried Isis to Set's island in Egyptian mythology.... -revolutionaries into socialist citizens by reeducation through labor Reeducation through labor Reeducation through labor is a system of administrative detentions in the People's Republic of China which is generally used to detain persons for minor crimes such as petty theft, prostitution, and illegal drug use for periods up to four years... . Meaning of the term 'tr?i h?c t?p c?i t?o'The term 'reeducationReeducation Reeducation may refer to:* Brainwashing* Rehabilitational reeducation: Look to Rehabilitation... ', with its pedagogical overtones, does not quite convey the quasi-mystical resonance of 'tr?i h?c t?p c?i t?o' in Vietnamese Vietnamese language Vietnamese , formerly known under the French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam.... . C?i (to transform) and t?o (to create Create Create is an United States television network that was the successor to the PBS YOU network, created in January 2006 when the latter network closed.... ) combine to literally mean an attempt at recreation, and making over sinful or incomplete individuals. Historical backgroundIn 1973, the various parties engaged in the Vietnam WarVietnam War The Vietnam War was a conflict in which the North Vietnam and its allies fought against the South Vietnam and its allies .... signed a peace treaty Peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a war or armed conflict.... . Article 11 of the 1973 Paris Agreements Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973 by the governments of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government that represented South Vietnamese revolutionaries.... guaranteed the people of South Vietnam the following rights: 1) Freedom from reprisal Reprisal In warfare, a reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of the laws of war to punish an enemy for breaking the laws of war.... and discrimination against those who collaborated with one side or the other during the war, and 2) Democratic freedoms, such as freedom of speech Freedom of speech Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. It is often regarded as an integral concept in modern liberal democracy.... , press Freedom of the press Freedom of the press is the guarantee by a government of free speech for its citizens and freedom of association, extended to members of news gathering journalism, and their published reporting.... , belief Freedom of religion Freedom of religion and belief is considered by many to be a fundamental human right. It is also a guarantee by a government for freedom of belief for individuals and freedom of worship for individuals and groups.... , movement Freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept which is respected in the constitutions of numerous Western world states.... , and assembly Freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly is the Freedom to associate with, or organize any groups, gatherings, clubs, or organizations that one wishes.... . When the DRV North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic , also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hn?i on September 2, 1945 as a provisional government.... and NLF launched the 1975 Spring Offensive Ho Chi Minh Campaign The Ho Chi Minh Campaign began on January 24, 1975, and was the final campaign launched by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to destroy the government of the Republic of Vietnam.... , leading to the military takeover of South Vietnam South Vietnam South Vietnam is the commonly used name for the former Vietnamese country that existed from 1954 to 1976 in the portion of Vietnam that lay south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.... , they claimed they did so in order to "enforce" the Paris Agreements. Yet upon taking control over the South, these new leaders did not set about to implement the rights mentioned in Article 11. The hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China.... who were imprisoned in reeducation camps since 1975 basically fall into two categories: 1) Those who were detained in reeducation camps since 1975 because they collaborated with the other side during the war, and 2) Those who were arrested in the years since 1975 for attempting to exercise such democratic freedoms as those mentioned in Article 11 of the 1973 Paris Agreements. In other words, both categories of prisoners were held in direct violation of Article 11 of the 1973 Paris Agreements, an international treaty Treaty A treaty is a binding agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations.... , and therefore of international law International law International Law in its most general sense, "consists of rules and principles of general application dealing with the conduct of states and of international organizations and with their relations inter se, as well as with some of their re... . After the fall of Saigon Fall of Saigon The Fall/Liberation of Saigon, was the capture of the South Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Minh City by the Vietnam People's Army on April 30, 1975.... on April 30th, 1975, hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese men, from former officers in the armed forces, to religious leaders, to employees of the Americans or the old government, were rounded up in reeducation camps to "learn about the ways of the new government." They were never tried, judged or convicted of any crime. Many South Vietnamese men chose to flee on boats, but others had established lives and loved ones in Vietnam, so did not flee but entered these camps in hopes of quickly reconciling with the new government and continuing their lives peacefully. Government view on the reeducation campsOfficially, the Vietnamese governmentPolitics of Vietnam Politics of Vietnam takes place in a framework of a single-party socialist republic. A new Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was approved in April 1992, reaffirming the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in politics... does not consider the reeducation camps prisons, but rather places where individuals could be rehabilitated into society through education and socially constructive labor. The Hanoi Hanoi Hanoi , estimated population 3,083,800 , is the capital of Vietnam. From 1010 until 1802, it was the political center of an independent Vietnam with a few brief interruptions, making it the oldest capital in Southeast Asia.... regime defended the reeducation camps by placing the "war criminal" label on the prisoners. A 1981 memorandum of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Amnesty International Amnesty International Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization with the stated purpose of campaigning for internationally recognized human rights.... claimed that all those in the reeducation camps were guilty of acts of national treason Treason In law, treason is the crime of loyalty to one's nation or state. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor.... as defined in Article 3 of the 30 October 1967 Law on Counter-revolutionary Crimes (enacted for the government of North Vietnam North Vietnam The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic , also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hn?i on September 2, 1945 as a provisional government.... ) which specifies punishment of 20 years to life imprisonment or the death penalty. But, it was instead allowing the prisoners to experience "reeducation without trial," which "as applied in Vietnam is the most humanitarian system, and the most advantageous for law offenders... in accordance with the tradition of generosity and humanitarianism of the Vietnamese nation and the loftiest ideals of mankind." Registration and arrestIn May of 1975, various groups of Vietnamese were ordered to register with the new regime that had established control over the South on April 30, 1975. Then, in June, the new regime issued orders instructing those who had registered in May to report to various places for reeducation. Soldiers, noncommissioned officers and rank-and-file personnel of the former South Vietnamese government were to undergo a three-day "reform study," June 11-13, which they would attend during the day and go home at night.The others ordered to report for "reform study" were not allowed to attend during the day and go home at night, but were instead to be confined to their sites of "reform study" until the course ended. Nevertheless, there was some hope, for the government gave the clear impression that reform study would last no more than a month for even the highest ranking officers and officials of the former government in South Vietnam, and ten days for lower-ranking officers and officials. Thus, officers of the RVN armed forces from the rank of second lieutenant to captain, along with low-ranking police officers and intelligence cadres, were ordered to report to various sites, bringing along "enough paper, pens, clothes, mosquito nets, personal effects, food or money to last ten days beginning from the day of their arrival." High- ranking military and police officers of the RVN, from major to general, along with mid and high-ranking intelligence officers, members of the RVN executive, judicial and legislative branches, including all elected members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and, finally, leaders of "reactionary" (i.e. non-communist) political parties in South Vietnam, were ordered to report to various sites bringing enough "paper, pens, clothes, mosquito-nets, personal effects, food or money to last a month beginning from the day of their first meeting." The new government announced that there would be three days of reeducation for RVN soldiers, ten days for low-ranking officers and officials, and one month for high-ranking RVN officers and officials. Many teachers reported for reeducation, assuming that they would have to undergo it sooner or later anyway. Sick people also reported for reeducation, assured by the government (falsely) that there would be doctors and medical facilities in the "schools" and that the patients would be well treated. The campsIndoctrination and forced confessionsDuring the early phase of reeducation, lasting from a few weeks to a few months, inmates were subjected to intensive political indoctrination. Subjects' studies included the exploitation by "American imperialism" of workers in other countries, the glory of labor, the inevitable victory of Vietnam, led by the Communist PartyCommunist party In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical ideology based on Marxism.... , over the U.S., and the generosity of the new government toward the "rebels" (those who fought on the other side during the war). Another feature emphasized during the early stage of reeducation, but continued throughout one's imprisonment, was the confession of one's alleged misdeeds in the past. All prisoners in the camps were required to write confessions Confessions Confessions may refer to:* Confessions, a series of books composed by St. Augustine of Hippo circa AD 397.... , no matter how trivial their alleged crimes might have been. Mail clerks, for example, were told that they were guilty of aiding the "puppet war machinery" through circulating the mail, while religious chaplains were found guilty of providing spiritual comfort and encouragement to enemy troops. The workIn the reeducation camps much emphasis was placed on "productive labor." Such labor was described by SRVVietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia. Situated in eastern Indochinabordering China, Laos, Cambodia, as well as the South China Seait is the most populous country among the mainland Southeas... spokesman Hoang Son as "absolutely necessary" for reeducation because "under the former regime, they (the prisoners) represented the upper strata of society and got rich under U.S. patronage Patronage Generally, patronage is the act of a so-called patron who supports or favors some individual, family, group or institution.... . They could scorn the working people. Now the former social order has been turned upside down, and after they have finished their stay in camps they have to earn their living by their own labour and live in a society where work is held in honor." Thus, in the eyes of the Vietnamese rulers, "productive labor" was a necessary aspect in the overturning of the social order. Yet in examining the conditions under which this labor took place, it seems that there was also an element of revenge. The labor was mostly hard physical work, some of it very dangerous, such as mine field sweeping. No technical equipment was provided for this extremely risky work, and as a result, many prisoners were killed or wounded in mine field explosions. Other kinds of work included cutting trees, planting corn and root crops, clearing the jungle, digging wells, latrines and garbage pits, and constructing barracks within the camp and fences around it. The inmates were generally organized into platoons and work units, where they were forced to compete with each other for better records and work achievements. This often pushed inmates to exhaustion and nervousness with each person and group striving to surpass or at least fulfill the norms set by camp authorities, or they would be classified as `lazy' and ordered to do 'compensation work' on Sundays. Sometimes prisoners who missed their quota were shackled and placed in solitary confinement cells Solitary confinement Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to as "the hole", is a punishment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding members of prison staff.... . Rules and regulationsThe authorities sought to maintain strict control over the thoughts of the prisoners, and forbade prisoners from keeping and reading books or magazines of the former regime, reminiscing in conversation about "imperialismImperialism Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires.... and the puppet Puppet state A puppet government is a government that, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people, owes its existence to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power.... south," singing old love songs of the former regime, discussing political questions (outside authorized discussions), harboring "reactionary" thoughts or possessing "superstitious" beliefs. It was also forbidden to be impolite to the cadres of the camp, and this rule was sometimes abused to the point where the slightest indication of a lack of deference to the cadres had been interpreted as rudeness and was therefore harshly punished. It has been acknowledged by Hanoi that violence has in fact been directed against the prisoners, although it maintains that these are isolated cases and not indicative of general camp policy. Former prisoners, on the other hand, report frequent beatings for minor infractions, such as missing work because of illness. Violations of rules lead to various forms of punishment, including being tied up in contorted positions, shackled in convex boxes or dark cells, forced to work extra hours or receiving reduced food rations. Many prisoners were beaten, some to death, or subjected to very harsh forms of punishment due to the cruelty of certain camp officials and guards. Some were executed, especially for attempting to escape. VisitationAs of 1980, official regulations stated that prisoners in the camps could be visited by their immediate family once every three months. Family visits were important not only because of the personal need for prisoners and their loved ones to have contact with each other but also because the families could bring food to their relatives in some of the camps. It has been reported that the prisoners in these camps would not have survived without such food. The duration of the visits was not long, reported by former prisoners to last from 15 to 30 minutes. Moreover, family visits would be suspended for prisoners who broke the rules, and it has also been said that only families who had proven their loyalty to the regime were allowed visiting privileges.Most of the former prisoners interviewed have been in between three and five different reeducation camps. It is believed that the movement of prisoners from one camp to another was intended to prevent both the inmates and their relatives from knowing a specific camp's real location. That way,escapes from prison could be prevented, and prisoners' relatives could be prevented from visiting them. The release of prisonersIn June of 1976, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, in one of its last policy announcements before the official reunification of Vietnam, stated that those in the camps would either be tried or released after three years of imprisonment. But this promise was broken. The policy announced that those still in the camps would stay there for three years, but would be released early if they made "real progress, confess their crimes and score merits." It also said that some Vietnamese would be brought to trial, including those who deserted the NLF during the war, those who owed "many blood debts" to the people and those who fled to "foreign countries with their U.S. masters."Since there were no clear criteria for releasing the inmates from the camps, bribery and family connections with high-ranking officials were more likely to speed up release than the prisoner's good behavior. Released prisoners were put on probation and placed under surveillance for six months to one year, and during that time they had no official status, no exit visas, no access to government food rations and no right to send their children to school. If the progress of the former prisoners was judged unsatisfactory during this period, they could be fired from their jobs, put under surveillance for another six months to a year, or sent back to the reeducation camps. Approximately 60% of those released were re-arrested, according to a high-ranking Vietnamese official. Faced with these challenges, many chose to flee the country and became boat people Boat people It is also a widely used form of migration or escape for people migrating from Cuba, Haiti, Morocco, Vietnam or Albania.... . Some prisoners who have been imprisoned since the Fall of Saigon Fall of Saigon The Fall/Liberation of Saigon, was the capture of the South Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Minh City by the Vietnam People's Army on April 30, 1975.... , have been released as recently as the year 2000. The U.S. government Federal government of the United States The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of U.S.... considers reeducation camp inmates to be political prisoner Political prisoner A political prisoner is someone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, because their ideas or image are deemed by a government to either challenge or threaten the authority of the state.... s. In 1989, the Reagan administration Reagan Administration Headed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, the Reagan Administration was conservatism, steadfastly anti-communism and in favor of tax cuts and smaller government.... entered into an agreement with the Vietnamese government, pursuant to which Vietnam would free all former RVN soldiers and officials held in reeducation camps and allow them to emigrate to the United States United States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is a country in North America.... . Thus began the third large influx of Vietnamese immigrants into the country. Number of victimsThe number of inmates and death figures at the various camps are unclear due to the secrecy of the Vietnamese government. Crude estimates range from 500,000 to over 2 million inmates. Estimated death figures due to diseases, starvation, execution and working accidents range from tens of thousands to over 100,000 dead.See also
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