US embassy cable - 02HANOI2607

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

Identifier:	02HANOI2607
Wikileaks:	View 02HANOI2607 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Hanoi
Created:	2002-10-29 07:32:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED
Tags:	PHUM PGOV SOCI VM HUMANR
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS HANOI 002607 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, VM, HUMANR 
SUBJECT:  PRISON BEATINGS 
 
REF:  A.  HANOI 2596  B.  HANOI 2407 
 
1.  (U)  SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  ACCORDING TO UNUSUAL MEDIA 
REPORTS, HOANG TIEN PRISON IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE OF HAI 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        HANOI  02607  290740Z 
DUONG (WHICH EMBOFFS VISITED IN SEPTEMBER -- REF B), HAS 
EXPERIENCED THREE SERIOUS INCIDENTS INVOLVING GUARDS AND 
PRISONERS BETWEEN LATE AUGUST AND MID-SEPTEMBER.  IT REMAINS 
A MYSTERY WHY A FEW ELEMENTS OF THE MEDIA HAVE PUBLICIZED 
THESE INCIDENTS AND THE SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION BY THE 
SUPREME PEOPLE'S PROCURACY, AS WELL AS WHY THE GVN SELECTED 
THIS PARTICULAR PRISON FOR THE FIRST-EVER VISIT TO A 
VIETNAMESE PRISON BY A US EMBASSY POLITICAL OFFICER.  END 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
2.  (U)  ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 26, TWO HOANG TIEN GUARDS 
STABBED INMATE NGUYEN TAI LONG, AFTER HE ASKED FOR A 
TEMPORARY REST FROM DAILY LABOR DUE TO FATIGUE RELATED TO 
HIS AIDS INFECTION.  LATER THAT DAY, AFTER HIS CONDITION 
DETERIORATED, LONG WAS SENT TO A LOCAL MEDICAL CLINIC, AND 
THEN TO THE PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL, WHERE HE RECOVERED. 
 
3.  (U)  ON SEPTEMBER 10, INMATE PHAM VAN DZUNG DIED AT 
12:30 P.M., AFTER TWO GUARDS HAD STABBED HIM REPEATEDLY, 
TIED HIM UP, AND LEFT HIM EXPOSED TO THE SUN FOR TWO HOURS 
ON THE DECK OF A BARGE IN 34 CELSIUS (OVER 100 DEGREE 
FAHRENHEIT) HEAT.  DZUNG HAD BEGUN A SIX-YEAR SENTENCE IN 
MAY 2002.  THE GUARDS' PUNISHMENT CAME AFTER DZUNG HAD TWICE 
ASKED FOR PERMISSION TO REST FROM HIS LABOR THAT DAY OF 
UNLOADING ROCKS FROM THE BARGE ON A RIVER NEAR THE PRISON. 
HE DIED ON THE WAY TO THE DISTRICT HOSPITAL. 
 
4.  (U)  ON THE AFTERNOON OF SEPTEMBER 22, THE DEAD BODY OF 
INMATE DUONG VAN THU WAS FOUND HANGING FROM A TREE IN THE 
CENTER OF THE PRISON.  THU WAS SERVING A SENTENCE OF FOUR 
AND A HALF YEARS FOR NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING.  THU REPORTEDLY 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        HANOI  02607  290740Z 
COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE HE WAS UPSET THAT HIS FAMILY HAD 
NOT PAID THE FINES UNDER HIS "BRACKET PENALTIES," WHICH 
MIGHT HAVE QUALIFIED HIM FOR A SPECIAL AMNESTY ON THE 
OCCASION OF THE VIETNAMESE NATIONAL DAY.  THE MEDIA AND 
INVESTIGATORS HAVE RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW HE WAS ABLE TO 
HANG HIMSELF IN SUCH A PUBLIC SITE, AND HOW HE HAD EVER 
LEARNED ABOUT HIS "POSSIBLE" ELIGIBILITY FOR AMNESTY, WHICH 
IS SUPPOSED TO BE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. 
 
5.  (U)  FOLLOWING THE DEATHS OF DZUNG AND THU, OFFICIALS 
FROM THE SUPREME PEOPLE'S PROCURACY CONDUCTED AN 
INVESTIGATION AT HOANG TIEN; ONLY THEN DID THEY LEARN ABOUT 
THE AUGUST INCIDENT, ACCORDING TO MEDIA.  ONE OFFICIAL FROM 
THE SUPREME PEOPLE'S PROCURACY, IN COMMENTS TO LOCAL 
REPORTERS, ADMITTED SYSTEMATIC BEATINGS AND OVERTAXING OF 
INMATES AT HOANG TIEN PRISON, WHICH HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN 
LISTED AMONG THE MOST MERITORIOUS PRISONS UNDER THE 
MANAGEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY. 
BURGHARDT 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED