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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

1970-10-07 ""Iowa City People's Peace Treaty Committee"" Page 12

Open Letter from Saigon's Jailed Women 
Reprinted from Boston After Dark 

(Translator's Note : This is report by 82 Vietnamese women prisoners smuggled out of Saigon's Chi Hoa jail. I visited these women in the Tiger Cages of Con Son on July 2, 1970 with U.S. Congressmen (Tenn.) William Anderson and Augustus Hawkins. Every one of the "cages" had five women. The women ranged in age from fifteen years old to one blind lady over 60. Many of them were obviously very sick. Some had T.B. some had eye disease; and most had skin disease. Those who were in the worst condition were lying on the floor of the tiny cells while other fanned them with off bits of cloth. They were hungry, thirsty and showed obvious signs of having been beaten many times. 
Over 100 of these women have been brought back to the mainland, and according to these women, 185 are still on the prison island of Con Son. 
The writers of this report, all former inmates of the Tiger Cages of Con Son, are now in Saigon's Chi Hoa prison. On September 20, they smuggled this detailed report of how they were sent to Con Son and what it is like there out to the Committee for Prisoner Relations, the Woman's Committee for Human Rights, and the Saigon Student Union. Their purpose was to bring Vietnamese and international attention to their plight so that basic reforms such as adequate food, water and medicine will be provided prisoners, and end to torture in the prisoners, a release of prisoners who sentences have expired or who have never been sentenced, the return to the mainland of 185 woman still on Con Son. 
Everyone of the 82 women from Con Son now held at Chi Hao jail signed the report which was secretly passed from woman to woman inside the jail. The danger to these women is so obvious that it does not need detailing.
I thank my Vietnamese friends who helped me in making this translation. - Don Luce

A Denouncement of the Crimes Committed by the Wardens of Chi Hoa and Con Son Prisons
- a signed report smuggled out of Chi Hoa prison 

We, a number of women prisoners just transferred from Con Son prison to Chi Hoa prison on August 4, denounce to the people the crimes of the bloodthirsty wardens, Liong and Tuan, who repressed, beat, and sent us to Con Son as well as the crimes of Nguyen Van Ve, Nguyen Van Tran and their assistants at Con Son prison. 
The killing of prisoners at midnight by Duong Ngoc Ninh and his at Thu Duc prison has stirred the people's attention. It was followed by the midnight repression of women prisoners at Chi Hoa and sending them to Con Son Island. 
They sent us to Con Son because they did not want to answer our demands as they had promised on November 29, 1969. The demands were:

- The release of the women without sentence or with expired sentence as well as the sick and crippled. 
- Not to beat and torture the prisoners. 
- To improve the conditions of the prisoners.

At 12:00 midnight on November 29, 1969, when all of us were sound asleep, we suddenly heard the voice of Liong (the director of Chi Hoa) speaking from a loudspeaker: "Pack your luggage and get ready to move to another place. You will find better conditions and comforts at the new place - as I promised you before." Then he continued, " Military field police will help the women with packing, and will not beat the women." The voice of Liong had just ceased when a shower of lime dust and tear gas fell upon us. Screams of protest and for help were raised. About a battalion of military field police, special trustees (military convicts) and about 200 civilian trustees (criminals) fully equipped with arms, and under the direction of wardens Liong and Tuan and with the presence of officials from the ministry of Interior, Police Headquarters, and the National Directorate of Correction, took charge of taking us from Chi Hoa. Tam, the director of Tan Hiep jail, and a number of guards from Con Son prison got into our cells and repressed us. Bags of lime and cans of tear gas were thrown on us in the small cells full of prisoners. We were choked, our throat burned, some fainted and vomited blood. The bloodthirsty guards ran into the cells and beat us with clubs. They pulled us by our arms and hair, following the order "three men try to drag one woman." Taking advantage of our confusion the men barbarously beat us on our "female" places. We screamed more loudly in protest. Our bodies streamed with blood and wounds. Dragging us down the steps, they threw us one on top of the other and they even stepped on our bodies without pity. They also repressed the sick people at the clinical center. Even paralyzed women and a 60-year old blind woman were beaten. Lime was also thrown on two of the babies who were about two months old. We thought they could not survive. 
At the prison gate they threw us into the trucks like animals. Our bodies burned with bloody wounds mixed with lime dust. Our clothes were torn, some of us were naked. Some big trustees got into the truck and shackled us and threw more lime on us. While waiting at the airport shackled, the trustees and the military field police continued to beat us and throw more bags of lime. Then they threw us on the U.S. military planes. The Americans who saw it refused to do anything. 
We were dragged on our backs. The trustees pulled us by our arms and legs on the floor. Our bodies were swollen from the bruises. We were in rags rather than clothes. Our hair was tangled. At the Con Son airport a trustee committee was waiting for the command of the major to "welcome" us. They said, " do you want to get on the trucks? We'll show you that this is Con Son Island , not the mainland." Immediately they threw themselves upon us and dragged us to the trucks ... and later we were thrown five at a time into the tiger cages. After having taken all out belongings from our handkerchief to medicine bottle (similar to Chinese Tiger Balm), our hair pins, our sanitary napkins.. they just left us a suit on our bodies in the  midst of the cold weather of Con Son. 
A tiger cage is five feet wide, ten feet long and eight feet high. The walls are of sixteen inch thick stones. Above us were the iron bars. In each cell there is a cement bench, 32 inches wide, six feet long and two feet high. 
On the first day they gave us no food or water. On the next day each five of us received a paper "blanket" and each of us half a bowl of rice soup. 
The life of the prisoners at Con Son is miserable. A handful of rice with some sauce full of sand and pebbles and rotten fish ... The ration for one person is given to five. We were given three meals within seven hours and then 

(PRG cont. from page 8)
-- persons of various political and religious forces and tendencies standing for peace, independence, neutrality and democracy including those who, for political reasons have to live abroad. 

The provisional coalition government will implement the agreements reached by the parties. 

The provisional coalition government will carry out a policy of national concord, ensure the democratic freedoms of the people, prohibit all acts of terror, reprisal, and discrimination against those who have collaborated with either side, stabilize and improve the living conditions of the people and organize general elections to form a coalition government. 

The provisional coalition government will pursue a foreign policy of peace and neutrality, practice a policy of good neighbourhood with the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Cambodia, respect the sovereignty, independence,neutrality and territorial integrity of these two countries. It will establish diplomatic relations will all countries regardless of their political regime, including the United States, in accordance with the five principles of peaceful coexistence. 

6. Vietnam is one, the Vietnamese people is one. The reunification of Vietnam will be achieved step by step, by peaceful means, on the basis of discussions and agreements between the two zones, without coercion of annexion from either side, without foreign interference. The time for reunification as well as all questions relating to the reunification will be discussed and agreed upon by both zones. Pending the peaceful reunification of the country, the two will re-establish normal relations in all fields on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and will respect each other's political regime, internal and external policies. 

7. The parties will decide together measures aimed at ensuring the respect and the correct implementation of the provisions agreed upon. 

8. After the agreement on and signing of accords aimed at putting an end to the war and restoring peace in Vietnam, the parties will implement the modalities that will have been laid down for a cease-fire in South Vietnam,

To attain a peaceful settlement of the Vietnam problem, the provisional revolutionary government of Republic of South Vietnam declares its readiness to get henceforth in touch with the forces or persons of various political tendencies and religions in the country and abroad, including members of the present Saigon administration, except Thieu, Ky, and Khiem.

[insert]"It is impossible to lay down arms until victory is completely won."
Richard M. Nixon
Vice President of the United States
Hanoi, Vietnam
November 4, 1953 
(cont. on p.24)

Joint treaty of peace between the U.S. and Vietnamese peoples. 

Be it known that the American and Vietnamese people are not enemies. The war is carried out in the names of the people of the United States and South Vietnam but without our consent. It destroys the land and people of Vietnam. It drains America of its resources, its youth and its honor. 
We hereby agree to end the war on the following terms, so that both peoples can live under the joy of independence and can devote themselves to building a society based on human equality and respect for the earth. 

1. The Americans agree to immediate and total withdrawal from Vietnam and publicly set the date by which all American forces will be removed. 
The Vietnamese pledge that as soon as the U.S. Government publicly sets a date for total withdrawal:
2. They will enter discussions to secure the release of all American prisoners, including pilots captured while bombing North Vietnam. 
3. There will be an immediate cease-fire between U.S. forces and those led by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam. 
4. They will enter discussions of the procedures to guarantee the safety of all withdrawing troops. 

5. The Americans pledge to end the imposition of Thieu-Ky-Khiem on the people of South Vietnam in order ton insure their right to self determination and so that all political prisoners can be released.
6. The Vietnamese pledge to form a provisional coalition government to organize democratic elections. All parties agree to respect the results of elections in which all South Vietnamese can participate freely without the presence of any foreign troops. 
7. The South Vietnamese pledge to enter discussion of procedures to guarantee the safety and political freedom of those South Vietnamese who have collaborated with the U.S. or with the U.S. supported regime. 
8. The Americans and Vietnamese agree to respect the independence, peace and neutrality of Laos and Cambodia in accord with the 1954 and 1962 Geneva conventions and not to interfere in the internal affairs of these two countries. 
9. Upon these points of agreement, we pledge to end the war and resolve all other questions in the spirit of self determination and mutual respect for the independence and political freedom of the people of Vietnam and the United States.

By ratifying the agreement, we pledge to take whatever actions are appropriate to implement the terms of this joint Treaty and to insure its acceptance by the government of the United States. 

12

Saving...

Open Letter from Saigon's Jailed Women Reprinted from Boston After Dark (Translator's Note : This is report by 82 Vietnamese women prisoners smuggled out of Saigon's Chi Hoa jail. I visited these women in the Tiger Cages of Con Son on July 2, 1970 with U.S. Congressmen (Tenn.) William Anderson and Augustus Hawkins. Every one of the "cages" had five women. The women ranged in age from fifteen years old to one blind lady over 60. Many of them were obviously very sick. Some had T.B. some had eye disease; and most had skin disease. Those who were in the worst condition were lying on the floor of the tiny cells while other fanned them with off bits of cloth. They were hungry, thirsty and showed obvious signs of having been beaten many times. Over 100 of these women have been brought back to the mainland, and according to these women, 185 are still on the prison island of Con Son. The writers of this report, all former inmates of the Tiger Cages of Con Son, are now in Saigon's Chi Hoa prison. On September 20, they smuggled this detailed report of how they were sent to Con Son and what it is like there out to the Committee for Prisoner Relations, the Woman's Committee for Human Rights, and the Saigon Student Union. Their purpose was to bring Vietnamese and international attention to their plight so that basic reforms such as adequate food, water and medicine will be provided prisoners, and end to torture in the prisoners, a release of prisoners who sentences have expired or who have never been sentenced, the return to the mainland of 185 woman still on Con Son. Everyone of the 82 women from Con Son now held at Chi Hao jail signed the report which was secretly passed from woman to woman inside the jail. The danger to these women is so obvious that it does not need detailing. I thank my Vietnamese friends who helped me in making this translation. - Don Luce A Denouncement of the Crimes Committed by the Wardens of Chi Hoa and Con Son Prisons - a signed report smuggled out of Chi Hoa prison We, a number of women prisoners just transferred from Con Son prison to Chi Hoa prison on August 4, denounce to the people the crimes of the bloodthirsty wardens, Liong and Tuan, who repressed, beat, and sent us to Con Son as well as the crimes of Nguyen Van Ve, Nguyen Van Tran and their assistants at Con Son prison. The killing of prisoners at midnight by Duong Ngoc Ninh and his at Thu Duc prison has stirred the people's attention. It was followed by the midnight repression of women prisoners at Chi Hoa and sending them to Con Son Island. They sent us to Con Son because they did not want to answer our demands as they had promised on November 29, 1969. The demands were: - The release of the women without sentence or with expired sentence as well as the sick and crippled. - Not to beat and torture the prisoners. - To improve the conditions of the prisoners. At 12:00 midnight on November 29, 1969, when all of us were sound asleep, we suddenly heard the voice of Liong (the director of Chi Hoa) speaking from a loudspeaker: "Pack your luggage and get ready to move to another place. You will find better conditions and comforts at the new place - as I promised you before." Then he continued, " Military field police will help the women with packing, and will not beat the women." The voice of Liong had just ceased when a shower of lime dust and tear gas fell upon us. Screams of protest and for help were raised. About a battalion of military field police, special trustees (military convicts) and about 200 civilian trustees (criminals) fully equipped with arms, and under the direction of wardens Liong and Tuan and with the presence of officials from the ministry of Interior, Police Headquarters, and the National Directorate of Correction, took charge of taking us from Chi Hoa. Tam, the director of Tan Hiep jail, and a number of guards from Con Son prison got into our cells and repressed us. Bags of lime and cans of tear gas were thrown on us in the small cells full of prisoners. We were choked, our throat burned, some fainted and vomited blood. The bloodthirsty guards ran into the cells and beat us with clubs. They pulled us by our arms and hair, following the order "three men try to drag one woman." Taking advantage of our confusion the men barbarously beat us on our "female" places. We screamed more loudly in protest. Our bodies streamed with blood and wounds. Dragging us down the steps, they threw us one on top of the other and they even stepped on our bodies without pity. They also repressed the sick people at the clinical center. Even paralyzed women and a 60-year old blind woman were beaten. Lime was also thrown on two of the babies who were about two months old. We thought they could not survive. At the prison gate they threw us into the trucks like animals. Our bodies burned with bloody wounds mixed with lime dust. Our clothes were torn, some of us were naked. Some big trustees got into the truck and shackled us and threw more lime on us. While waiting at the airport shackled, the trustees and the military field police continued to beat us and throw more bags of lime. Then they threw us on the U.S. military planes. The Americans who saw it refused to do anything. We were dragged on our backs. The trustees pulled us by our arms and legs on the floor. Our bodies were swollen from the bruises. We were in rags rather than clothes. Our hair was tangled. At the Con Son airport a trustee committee was waiting for the command of the major to "welcome" us. They said, " do you want to get on the trucks? We'll show you that this is Con Son Island , not the mainland." Immediately they threw themselves upon us and dragged us to the trucks ... and later we were thrown five at a time into the tiger cages. After having taken all out belongings from our handkerchief to medicine bottle (similar to Chinese Tiger Balm), our hair pins, our sanitary napkins.. they just left us a suit on our bodies in the midst of the cold weather of Con Son. A tiger cage is five feet wide, ten feet long and eight feet high. The walls are of sixteen inch thick stones. Above us were the iron bars. In each cell there is a cement bench, 32 inches wide, six feet long and two feet high. On the first day they gave us no food or water. On the next day each five of us received a paper "blanket" and each of us half a bowl of rice soup. The life of the prisoners at Con Son is miserable. A handful of rice with some sauce full of sand and pebbles and rotten fish ... The ration for one person is given to five. We were given three meals within seven hours and then (PRG cont. from page 8) -- persons of various political and religious forces and tendencies standing for peace, independence, neutrality and democracy including those who, for political reasons have to live abroad. The provisional coalition government will implement the agreements reached by the parties. The provisional coalition government will carry out a policy of national concord, ensure the democratic freedoms of the people, prohibit all acts of terror, reprisal, and discrimination against those who have collaborated with either side, stabilize and improve the living conditions of the people and organize general elections to form a coalition government. The provisional coalition government will pursue a foreign policy of peace and neutrality, practice a policy of good neighbourhood with the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Cambodia, respect the sovereignty, independence,neutrality and territorial integrity of these two countries. It will establish diplomatic relations will all countries regardless of their political regime, including the United States, in accordance with the five principles of peaceful coexistence. 6. Vietnam is one, the Vietnamese people is one. The reunification of Vietnam will be achieved step by step, by peaceful means, on the basis of discussions and agreements between the two zones, without coercion of annexion from either side, without foreign interference. The time for reunification as well as all questions relating to the reunification will be discussed and agreed upon by both zones. Pending the peaceful reunification of the country, the two will re-establish normal relations in all fields on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and will respect each other's political regime, internal and external policies. 7. The parties will decide together measures aimed at ensuring the respect and the correct implementation of the provisions agreed upon. 8. After the agreement on and signing of accords aimed at putting an end to the war and restoring peace in Vietnam, the parties will implement the modalities that will have been laid down for a cease-fire in South Vietnam, To attain a peaceful settlement of the Vietnam problem, the provisional revolutionary government of Republic of South Vietnam declares its readiness to get henceforth in touch with the forces or persons of various political tendencies and religions in the country and abroad, including members of the present Saigon administration, except Thieu, Ky, and Khiem. [insert]"It is impossible to lay down arms until victory is completely won." Richard M. Nixon Vice President of the United States Hanoi, Vietnam November 4, 1953 (cont. on p.24) Joint treaty of peace between the U.S. and Vietnamese peoples. Be it known that the American and Vietnamese people are not enemies. The war is carried out in the names of the people of the United States and South Vietnam but without our consent. It destroys the land and people of Vietnam. It drains America of its resources, its youth and its honor. We hereby agree to end the war on the following terms, so that both peoples can live under the joy of independence and can devote themselves to building a society based on human equality and respect for the earth. 1. The Americans agree to immediate and total withdrawal from Vietnam and publicly set the date by which all American forces will be removed. The Vietnamese pledge that as soon as the U.S. Government publicly sets a date for total withdrawal: 2. They will enter discussions to secure the release of all American prisoners, including pilots captured while bombing North Vietnam. 3. There will be an immediate cease-fire between U.S. forces and those led by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam. 4. They will enter discussions of the procedures to guarantee the safety of all withdrawing troops. 5. The Americans pledge to end the imposition of Thieu-Ky-Khiem on the people of South Vietnam in order ton insure their right to self determination and so that all political prisoners can be released. 6. The Vietnamese pledge to form a provisional coalition government to organize democratic elections. All parties agree to respect the results of elections in which all South Vietnamese can participate freely without the presence of any foreign troops. 7. The South Vietnamese pledge to enter discussion of procedures to guarantee the safety and political freedom of those South Vietnamese who have collaborated with the U.S. or with the U.S. supported regime. 8. The Americans and Vietnamese agree to respect the independence, peace and neutrality of Laos and Cambodia in accord with the 1954 and 1962 Geneva conventions and not to interfere in the internal affairs of these two countries. 9. Upon these points of agreement, we pledge to end the war and resolve all other questions in the spirit of self determination and mutual respect for the independence and political freedom of the people of Vietnam and the United States. By ratifying the agreement, we pledge to take whatever actions are appropriate to implement the terms of this joint Treaty and to insure its acceptance by the government of the United States. 12