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 
 
 
¶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