Intelligence and Security Operations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministry of National Defense

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at the Muong Trai Camp, the Cao Bang Camp held 22 generals, 876 colonels,
and some high ranking Communist officers, who had defected during the war
years to the RVN. Five of the 22 interned generals have been identified as:
Major General Doan Van Quang, Commander, ARVN Special Forces; Major
General Do Ke Giai, Commander, ARVN Ranger Command; Brigadier
General Le Minh Dao, Commander, ARVN 18th Infantry Division; Brigadier
General Pham Duy Tat, Commander, ARVN II Corps 2nd Ranger Command;
and Brigadier General Pham Ha Thanh, Deputy Commander, ARVN Medical
Corps.
The Muong Trai Camp held about 4,000 company- and field-grade
officers from the rank of second lieutenant to colonel. The camp was
commanded by PAVN Colonel Pham Thai, _who had a 350-man camp staff,
which included about 20 indoctrinators/ interrogators and four 70-man
security guard companies. Although no figures are available on the number of
ARVN internees in the Lang Son, Nghia Lo, Son La, and Yen Bai Camps, they
presumably held similar numbers of internees. In spring 1978, PAVN
experienced a breakout from the Lang Son Camp near the Chinese border,
during which several hundred interned officers succeeded in escaping across
the border to China. PAVN then relocated all internees from camps north of
Hanoi to new camp sites south of Ha Nam Ninh and Thanh Hoa Provinces. At
about the same time, a number of interned officers who had specialized
technical or professional qualifications, such as doctors and engineers, were
offered release and employment in North Vietnam, where their skills were
needed. '
As of December 1978, over 40,000 former RVN civilian officials "and
ARVN pesonnel were interned in various CDV- and BNV-administered camps
in North Vietnam. In December 1978, inmates at several camps in North
Vietnam were told by camp authorities that they would not be released since
they had only completed three years of "study." The inmates were also told
that their three years of minimum "reeducation" would begin in 1979. Camp
authorities also announced that their future release in three years (1982) would
depend on their behavior during said period, and that decisions would later be
made on a case-by-case basis to determine whether further reeducation or
release was warranted. Only those who had shown progress in reeducation
were allowed mail privileges; they were allowed one letter and one five
kilogram parcel every six months. However, very few relatives have received
any word from their interned relatives in North Vietnam, according to
refugees.
The Prison Comp System in South Vietnam
In addition to the 40,000 RVN and ARVN officials detained in BNV and
CDV camps in North Vietnam, there are an estimated 120,000 still held in
various CDV and BNV camps/prisons in South Vietnam. Of this number,
about 90,000 are ARVN internees held in about 25 CDV camps located in
Military Regions 7 and 9 of PAVN IV Corps, Military Region 5 of PAVN III
Corps, and Military Region 4 of PAVN II Corps. At one time (1976), the CDV
administered over 75 provincial- and regional-level camps in South Vietnam.
By October 1976, this CDV camp system was reorganized and consolidated
- 68
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