Documents / FOIA release

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

Central Intelligence Agency · 1979-12-01 · 120 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a December 1979 Central Intelligence Agency study published by the Directorate of Operations Counterintelligence Staff. It describes the Enemy Proselytizing Department (Cuc Dich Van) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministry of National Defense. The study traces the department's origins from 1941 through the French and Vietnam wars. It covers psychological warfare, fifth column penetration of ARVN and allied forces, the handling of US and allied prisoners of war, and the postwar reeducation of former ARVN personnel. It contains no material on UFOs.

  • p. 13 …MPS components in South Vietnam '-,_- |. ._ ' w__ere tasked with the mission of undermining the power base…
  • p. 29 …15 personnel plus 200 others assigned to six detention camps under its control. The Policy Section…
  • p. 38 …Thus, the CDV was indirectly assisted in its mission ofinducing US military desertions and in fomenting…
  • p. 45 …missions: 1. Destruction of the accelerated pacification program, the assassination of "tyrants," the seizure of control…
  • p. 54 ____ P Y -SEGR-E-T— ‘ . - 1a special 15-man penetration cum (unit) with the mission of…
  • p. 62 …He had the mission of inducing Montagnard tribesmen to resist RVN control efforts in the five…
  • p. 82 …Committee, member of the Central Committee's Control Committee Secretariat, and as a deputy secretary of…
reinforced by the PAVN 5th Infantry Division. By October 1976, all ARVN
officers from the rank of captain were transferred to CDV camps in North
Vietnam, leaving only company grade officers, NCO and enlisted personnel in
the Military Region 7 camp system.
Within Military Region 9 of PAVN IV Corps, the CDV administered at
one time 205 camps for ARVN internees in An Ciang, Ben Tre, Cuu Long,
Dong Thap, Hau Ciang, Kien Ciang, Long An, Minh Hai, and Tien Ciang
Provinces. One of the largest camps was the Tran Quoc Toan Camp near Cao
Lanh in Dong Thap Province, where several thousand officers from the rank
of captain upward were detained under maximum security. Two maximum
security camps were located at former ARVN prison camps on Phu Ouoc
Island, Kien Ciang Province; the Duong Dong (Cuu Sung) and An Thoi (Cay
Dua) Camps each had at one time over 5,000 detainees. Over 2,600 were held
at the Soc Trang Camp in Hau Ciang Province; over 2,000 at the My Phuoc
Camp in Chau Thanh District, Tien Ciang Province; and over 1,500 company
grade officers at the Chi Lang (Nui Dai) Camp in Tri Ton District, An Ciang
Province. The Chi Lang Canp was closed in April 1976 following a raid by
Hoa Hao resistance forces which. freed about 200 officers. Other camps held
about 800 to 1,000 detainees. Among these were: the Thot Not and Long
Xuyen Camps, An Ciang Province; the Ben Tre Camp, Ben Tre Province; the
Long Ho and Dam Lat (Sadec) Camps, Cuu Long Province; the Tan An
Camp, Long An Province; the Minh Luong (Kien Tan District), Xeo R0 (Kien
An District), Kien Ciang Province; the Tra Noc (Phong Dien District), Ouan
Lao (Chau Thanh District), Thom Rom (Phong Phu District), Canal No. 5
(Kien Hung District), Cai Rang, and Phan Thanh Gian (Can Tho) Camps, Hau
Ciang Province; the Bac Lieu, Nam Can, Thoi Binh, Dai Ngai Island, Kinh
Xang, and Song Ong Duc Camps, Minh Hai Province.
In June 1976, all district-level camps run by district military unit enemy
proselytizing subsections for enlisted personnel, NCOs and aspirant officers
were closed. Those who were not ready for release were transferred to camps
run by provincial military unit enemy proselytizing sections. Those who were
classified as "dangerous" elements with “bloody records of crimes against the
people" were segregated into maximum security camps where they were
given imprisonment terms of up to I0 years. By October 1976, several
provincial-level camps were closed and consolidated into one camp for ARVN
officers in the U Minh forest about 30 kilometers from Rach C-ia in Kien Ciang
Province; about 10,000 internees are held in this camp complex which is
organized into several labor camps. The two major camps on Phu Quoc Island
were among those affected by the reorganization of the CDV camp system in
Military Region 9. Over 7,000 internees on Phu Quoc Island were transferred
to the Military Region 7 Trang Lon Camp in Tay Ninh Province which now
held over 10,000 company grade officer internees. A
Within Military Region 5 of PAVN III Corps in Central Vietnam, the
CDV administered 24 camps located in Dac Lac, Cia Lai—Cong Tum, Lam
Dong, Nghia Binh, Phu Khanh, Ouang Nam-Danang, and Thuan Hai
Provinces. Seven camps were located in Ouang Nam-Danang Province; five in
Hieu Duc District, one in Duc Duc District, and one near Danang City. Each
had one time held over 5,000 ARVN personnel. Four camps were located in
70
—5-EGHI-Ti
. mm oeonn ....___ 7 Q

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 120 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.