The Antiwar Movement's Campaign
to Free Thieu's Political Prisoners
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Watch the video on youtube by clicking here
Share this URL with friends, colleagues and on social media https://youtu.be/OFd5shTfwEY
Speakers
* Brewster Rhoads, moderator, Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee
* "The Tiger Cages | A Short Documentary by Jeff Nesmith"
featuring Tom Harkin and Don Luce
* Jane Griffith, Vietnam Director, American Friends Service Committee
* Jean Pierre Debris, political prisoner in Saigon
* Jerry Elmer, Tiger Cage Vigil and Fast, US Capitol
* Jeff Nesmith, film maker
Political repression was a characteristic of the governments that the US sponsored in South Vietnam because of their limited popular support and their need to control the active role in the civilian population of the National Liberation Front and Third Force advocates of democracy.
This webinar will focus on the plight of political
prisoners during the regime of Nguyen Van Thieu from 1967 until
1975. Because of US funding for the Saigon government, the issue became a driving force in the latter years of the antiwar movement, especially after the Paris Peace Agreement ended direct US combat.
Estimates of the number of political prisoners in Thieu's jails vary widely. The Saigon government announced in July that it held 4321 political prisoners, a figure Newsweek magazine called "unconvincing." A few days later, a group of South Vietnamese students and clerics issued a statement claiming that the government held about 202,000 political prisoners.
Amnesty International, a widely respected humanitarian group based in London, estimates that Thieu holds about 100,000 civilians, a figure that presumably includes some criminals as well as political prisoners....
political imprisonment is not reserved for supporters of the National Liberation Front. The best known political prisoners are not communists, but neutralists, pacifists, or other opponents of Thieu. According to some observers, in fact, it's precisely non-communist and even non-political people that the Saigon government is most interested in imprisoning. ...
Conditions in Thieu's prisons are controversial. Thieu's government claims the prisons are humane "re-education centers," but it generally refuses to let journalists visit them freely. Former prisoners and letters smuggled out of prisons tell of a lack of food, frequent beatings, and torture of all varieties, with the the most popular apparently applying electric shocks to men's and women's genitals, subjecting prisoners to blazing lamps, sticking pins through their fingers, forcing bottles and other objects up women's vaginas, and forcing people to swallow large quantities of clear or soapy water and then jumping up and down on their stomachs.
By Seth M. Kupferberg, Harvard Crimson, October 10, 1973 https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/10/10/thieus-prisons-some-pows-cant-go/
Jean Pierre Debris 1968-1970 Math teacher in Da Nang (South Viet Nam) French lycée for the French foreign ministry. July 25th 1970 - December 29th 1972 Political prisoner at Chi Hoa prison in Saigon after demonstrating against the war. 4 years sentence by military tribunal. 1973 - May 15th 1975 Guest of the American anti-war movement: Amnesty International (Joan Baez); Minneapolis organization to free the political prisoners in South Viet Nam (as required by the Paris Peace agreement); Indochina Peace Campaign (Tom Hayden/Jane Fonda/Dan Ellsberg/Leonard Weinglass in Los Angeles); Indochina Mobile Education Project/ Indochina Resource Center (Fred Branfman/Don Luce/Sally Benson in Washington DC); AFSC/Quakers (John McAulif/Philadelphia); Cora/Peter Weiss (New York). With their help, I directly confronted in Congress former POW Senator John McCain, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and General Abrams, commander chief of the US Army in South Viet Nam, and also, ex Nixon Attorney General Elliot Richardson at the Smithsonian Institution. 1979 Married with Kim Hoa in Hanoi (who, incidentally, while living in Quan Thien street, was actually bombed at that time in 1967 by John Mc Cain. Author of the book: "We Accuse", 1973 (in French, English, Japanese, German, Italian)
Jerry Elmer was a Vietnam-era peace activist who
publicly refused to register for the draft when he turned 18 in August 1969.
During the 15 months after he graduated from high school, he publicly destroyed
draft files at 14 local draft boards in three cities. Jerry worked for the
American Friends Service Committee from 1972 to 1987. In 1987, he left AFSC to
attend law school; as a result of his anti-war activity, Jerry was the only
convicted felon in Harvard Law School's graduating class of 1990. From June
24, 1974 to August 24, 1974, Jerry was one of the coordinators of the Tiger Cage
Vigil and Fast on the steps of the U.S. Capitol; the project was sponsored by a
coalition of 16 national peace groups including AFSC. His first book, Felon
for Peace: The Memoir of a Vietnam-Era Draft Resister, was published in 2005
in the United States by Vanderbilt University Press and in Vietnam (in
Vietnamese translation) by The Goi Publishing House. The Vietnamese
edition includes an introduction by Professor Dương Trung Quốc, then a
member of Vietnam's National Assembly.
Jane Barton Griffith was the co-director from 1970 to 1973 of the American Friends Service Committee’s humanitarian projects in South Vietnam which included a Rehabilitation Center where Vietnamese were trained to make prosthesis for war-injured Vietnamese civilians. As a Quaker pacifist organization located in a fierce combat zone, the Center treated injured people from both sides of the conflict. The program included medical visits to prisoners, and in 1973 Jane secretly photographed political prisoners, mostly women, who had been severely tortured. When Jane returned from Vietnam, Amnesty International sponsored her on a speaking tour in the US and Europe and her photographs were widely published nationally and internationally. Jane continued to work in the US for AFSC's Northern California office.
Jane’s later career included directing historic restoration projects and working for international
nonprofit agencies. She served as the Chief Curator and Restoration Officer of the US Treasury
and Department of Justice, and an advisor to the White House on restoration. She was awarded
a Presidential Design medal by President William Clinton, and was appointed by the governor
of New Jersey, Christie Todd Whitman, as director of historic buildings including the
State House and Governor’s Mansion.
Jane has also held positions at the World Wildlife Fund, National Gallery of Art, National Trust for
Historic Preservation, UNICEF, and the Center for International Policy, as well as the Asian Art Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Jane was asked to create a national nonprofit for autism, now called Autism Speaks. She has traveled to more than fifty countries.
She is the author of numerous articles, museum catalogues, and three books: two cookbooks, "The Berkshire Cookbook" and "Knead It" and a large format art book, Shibori, about Japanese textiles
which has been in continuous print since 1983 with a total of 25,000 copies to date. Harmony Books
contracted with Jane for background research in Vietnam for Francis FitzGerald’s Introduction to
the English translation of "Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: Diary of Dang Thuy Tram", and to write
330 footnotes for the diary.
Jane’s memoir, "For Get Me Not", about a close Vietnamese friend, will be released in March 2025
Brewster Rhoads, a native of Philadelphia, PA, was active in the anti-war movement as a student at Williams College and as an organizer for the Coalition to Stop Funding the War in Washington, DC. He hosted the Indochina Mobile Education Project for a week at Williams College in 1974.
Brewster was a VISTA volunteer in Western Massachusetts, Director of the Washington-based Coalition for a New Foreign Policy, Director of the Green Umbrella environmental sustainability alliance in Cincinnati and the SW Ohio Regional Director for Ohio Governors Dick Celeste and Ted Strickland. He managed over 150 issue and candidate campaigns in SW Ohio.
Brewster is currently the Chair of the Board of the Ohio River Way, Inc., a nonprofit working to promote outdoor recreation opportunities on and along the Ohio River from Portsmouth, OH to Louisville, KY.
He also serves on the boards of Adventure Crew, the Mill Creek Alliance, the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund and Innovation Ohio.
An avid kayaker and cyclist, he is the founder and chair of the Ohio River Paddlefest, now the largest paddling event in the U.S.
Brewster lives in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati with his wife Ann Lugbill, a whistleblower attorney. His daughters Elizabeth and Caroline live and teach in Lund, Sweden and Berlin, Germany respectively.
brewohio@gmail.com
Resources
"The Tiger Cages | A Short Documentary by Jeff Nesmith"
https://youtu.be/verGv2qpmqM
"Côn Sơn Island, Vietnam – Tortured Serenity in Vietnam's Côn Đảo Archipelago"
Dave Fox's Globejotting https://youtu.be/WgiP4Hgz_2k
Interview of Don Luce by Andrew Pearson, reading Grace Paley tiger cage article
https://youtu.be/vUEZwUS-fYU go to 17:43
"The Transformation of Don Luce"
by Ted Lieverman 2/10/2017 https://www.historynet.com/transformation-don-luce/?f
“Tiger Cages” in Vietnam: How the call for U.S. Prison Abolition is a Global Issue"
By Stuart Schrader
"The Other Prisoners"
By Tom Wicker, New York Timea
March 11, 1973
A column based on his interview with Jean Pierre Debris and Andre Menras
https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/11/archives/the-other-prisoners-in-the-nation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rE4.M9lq.eptHTCM9cUw_&smid=url-share
"Vietnam Prison Torture Described by U.S. Doctor"
by R.M. Smith, July 18, 1970,
page 1, New York Times
"Thieu’s Prisoners"
by Joseph Buttinger, The New York Review of Books June 14, 1973
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/thieus-prisoners/
"Thieu’s Prisoners"
The New York Review of Books, May 17, 1973
To the Editors:
We, the undersigned, as specialists on Asia, look upon the 1973 Paris Peace Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam as an important step toward achieving peace in Asia. We believe that Thieu’s policy on political prisoners which has US support constitutes a fundamental violation of the Agreement and risks the resumption of war.
More than 200,000 political prisoners are still held in the jails of the Saigon administration. According to Article 8 of the Agreement, arrangements concerning the release of prisoners are to be made by April 27, 1973. However, not only has the Saigon administration taken no steps for their release, on the contrary, it has: a) imprisoned many more persons since the Agreement went into effect, including neutralists, Buddhists, students, professors, intellectuals, and professional people, b) arbitrarily renamed political prisoners as common criminals in order to prevent their release, c) continued to systematically torture and keep prisoners in subhuman conditions, including tiger-cages, and even murdered prisoners—all in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention concerning civilian rights in wartime, the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights and the Nuremberg Charter.
As Asia specialists and human beings, we feel we have a role to play in influencing American opinion on the Agreement and thus helping to prevent the resumption of war. We demand that the terms of Article 8 of the Agreement be fulfilled, that all political prisoners in South Vietnam be immediately released, and that all Vietnamese be allowed to voice their political opinions. No American aid should be given to the Thieu administration as long as it refuses to comply with these basic provisions of the Agreement.
George McT. Kahin, Cornell University
Kurt Steiner, Stanford University
K. J. Pelzer, Yale University
Lucien Bianco, University of Michigan
John W. Lewis, Stanford University
Mikio Sumiya, University of Tokyo, University of Illinois
J. P. Harrison, Hunter College, CUNY
Martin Bernal, Cornell University
J. Langlois, Princeton University
George O. Totten, University of Southern California
And over 250 other Asian specialists. (This statement was signed on April 1. As this issue goes to press there is no indication of anything more than token arrangements for release. See “Appeal for the Release of Vietnamese Political Prisoners,” NYR, April 19, 1973, p. 42.)
Chat
16:31:50 From Jeff Nesmith to Hosts and panelists : Colonel Ve
17:19:58 From Carol Jensen : When Ron Young and I were in Vietnam in 2017 Loi arranged for us to meet many of the surviving former Tiger Cage prisoners in HoChiMinh city QuangNai and Danang. They were continuing to share their story in multiple ways (meetings books etc) and were deeply grateful for the role of the US peace movement.
17:28:44 From Dana Moss : Wow, this was incredible. Thank you all so much. I'm blown away.
17:28:54 From Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons to Hosts and panelists : Thanks to all the speakers and organizers of the delegation at the End of the War.
17:29:29 From Stuart Schrader to Hosts and panelists : Thank you for this wonderful event. I learned a ton.
17:29:31 From Etienne Mahler to Hosts and panelists : Thank you so much for your great presentations and valuable insights! Happy Lunar New Year to all of you!
17:29:34 From Barbara Myers to Hosts and panelists : Many thanks. Illuminative discussion.
17:30:19 From Nadya Williams : Gratitude from San Francisco Veterans For Peace!
17:30:26 From Pari Sabety to Hosts and panelists : Fabulous panel—many thanks to all. Inspiring and powerful.
17:30:29 From Jeff Nesmith : As a relative newcomer to this crowd, I would like to just say what a pleasure this has been and what an enlightening conversation. Thank you all! - Jeff
17:30:31 From Kirk Johnson : 👏👏👏✊
17:30:48 From Ann Lugbill : Lady Borton's request for return of Vietnamese artifacts is really important for all of us to think about what we have stored away, this means you, Brewster!
17:31:03 From Martha Winnacker : thank you!
17:31:09 From Edwina Vogan : Thanks for this panel. Did not know about this aspect.
17:31:09 From Robert Levering : Terrific show!!! Thanks to all..
17:31:35 From Aljosie Harding to Hosts and panelists : Thank you for this powerful presentation. Looking forward to going to Vietnam in April. Aljosie Aldrich Harding.
17:31:39 From Carol Jensen : Lady - I wish I had known that when I finally had to clear out a lot of Ron's Vietnam stuff.
17:32:20 From David Hulse : Thank you to John for his incredible, ongoing work in setting up these important seminars.
17:32:39 From Ann Lugbill : As mentioned by Ms. Nguyen, Swarthmore College has quite a large Vietnam War collection that might also be a home for some items/materials.
17:32:56 From An Nguyen to Hosts and panelists : Thank you all so much. I am very honored to finally “meet” some of you, rather than only admire you through historical documents. Thank you John for allowing me to be a commentator today.
17:33:29 From Dana Moss : I highly recommend subscribing to John's listserv for the Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee, if you're not already on it. It's an INCREDIBLE resource
17:33:59 From Marta Daniels : Thank you all for your past work brought forth in an inspired and inspiring set of presentations. It was powerful. Marta D.
17:34:29 From Carol Jensen : Thank you everybody who made this happen.
17:34:35 From Jacquelyn Chagnon to Hosts and panelists : Thank you
17:34:54 From Jeff Nesmith : chúc mừng năm mới!
17:35:11 From brent bleier : History sometimes is more soothing for some of us than the present darkness !!! --- brent, syr NY
Q & A
Q I believe I have heard or read that Con Son was also a
prison island during the French war. Did
the Americans just add on to the French prison, or did we build a new separate
prison.
A The French built many prisons for Vietnamese and Cambodian
dissidents on Con Son going back to 1862. When the island came under American
control in 1954, the Americans took over the administration of those prisons,
as well as built more.
Q Thank each and every one of you for your courage, wisdom,
and amazing presentations. Was the Con Son prison torture a part of the
infamous Phoenix Program?
A Yes. And even though
the Phoenix Program was officially terminated in 1972, similar accelerated
pacification efforts (the Operation Phoenix was the code name for the
Accelerated Pacification Program) continued under the name “Plan F-6.”
Q Do we know how many people perished and were injured under
the US-sponsorship of this grotesque torture campaign? I understand that this
was a long term phenomenon, so the numbers are much higher going back to the
1960s.
