A YEAR AFTER CEASEFIRE Cruelty continues in South Vietnam

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33445, 29 January 1974, Page 21

A YEAR AFTER CEASEFIRE Cruelty continues in South Vietnam

'By

David M. TAYLOR.

general secretary of the National Council of Churches)

After hearing stories t>f cruelty in far-away tountries, many people are able to thrust them but of their minds. A Story about cruelty committed by soldiers of the Thieu Government against prisoners can be thrugged off on several founts, such as “the other side is just as had,’’ or “Saigon says! this isn’t tine; so how can we know the truth ?”

Prehaps many readers of this article will shrug it off that way. But I can’t. I must try again to persuade my fellow-countrymen that we must do everything in our power to put an end to the wickedness that causes untold suffering. Some people who are deeply concerned and working for a cause have a habit of putting evidence before me, hoping to win support, in my position I can't escape. I must examine the material and decide if it really is evidence that can’t be explained away. And if the evidence is overwhelming, then I must give public testimony to what I know to be true.

This has happened over many years in respect to the treatment of political prisoners held by the Saigon Government.

The “agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam” was signed on January 27 last year at the International Conference Centre in Paris.

Article eight of that aggrement specified that the two parties would do their utmost to bring about the return of Vietnamese civilian personnel within 90 days. Yet a year has passed and many men, women and children still suffer in the prisons of the Thieu GovernInent.

When I wrote an article published in “The Press” on February 7, 1970 (“Evidence of Persecution and Torture in South Vietnam”), the then Prime Minister, Sir Keith Holyoake, was given space to reply, and he used it to defend the Saigon Government and attack the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. I But no matter how bad’ the other side may be, the! cruelties committed secretly! in Thieu’s prisons and inter-i rogation centres are not jus-1 tified. And these are still! going on. In the end the truth gets!

out and today the evidence is massive. An article like this is only an introductory step. Many reputable people have vis-! ited Vietnam and written their reports. But the prim-! ary sources of information, are the survivors, because! some have indeed survived and escaped. The Thieu Government; however does everything in its power to hide the truth.! It constantly denies that! there are any “political pris-| oners” in South Vietnam,! admitting only that there are I “criminals” and “Comrnun- J ists”.

Yet a large number of [people have died in detention without ever being charged. Long lists have been circulated of persons who have not been seen since their arrests. When students are arrested, their fellows have sufficient solidarity to send out lists of their names, even if it is illegal to do so. Lists and appeals for support eventually reach the hands of exiles

living in other lands.

Buddhist exile One such exile is Thich Nhat Hanh, who visited New j Zealand and made a deep [impression on the annual [Methodist conference and [other groups he met. He has continued to be a channel of information on whom we can rely. He is a leader of the Unified Buddhist Church, which has suffered intensely because of its constant refusal to take up arms either for or against the Thieu regime. Such contacts have slowly multiplied. Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops and United States Congressmen

have been among the parties that have visited Vietnam, and they have made public what they know. Bishop Guy Belanger, the Roman Catholic bishop of Valleyfield, in the province of Quebec, and Mr Georges Leßel, professor of law at the University of Quebec, reported on May 2 last year, after a two-week stay in i South Vietnam, setting out I their evidence on the exist;ence and suffering of political prisoners. There can be no question concerning the ■ seriousness of the horrors, [even though the number of such prisoners cannot be [proved.

Tortures there are everyiday occurrences. When detainees have been released all have testified to a variety of tortures. Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, auxiliary bishop of the 1

Archdiocese of Detroit, spent Easter week last year visiting political prisoners and their relatives in South Vietnam, and testified: “I can state unequivocally that there are political prisoners lin Saigon’s gaols and in 'gaols throughout the provinces. They are in gaol not for any crime, but simply : because they are in political opposition to the present! Government. The proof is 'overwhelming. And it is clear that these prisoners are subject to inhumane treatment, including deliberate and prolonged torture. I do not make the statement

lightly.” Besides Buddhists imprisoned because of their religious conviction of non-vio-lence, there are Roman Catholic workers who have suffered. Five officers of the Young Christian Workers were arrested in 1972. Because they were elected workers in whom their movement had complete faith, the facts were made known abroad

and the subsequent publicity led to their being put on trial and acquitted — but only after they had been in prison for six months and 18 days. Young Christian Workers all over the world are enraged at the evidence of what happens to simple Vietnamese citizens with no organisations to publicise their cases. They do not even get as far as the court. In New Zealand R.A.V.P.O.C. is a group which works to Release All Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience, and I commend it for public support. Its spokesman is Mr Paul Muir, of Christchurch, (P.O. Box 2464).

If the evidence is as overwhelming as I suggest, why is it necessary to have such an organisation? The answer is that the Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington rejects every suggestion that there are any political prisoners in South Vietnam. A petition organised by R.A.V.P.O.C. and signed by 235 persons (many of whom live in Christchurch) was sent to the embassy on October 9. It was returned by the second secretary, who wrote: “It is improper for ill-informed foreigners to interfere in the internal affairs of the Vietnamese

people.” The battle for humanity must go on. We, the family of man, must stand together. And since New Zealand helped to maintain Thieu in power we share responsibility for the cruelties he in'flicts.