Côn Đảo Prison ( vi, Nhà tù Côn Đảo), also Côn Sơn Prison, is a prison on Côn Sơn Island (also known as Côn Lôn) the largest island of the Côn Đảo archipelago in southern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

(today it is in

Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu ) is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, under South ...

. The prison was built in 1861 by the French colonists to jail those considered especially dangerous to the colonial government. Many of the high-ranking leaders of

were detained here. It is ranked a special historical relic of national importance by the government of Vietnam. The most famous site in this prison are the "tiger cages" (). The French tiger cages cover an area of 5.475 m², within which each cell occupies 1.408 m², solariums occupy 1.873 m², and other spaces occupy 2.194 m². The prison includes 120 cells. The prison was closed after the end of the Vietnam War and opened for visitors soon after.

History

French era

In 1861, the French colonial government established a prison on the island to house prisoners who had committed especially severe crimes. After the turn of the century, the prison held an increasingly larger population of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s. In 1954, it was turned over to the South Vietnamese government, who continued to use it for the same purpose. Notable prisoners held at Côn Sơn included Phan Châu Trinh from 1908-1911,

Tôn Đức Thắng Tôn Đức Thắng (August 20, 1888 – March 30, 1980) was the second and last president of North Vietnam and the first president of the reunified Vietnam under the leadership of General Secretary Lê Duẩn. The position of president is cerem ...

Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam following reunification of North and South Vietnam ...

and

Lê Đức Thọ Lê Đức Thọ (; 14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), born Phan Đình Khải in Nam Dinh Province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with ...

in the 1930s,Kelley, p 5-116 and Nguyễn An Ninh who died in the prison on 14 August 1943, possibly killed by his jailers for fear that he might be used politically by the Japanese. Võ Thị Sáu was executed at the prison in 1952 (though she was imprisoned at the police post outside of the prison). Not far from the prison is Hàng Dương Cemetery, where some of the prisoners who died between 1941 and 1975 were buried.

Vietnam War

During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, prisoners who had been held at the prison in the 1960s and 70s were abused and tortured. In July 1970, two

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

ional representatives,

Augustus Hawkins Augustus Freeman Hawkins (August 31, 1907 – November 10, 2007) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served in the California State Assembly from 1935 to 1963 and the U.S. House Of Representatives from 1963 to 1991. Over the ...

and William Anderson, visited the prison. They were accompanied by

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Io ...

(then an aide), translator

Don Luce Donald Harold Luce (born October 2, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, executive and scout. Luce played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Los Ange ...

, and

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

Office of Public Safety The Office of Public Safety (OPS) was a U.S. government program within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that provided training, assistance and equipment to the security forces of U.S. allies. The program commenced in ...

Director Frank Walton. When the delegation arrived at the prison, they departed from the planned tour, guided by a map drawn by a former detainee. The map led to the door of a building, which was opened from the inside by a guard when he heard the people outside the door talking. Inside they found prisoners were being shackled within cramped "tiger cages". Prisoners began crying out for water when the delegation walked in. They had sores and bruises, and some were mutilated. Harkin took photos of the scene. The photos were published in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine on 17 July 1970.

Tiger Cage

Tiger Cage is the name of the prison constructed by the French. The

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of t ...

took control of the cage in order to detain

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

political prisoners, the

Liberation Army of South Vietnam The Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV, ), also known shortly as the Liberation Army () was the military arm of National Liberation Front of South Vietnam established by the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1961 in South Vietnam. In 1962, the Pe ...

and people who fought against France and America during the war era.

French-made Tiger Cage

* Construction year: 1940 * Total area: 5.475 m² * Each cell's area: 1.408 m² * "Sunbathe" cell's area: 1.873 m² * Empty space: 2.194 m² * This cage consists of: 120 solitary confinement room (Divided into 2 regions, each regions has 60 cells) * Basic characteristic: The top of each cells installed an iron grid and has a border between two regions which is a road for wardens. * Besides, 60 cells have no ceiling, and are called "sunbathe" cells which are used to torture prisoners by making them "sunbathe" themselves.

Notes

;Citations ;References used *

External links

Trang tin tức Côn Đảo - Du lịch Côn Đảo - Lịch sử Côn ĐảoGiới thiệu Côn ĐảoDi tích lịch sử - Nhà tù Côn ĐảoKhái quát địa lý nhân văn Côn Đảo

Kì 1
Bất khuất
Kì 2
Một người đổ máu, trăm người rơi nước mắt
Kì 3
Những cuộc đào thoát
Kì 4
Ngày giải phóng
Kì 5
Ở lại với Côn Đảo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Con Dao Prison Buildings and structures in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu province Defunct prisons in Vietnam War crimes in Vietnam Vietnam War prisoner of war camps Vietnam War sites Torture in Vietnam