Phu Quoc Prison ( also known as An Thoi POW Camp) was a military prison in

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City; Vietnam's first island municipality. The island has a total area o ...

, southern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(today it is in

Kiên Giang Province Kiên Giang was a former province of Vietnam, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. It is known for fishing and rice farming. The provincial capital is Rạch Giá, from Ho Chi Minh City. Kiên Giang's area is and its popul ...

History

The prison was built in 1949–1950 by French colonialists as a place to detain political dissidents. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, it was used for the detention of captured

Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

and

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

ese soldiers. The prison covered an area of . During the

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...

in early 1968, 2,665 POWs escaped after attacking the fenceline, few of them were recaptured. The Vietcong shelled or attacked the camp 34 times in 1968.

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

(ICRC) teams visited Phu Quoc Prison in 1969 and 1972.''International Review of the Red Cross''
December 1972, 12th year, No. 141
p. 658 The ICRC found that many POWs showed signs of inadequate food supplies, poor medical care and physical beatings. The prison was closed after the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

in April 1975. It is ranked as a special historical relic of national significance by the government of Vietnam and is now a museum.

References

External links

Ex-commando recalls the horror of jail
Buildings and structures in Kiên Giang province Defunct prisons in Vietnam War crimes in Vietnam Vietnam War prisoner-of-war camps Vietnam War sites Torture in Vietnam Vietnam War crimes by South Vietnam Torture in the Vietnam War {{KienGiang-geo-stub