Prison Regime in South Vietnam (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

In 1861, the French colonial government established a prison on the island of Côn Sơn to house political prisoners. In 1954, it was turned over to the South Vietnamese government, who continued to use it for the same purpose. During the Vietnam War, prisoners who had been held at the prison in the 1960s said they were abused and tortured.

‘Tiger Cages’ – Special Cells in Con Dao Jail (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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Photos and Videos of the Prison Regime in South Vietnam

Techniques de torture contre les prisonniers (musée des restes de guerre à Ho Chi Minh-Ville, au Vietnam)

Torture Techniques Against Prisoners (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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Fotos und Videos des Gefängnisregimes in Südvietnam

Guillotine als Teil einer Ausstellung mit den Gefängnisbedingungen für politische Gefangene während der französischen Kolonialzeit

Guillotine as part of an exhibit showing the prison conditions for political prisoners during the French Colonial period

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Photos et Vidéos du Régime Pénitentiaire au Vietnam du Sud

Write-ups, Dioramas and Photos of how Vietnamese Prisoners were tortured (War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

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In 1970, two U.S. Congressional representatives, Augustus Hawkins and William Anderson, visited the Côn Đảo Prison. They were accompanied by Tom Harkin (then an aide), translator Don Luce, and USAID Office of Public Safety 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 magazine on July 17, 1970. Recreations of tiger cages can be seen today at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City