Thân Hữu Tiếp Tay...
ELECTROCUTION by NGUOIVIETTUDO
xxxx
ELECTROCUTION by NGUOIVIETTUDO
Write down a few memories in English of the period in prison of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam regime: As they propagated about human dignity of the Police regime. Especially for those young people who can read English only.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the snores of several prisoners rang out after a hard day. Sleep brings prisoners two benefits: forgetting fatigue and forgetting hunger. But it's not that easy. Before resting, the prisoners had to parrot and parrot dozens of rules and regulations in a shabby cement room with just enough space to share with sixteen people.
In the dinner, each prisoner was given a meal consisting of a bowl of half of rice, and a small bowl of soup with a few stalks of water spinach. The state only provides that much nutrition to compensate for the energy lost during hard labor at the construction site.
Most of the prisoners here are local people and are supported by their families every month, but they can barely make ends meet. Every month, the family only needs to carry about two sandbags of sliced potatoes and dried potatoes to feed them. However, they can still maintain the solidity and strength of their bodies, especially when they are allowed to go to work outside the camp. The majority of prisoners in the remaining families live far away and have little ability to visit (they are trying hard to help so their relatives can return to see their wives and children before reuniting with their ancestors). Many of the prisoners were very young ages, twenty-one or twenty-two, but their faces were old, hidden in patched blue clothes. Some can only drag their feet as if a strong wind would dare to be drawn towards the sky. This group wanders around like ghosts and is collectively called by camp officials as underworld soldiers...
I am among them.
Our cell was in a row of houses next to each other, perhaps formerly a home camp for soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam. Fourteen prisoners shared a wooden stall large enough for one person's shoulder to touch the other if they were lying on their backs. The length of the wooden crate is about one meter eight, just enough for the prisoner's legs to stretch out. There is a space outside for two people to walk in opposite directions at the same time, to accommodate the bed of the room leader and his deputy.
Both were XDNT who have been here since 75. In other rooms, there are trusted criminal prisoners or sometimes mid-level officers and CSDB second lieutenants. They have some privileges such as they don't have to put their feet in shackles every night like us, plus they can go anywhere (inside the camp of course) without being accompanied or eating and cooking whatever they want. They are called Prisoner guides, and most of them are very good and sympathetic to us. If we want to move anywhere or do anything, we must have one of these guides with us. Failure to comply with this rule and if being caught by officials or other prisoners can result in being beaten, shackled, or given less food in unlimited solitary confinement. That night, after instructing us to shout the rules that we must memorize, and then learn from experience the pros and cons of the working day (everyone yawned because they were tired), the room chief and his deputy walked out the door and listened for about five minutes. When he came back, he said: the other rooms have finished studying, now we can rest and regain strength.
Fourteen prisoners put one leg into their U-shaped shackles (simply called U). A long iron bar will pass through two round holes on the top of the U and go out the wall. The guide will then take control and close the lock on the outside, to avoid in case the prisoner from secretly opening the door to escape. The camp police officer just passed by for a final check.
In the middle of the night, if a prisoner suddenly has a stomachache, the two guides are responsible for bringing the bridge box (made of wood) to his place and the prisoner just sits on the box. Unable to move because both legs are shackled (if having one leg shackled in prison is considered a privilege). There are no complaints here. Those who pushed kept pushing, the rest slept peacefully and carefree. Besides, prisoners don't eat meat and rarely eat fish, so their feces are less smelly and acceptable, except on visiting days to add some fresh food. Urination is relatively more comfortable, just pass around a military helmet. When you're done, just leave it right there and the chief or his deputy will clean it up.
On days the prisoners would be visited they ate nutritious food from the families and had diarrhea. , the guys spent the night in the toilet, causing water to leak everywhere. Just a few hours of grumbling and swearing and then everyone fell asleep. Sleep to regain strength so that tomorrow the underworld soldiers will be able to dry their ribs again, carrying heavy rocks that have just been lifted from a lake bed.
Usually, this is a happy moment. Except for the sounds of snoring, grinding teeth, and swallowing saliva (because of the dream of eating a sumptuous meal), the prisoner will sleep soundly until the alarm sounds from the guards. The flat stomachs from the afternoon meal, half a bowl of rice, had disappeared, rising and falling with each breath.
*
That night I didn't sleep, it seemed like some restlessness prevented my eyes from closing. I heard the inmates and both the chief and his duty breathing lightly or snoring loudly. Suddenly I miss home and miss my parents and siblings. I don't have my own family or lover yet, so all my thoughts focus on my parents.
Just then I heard a noise outside the door. There is a call from an officer:
– Where's the chief room? open the door?
The Chief room quickly sat up:
– Yes Sir, (report to the officer), I'll be right out
The whole room was awake. We heard voices outside, then there was the clicking sound of a lock being opened and the creepy sound of an iron bar pulling out in the middle of the night. When he got to me, he stopped:
– Officer D wants to see you
I sat up, my mind blank. It can't be luck that the camp officer wants to see me at this hour. Back in the 1975s, I heard stories about VC taking people to shoot them in the middle of the night or stuffing them into burlap bags and throwing them into the river. By this time it was almost midnight!!
I'm Catholic, but in VC prison I forgot all about reading prayers, and even if I wanted to, they wouldn't let me. Besides, I was both hungry and tired, (many days I was given away two ears of stone corn), and when it was time to return to camp, I just wanted to lie down and sleep.
Today I remember every prayer and recite that prayer continuously to whatever the saint who appeared in my mind and pleaded for peace. I am scared!!
From the cell's darkness, stepping into the light, my eyes were dazzled. Outside were standing three prison guards dressed in the uniform, each holding an AK 47 in their hands, and their faces filled with murderous intent. As soon as they saw me, a camp police officer kicked me in the stomach and made me fall to the ground. He pulled out the handcuffs and locked my hands behind me. Another guy covered my eyes with a thick black cloth. Okay, done!! Tonight will be my death anniversary!!!
– Fuck you, run away and experienced my ability to be a marksman!!
The guy who tied my hands spoke up. I know this guy, a country guy, likes to swear and smoke, but he's not dangerous.
– Damn, you even came here and are still stirring up a reactionary?
I don't know if it's right or wrong, but at this point, my legs were almost unable to walk. I don't remember whether I was afraid, cried, or begged, but it was numbness, the type of numbness of a person facing death with no way out.
They didn't shoot like I expected. Three police officers escorted me to the camp office. I guess because I can feel the light shining on my face through the thick black fabric. There were about three or four people already there. I could hear Tu H. (the deputy camp and Le N. camp chief's voices. Le Nhan is also known as Ut Nhan, cross-eyed ( The fierce officer of the VC was famous for his brutality and later raped countless female prisoners who crossed the border and were brought back to the camp. Likewise, Tu H., a one-eyed police captain, wears a prosthetic eye. Wounded by the war, Tu H. especially hated "puppet" soldiers or anything belonging to the "old regime".
Without having a chance to exile the remaining CSDB and XDNT officers, in addition to the newly posted reactionary opposition prisoners, both Ut N. and Tu H. were brutally tortured them. CSDB and XDNT feared this guy along with the prison policecamp force like they feared a tiger, especially a young lieutenant with a milky face and a heavy smoker (I forgot his name). This guy always has a vicious attack to torture prisoners. His face was also bright and handsome in a country style. He especially hated me and found every reason to torture me. He also told the Northern police who were only seventeen or eighteen years old to help torture me. (Once a guy suddenly whipped me on the back with a stick for no reason.)
Tu H. spoke first:
– Do you know what your crime is?
– Reporting to the officer, I didn't do anything wrong?
– Are you stubborn? Let's see if you're willing to confess. There are plenty of guys who are tougher than you, so why do you have to be so stubborn?
Then Tu Hang and another guy took a three-centimeter square stick and hit me. When I fell to the ground, they stepped on my stomach and kicked me in the chest. They beat repeatedly on my head and body. At that time I didn't feel any pain but I was thinking If I fainted, they would stop.
Someone poured water on me, I was lying on the cement floor. Okay, I've heard old man Nghi told about this story (old man Nghi used to be as a chief of a ministry of the previous regime, and now worked with me in raising rabbits for the camp first few months when I came). Ut Nhan and Tu Hang said something about me that I couldn't understand because fear paralyzed my nerves.
Then they tied my little finger with an electric wire.
Suddenly I felt my body swell and harden like a balloon. I saw thousands of stars flashing back and forth in my mind. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly I returned to normal. I heard the echo:
– Cover his mouth!! This guy screams too loud.
I saw shooting stars in my head again and then returned to normal. It happened at least three or four times. I want to but , I can't faint. I wish I had fainted but I was still conscious, so the savages continued. A moment later I heard what sounded like Ut Nh's voice:
– Tie one of his toes, his little finger is burned
It was the turn of the toe next to the big toe that was tied and shocked. Luckily, they stopped after just a few times.
I must have cried and begged hard because Le N. cursed:
– You wanted to rise and destroy the camp, but why do you beg now? I should have cut off your hands and feet then,
Then they opened my mouth. They poured water into my mouth. They just stopped when I was out of feeling and repeated this over and over again until I urinated in my pants. The last on that cruel night was the beating of my head and body with a three-centimeter square rod.
I fainted. When I opened my eyes, I saw myself lying in a Conex left by the US military. It was probably late in the early morning because it was very cold. Except for the wet clothes I had been wearing since leaving the cell, I had nothing left to help me fight the cold. Luckily the first night, I was hungry, sore, and exhausted, and I fell asleep until someone opened the door to bring me food. Thanks to the light outside, I watched my little finger ( the one that get an electricity current shock. It was cut to the bone, the top was burned black, and the part still attached to the hand was also burned and began to ooze pus. In particular, the smell of rotten meat smells like a rotten egg. The bottom of the toe is red and swollen but not burned black.
Now I know what it feels like to be tortured with electrocuted. I also know what it is like to be waterboarded and beaten.
Every day I was given a lump of rice (the size of a child's fist and a wooden can of boiling water. I used boiling water to clean the wound and tore my pants to make bandages. Go to the toilet once every two days (there is no feces to go around). A prisoner followed an officer to bring me food and water. Every time he opened the door, he grimaced and spat and cursed:
– Damn that's so disgusting!!
What do I have besides tattered clothes, a flimsy camp blanket, and a pair of sandals that I wish I had to exchange for a few ounces of sugar?
When I went to prison, I still had ten fingers, but now I'm missing my little one. My mother wanted to burst into tears when she saw her child's hand for the first time after more than a year of discipline. But she stopped when heard my murmured
⦁ Mom. They will send me back to an isolated cell if they see you cried, stopped mom
I am not the only victim of this cruel torture. At the same time, two more people were added: a lieutenant colonel from the National Security Committee was captured after two years in hiding (Tr T. Nguyen Trong. T), and a "remnant" warrior was captured in the forest (Diep .Lau.D ). Not to mention, in the past, many people were tortured to death or were released through the story of the old guy Nghi who used to be the head of the recruitment agency from the previous regime.
Nguoiviettudo ( HNPD )
ELECTROCUTION by NGUOIVIETTUDO
Write down a few memories in English of the period in prison of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam regime: As they propagated about human dignity of the Police regime. Especially for those young people who can read English only.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the snores of several prisoners rang out after a hard day. Sleep brings prisoners two benefits: forgetting fatigue and forgetting hunger. But it's not that easy. Before resting, the prisoners had to parrot and parrot dozens of rules and regulations in a shabby cement room with just enough space to share with sixteen people.
In the dinner, each prisoner was given a meal consisting of a bowl of half of rice, and a small bowl of soup with a few stalks of water spinach. The state only provides that much nutrition to compensate for the energy lost during hard labor at the construction site.
Most of the prisoners here are local people and are supported by their families every month, but they can barely make ends meet. Every month, the family only needs to carry about two sandbags of sliced potatoes and dried potatoes to feed them. However, they can still maintain the solidity and strength of their bodies, especially when they are allowed to go to work outside the camp. The majority of prisoners in the remaining families live far away and have little ability to visit (they are trying hard to help so their relatives can return to see their wives and children before reuniting with their ancestors). Many of the prisoners were very young ages, twenty-one or twenty-two, but their faces were old, hidden in patched blue clothes. Some can only drag their feet as if a strong wind would dare to be drawn towards the sky. This group wanders around like ghosts and is collectively called by camp officials as underworld soldiers...
I am among them.
Our cell was in a row of houses next to each other, perhaps formerly a home camp for soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam. Fourteen prisoners shared a wooden stall large enough for one person's shoulder to touch the other if they were lying on their backs. The length of the wooden crate is about one meter eight, just enough for the prisoner's legs to stretch out. There is a space outside for two people to walk in opposite directions at the same time, to accommodate the bed of the room leader and his deputy.
Both were XDNT who have been here since 75. In other rooms, there are trusted criminal prisoners or sometimes mid-level officers and CSDB second lieutenants. They have some privileges such as they don't have to put their feet in shackles every night like us, plus they can go anywhere (inside the camp of course) without being accompanied or eating and cooking whatever they want. They are called Prisoner guides, and most of them are very good and sympathetic to us. If we want to move anywhere or do anything, we must have one of these guides with us. Failure to comply with this rule and if being caught by officials or other prisoners can result in being beaten, shackled, or given less food in unlimited solitary confinement. That night, after instructing us to shout the rules that we must memorize, and then learn from experience the pros and cons of the working day (everyone yawned because they were tired), the room chief and his deputy walked out the door and listened for about five minutes. When he came back, he said: the other rooms have finished studying, now we can rest and regain strength.
Fourteen prisoners put one leg into their U-shaped shackles (simply called U). A long iron bar will pass through two round holes on the top of the U and go out the wall. The guide will then take control and close the lock on the outside, to avoid in case the prisoner from secretly opening the door to escape. The camp police officer just passed by for a final check.
In the middle of the night, if a prisoner suddenly has a stomachache, the two guides are responsible for bringing the bridge box (made of wood) to his place and the prisoner just sits on the box. Unable to move because both legs are shackled (if having one leg shackled in prison is considered a privilege). There are no complaints here. Those who pushed kept pushing, the rest slept peacefully and carefree. Besides, prisoners don't eat meat and rarely eat fish, so their feces are less smelly and acceptable, except on visiting days to add some fresh food. Urination is relatively more comfortable, just pass around a military helmet. When you're done, just leave it right there and the chief or his deputy will clean it up.
On days the prisoners would be visited they ate nutritious food from the families and had diarrhea. , the guys spent the night in the toilet, causing water to leak everywhere. Just a few hours of grumbling and swearing and then everyone fell asleep. Sleep to regain strength so that tomorrow the underworld soldiers will be able to dry their ribs again, carrying heavy rocks that have just been lifted from a lake bed.
Usually, this is a happy moment. Except for the sounds of snoring, grinding teeth, and swallowing saliva (because of the dream of eating a sumptuous meal), the prisoner will sleep soundly until the alarm sounds from the guards. The flat stomachs from the afternoon meal, half a bowl of rice, had disappeared, rising and falling with each breath.
*
That night I didn't sleep, it seemed like some restlessness prevented my eyes from closing. I heard the inmates and both the chief and his duty breathing lightly or snoring loudly. Suddenly I miss home and miss my parents and siblings. I don't have my own family or lover yet, so all my thoughts focus on my parents.
Just then I heard a noise outside the door. There is a call from an officer:
– Where's the chief room? open the door?
The Chief room quickly sat up:
– Yes Sir, (report to the officer), I'll be right out
The whole room was awake. We heard voices outside, then there was the clicking sound of a lock being opened and the creepy sound of an iron bar pulling out in the middle of the night. When he got to me, he stopped:
– Officer D wants to see you
I sat up, my mind blank. It can't be luck that the camp officer wants to see me at this hour. Back in the 1975s, I heard stories about VC taking people to shoot them in the middle of the night or stuffing them into burlap bags and throwing them into the river. By this time it was almost midnight!!
I'm Catholic, but in VC prison I forgot all about reading prayers, and even if I wanted to, they wouldn't let me. Besides, I was both hungry and tired, (many days I was given away two ears of stone corn), and when it was time to return to camp, I just wanted to lie down and sleep.
Today I remember every prayer and recite that prayer continuously to whatever the saint who appeared in my mind and pleaded for peace. I am scared!!
From the cell's darkness, stepping into the light, my eyes were dazzled. Outside were standing three prison guards dressed in the uniform, each holding an AK 47 in their hands, and their faces filled with murderous intent. As soon as they saw me, a camp police officer kicked me in the stomach and made me fall to the ground. He pulled out the handcuffs and locked my hands behind me. Another guy covered my eyes with a thick black cloth. Okay, done!! Tonight will be my death anniversary!!!
– Fuck you, run away and experienced my ability to be a marksman!!
The guy who tied my hands spoke up. I know this guy, a country guy, likes to swear and smoke, but he's not dangerous.
– Damn, you even came here and are still stirring up a reactionary?
I don't know if it's right or wrong, but at this point, my legs were almost unable to walk. I don't remember whether I was afraid, cried, or begged, but it was numbness, the type of numbness of a person facing death with no way out.
They didn't shoot like I expected. Three police officers escorted me to the camp office. I guess because I can feel the light shining on my face through the thick black fabric. There were about three or four people already there. I could hear Tu H. (the deputy camp and Le N. camp chief's voices. Le Nhan is also known as Ut Nhan, cross-eyed ( The fierce officer of the VC was famous for his brutality and later raped countless female prisoners who crossed the border and were brought back to the camp. Likewise, Tu H., a one-eyed police captain, wears a prosthetic eye. Wounded by the war, Tu H. especially hated "puppet" soldiers or anything belonging to the "old regime".
Without having a chance to exile the remaining CSDB and XDNT officers, in addition to the newly posted reactionary opposition prisoners, both Ut N. and Tu H. were brutally tortured them. CSDB and XDNT feared this guy along with the prison policecamp force like they feared a tiger, especially a young lieutenant with a milky face and a heavy smoker (I forgot his name). This guy always has a vicious attack to torture prisoners. His face was also bright and handsome in a country style. He especially hated me and found every reason to torture me. He also told the Northern police who were only seventeen or eighteen years old to help torture me. (Once a guy suddenly whipped me on the back with a stick for no reason.)
Tu H. spoke first:
– Do you know what your crime is?
– Reporting to the officer, I didn't do anything wrong?
– Are you stubborn? Let's see if you're willing to confess. There are plenty of guys who are tougher than you, so why do you have to be so stubborn?
Then Tu Hang and another guy took a three-centimeter square stick and hit me. When I fell to the ground, they stepped on my stomach and kicked me in the chest. They beat repeatedly on my head and body. At that time I didn't feel any pain but I was thinking If I fainted, they would stop.
Someone poured water on me, I was lying on the cement floor. Okay, I've heard old man Nghi told about this story (old man Nghi used to be as a chief of a ministry of the previous regime, and now worked with me in raising rabbits for the camp first few months when I came). Ut Nhan and Tu Hang said something about me that I couldn't understand because fear paralyzed my nerves.
Then they tied my little finger with an electric wire.
Suddenly I felt my body swell and harden like a balloon. I saw thousands of stars flashing back and forth in my mind. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly I returned to normal. I heard the echo:
– Cover his mouth!! This guy screams too loud.
I saw shooting stars in my head again and then returned to normal. It happened at least three or four times. I want to but , I can't faint. I wish I had fainted but I was still conscious, so the savages continued. A moment later I heard what sounded like Ut Nh's voice:
– Tie one of his toes, his little finger is burned
It was the turn of the toe next to the big toe that was tied and shocked. Luckily, they stopped after just a few times.
I must have cried and begged hard because Le N. cursed:
– You wanted to rise and destroy the camp, but why do you beg now? I should have cut off your hands and feet then,
Then they opened my mouth. They poured water into my mouth. They just stopped when I was out of feeling and repeated this over and over again until I urinated in my pants. The last on that cruel night was the beating of my head and body with a three-centimeter square rod.
I fainted. When I opened my eyes, I saw myself lying in a Conex left by the US military. It was probably late in the early morning because it was very cold. Except for the wet clothes I had been wearing since leaving the cell, I had nothing left to help me fight the cold. Luckily the first night, I was hungry, sore, and exhausted, and I fell asleep until someone opened the door to bring me food. Thanks to the light outside, I watched my little finger ( the one that get an electricity current shock. It was cut to the bone, the top was burned black, and the part still attached to the hand was also burned and began to ooze pus. In particular, the smell of rotten meat smells like a rotten egg. The bottom of the toe is red and swollen but not burned black.
Now I know what it feels like to be tortured with electrocuted. I also know what it is like to be waterboarded and beaten.
Every day I was given a lump of rice (the size of a child's fist and a wooden can of boiling water. I used boiling water to clean the wound and tore my pants to make bandages. Go to the toilet once every two days (there is no feces to go around). A prisoner followed an officer to bring me food and water. Every time he opened the door, he grimaced and spat and cursed:
– Damn that's so disgusting!!
What do I have besides tattered clothes, a flimsy camp blanket, and a pair of sandals that I wish I had to exchange for a few ounces of sugar?
When I went to prison, I still had ten fingers, but now I'm missing my little one. My mother wanted to burst into tears when she saw her child's hand for the first time after more than a year of discipline. But she stopped when heard my murmured
⦁ Mom. They will send me back to an isolated cell if they see you cried, stopped mom
I am not the only victim of this cruel torture. At the same time, two more people were added: a lieutenant colonel from the National Security Committee was captured after two years in hiding (Tr T. Nguyen Trong. T), and a "remnant" warrior was captured in the forest (Diep .Lau.D ). Not to mention, in the past, many people were tortured to death or were released through the story of the old guy Nghi who used to be the head of the recruitment agency from the previous regime.
Nguoiviettudo ( HNPD )
ELECTROCUTION by NGUOIVIETTUDO
xxxx
ELECTROCUTION by NGUOIVIETTUDO
Write down a few memories in English of the period in prison of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam regime: As they propagated about human dignity of the Police regime. Especially for those young people who can read English only.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the snores of several prisoners rang out after a hard day. Sleep brings prisoners two benefits: forgetting fatigue and forgetting hunger. But it's not that easy. Before resting, the prisoners had to parrot and parrot dozens of rules and regulations in a shabby cement room with just enough space to share with sixteen people.
In the dinner, each prisoner was given a meal consisting of a bowl of half of rice, and a small bowl of soup with a few stalks of water spinach. The state only provides that much nutrition to compensate for the energy lost during hard labor at the construction site.
Most of the prisoners here are local people and are supported by their families every month, but they can barely make ends meet. Every month, the family only needs to carry about two sandbags of sliced potatoes and dried potatoes to feed them. However, they can still maintain the solidity and strength of their bodies, especially when they are allowed to go to work outside the camp. The majority of prisoners in the remaining families live far away and have little ability to visit (they are trying hard to help so their relatives can return to see their wives and children before reuniting with their ancestors). Many of the prisoners were very young ages, twenty-one or twenty-two, but their faces were old, hidden in patched blue clothes. Some can only drag their feet as if a strong wind would dare to be drawn towards the sky. This group wanders around like ghosts and is collectively called by camp officials as underworld soldiers...
I am among them.
Our cell was in a row of houses next to each other, perhaps formerly a home camp for soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam. Fourteen prisoners shared a wooden stall large enough for one person's shoulder to touch the other if they were lying on their backs. The length of the wooden crate is about one meter eight, just enough for the prisoner's legs to stretch out. There is a space outside for two people to walk in opposite directions at the same time, to accommodate the bed of the room leader and his deputy.
Both were XDNT who have been here since 75. In other rooms, there are trusted criminal prisoners or sometimes mid-level officers and CSDB second lieutenants. They have some privileges such as they don't have to put their feet in shackles every night like us, plus they can go anywhere (inside the camp of course) without being accompanied or eating and cooking whatever they want. They are called Prisoner guides, and most of them are very good and sympathetic to us. If we want to move anywhere or do anything, we must have one of these guides with us. Failure to comply with this rule and if being caught by officials or other prisoners can result in being beaten, shackled, or given less food in unlimited solitary confinement. That night, after instructing us to shout the rules that we must memorize, and then learn from experience the pros and cons of the working day (everyone yawned because they were tired), the room chief and his deputy walked out the door and listened for about five minutes. When he came back, he said: the other rooms have finished studying, now we can rest and regain strength.
Fourteen prisoners put one leg into their U-shaped shackles (simply called U). A long iron bar will pass through two round holes on the top of the U and go out the wall. The guide will then take control and close the lock on the outside, to avoid in case the prisoner from secretly opening the door to escape. The camp police officer just passed by for a final check.
In the middle of the night, if a prisoner suddenly has a stomachache, the two guides are responsible for bringing the bridge box (made of wood) to his place and the prisoner just sits on the box. Unable to move because both legs are shackled (if having one leg shackled in prison is considered a privilege). There are no complaints here. Those who pushed kept pushing, the rest slept peacefully and carefree. Besides, prisoners don't eat meat and rarely eat fish, so their feces are less smelly and acceptable, except on visiting days to add some fresh food. Urination is relatively more comfortable, just pass around a military helmet. When you're done, just leave it right there and the chief or his deputy will clean it up.
On days the prisoners would be visited they ate nutritious food from the families and had diarrhea. , the guys spent the night in the toilet, causing water to leak everywhere. Just a few hours of grumbling and swearing and then everyone fell asleep. Sleep to regain strength so that tomorrow the underworld soldiers will be able to dry their ribs again, carrying heavy rocks that have just been lifted from a lake bed.
Usually, this is a happy moment. Except for the sounds of snoring, grinding teeth, and swallowing saliva (because of the dream of eating a sumptuous meal), the prisoner will sleep soundly until the alarm sounds from the guards. The flat stomachs from the afternoon meal, half a bowl of rice, had disappeared, rising and falling with each breath.
*
That night I didn't sleep, it seemed like some restlessness prevented my eyes from closing. I heard the inmates and both the chief and his duty breathing lightly or snoring loudly. Suddenly I miss home and miss my parents and siblings. I don't have my own family or lover yet, so all my thoughts focus on my parents.
Just then I heard a noise outside the door. There is a call from an officer:
– Where's the chief room? open the door?
The Chief room quickly sat up:
– Yes Sir, (report to the officer), I'll be right out
The whole room was awake. We heard voices outside, then there was the clicking sound of a lock being opened and the creepy sound of an iron bar pulling out in the middle of the night. When he got to me, he stopped:
– Officer D wants to see you
I sat up, my mind blank. It can't be luck that the camp officer wants to see me at this hour. Back in the 1975s, I heard stories about VC taking people to shoot them in the middle of the night or stuffing them into burlap bags and throwing them into the river. By this time it was almost midnight!!
I'm Catholic, but in VC prison I forgot all about reading prayers, and even if I wanted to, they wouldn't let me. Besides, I was both hungry and tired, (many days I was given away two ears of stone corn), and when it was time to return to camp, I just wanted to lie down and sleep.
Today I remember every prayer and recite that prayer continuously to whatever the saint who appeared in my mind and pleaded for peace. I am scared!!
From the cell's darkness, stepping into the light, my eyes were dazzled. Outside were standing three prison guards dressed in the uniform, each holding an AK 47 in their hands, and their faces filled with murderous intent. As soon as they saw me, a camp police officer kicked me in the stomach and made me fall to the ground. He pulled out the handcuffs and locked my hands behind me. Another guy covered my eyes with a thick black cloth. Okay, done!! Tonight will be my death anniversary!!!
– Fuck you, run away and experienced my ability to be a marksman!!
The guy who tied my hands spoke up. I know this guy, a country guy, likes to swear and smoke, but he's not dangerous.
– Damn, you even came here and are still stirring up a reactionary?
I don't know if it's right or wrong, but at this point, my legs were almost unable to walk. I don't remember whether I was afraid, cried, or begged, but it was numbness, the type of numbness of a person facing death with no way out.
They didn't shoot like I expected. Three police officers escorted me to the camp office. I guess because I can feel the light shining on my face through the thick black fabric. There were about three or four people already there. I could hear Tu H. (the deputy camp and Le N. camp chief's voices. Le Nhan is also known as Ut Nhan, cross-eyed ( The fierce officer of the VC was famous for his brutality and later raped countless female prisoners who crossed the border and were brought back to the camp. Likewise, Tu H., a one-eyed police captain, wears a prosthetic eye. Wounded by the war, Tu H. especially hated "puppet" soldiers or anything belonging to the "old regime".
Without having a chance to exile the remaining CSDB and XDNT officers, in addition to the newly posted reactionary opposition prisoners, both Ut N. and Tu H. were brutally tortured them. CSDB and XDNT feared this guy along with the prison policecamp force like they feared a tiger, especially a young lieutenant with a milky face and a heavy smoker (I forgot his name). This guy always has a vicious attack to torture prisoners. His face was also bright and handsome in a country style. He especially hated me and found every reason to torture me. He also told the Northern police who were only seventeen or eighteen years old to help torture me. (Once a guy suddenly whipped me on the back with a stick for no reason.)
Tu H. spoke first:
– Do you know what your crime is?
– Reporting to the officer, I didn't do anything wrong?
– Are you stubborn? Let's see if you're willing to confess. There are plenty of guys who are tougher than you, so why do you have to be so stubborn?
Then Tu Hang and another guy took a three-centimeter square stick and hit me. When I fell to the ground, they stepped on my stomach and kicked me in the chest. They beat repeatedly on my head and body. At that time I didn't feel any pain but I was thinking If I fainted, they would stop.
Someone poured water on me, I was lying on the cement floor. Okay, I've heard old man Nghi told about this story (old man Nghi used to be as a chief of a ministry of the previous regime, and now worked with me in raising rabbits for the camp first few months when I came). Ut Nhan and Tu Hang said something about me that I couldn't understand because fear paralyzed my nerves.
Then they tied my little finger with an electric wire.
Suddenly I felt my body swell and harden like a balloon. I saw thousands of stars flashing back and forth in my mind. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly I returned to normal. I heard the echo:
– Cover his mouth!! This guy screams too loud.
I saw shooting stars in my head again and then returned to normal. It happened at least three or four times. I want to but , I can't faint. I wish I had fainted but I was still conscious, so the savages continued. A moment later I heard what sounded like Ut Nh's voice:
– Tie one of his toes, his little finger is burned
It was the turn of the toe next to the big toe that was tied and shocked. Luckily, they stopped after just a few times.
I must have cried and begged hard because Le N. cursed:
– You wanted to rise and destroy the camp, but why do you beg now? I should have cut off your hands and feet then,
Then they opened my mouth. They poured water into my mouth. They just stopped when I was out of feeling and repeated this over and over again until I urinated in my pants. The last on that cruel night was the beating of my head and body with a three-centimeter square rod.
I fainted. When I opened my eyes, I saw myself lying in a Conex left by the US military. It was probably late in the early morning because it was very cold. Except for the wet clothes I had been wearing since leaving the cell, I had nothing left to help me fight the cold. Luckily the first night, I was hungry, sore, and exhausted, and I fell asleep until someone opened the door to bring me food. Thanks to the light outside, I watched my little finger ( the one that get an electricity current shock. It was cut to the bone, the top was burned black, and the part still attached to the hand was also burned and began to ooze pus. In particular, the smell of rotten meat smells like a rotten egg. The bottom of the toe is red and swollen but not burned black.
Now I know what it feels like to be tortured with electrocuted. I also know what it is like to be waterboarded and beaten.
Every day I was given a lump of rice (the size of a child's fist and a wooden can of boiling water. I used boiling water to clean the wound and tore my pants to make bandages. Go to the toilet once every two days (there is no feces to go around). A prisoner followed an officer to bring me food and water. Every time he opened the door, he grimaced and spat and cursed:
– Damn that's so disgusting!!
What do I have besides tattered clothes, a flimsy camp blanket, and a pair of sandals that I wish I had to exchange for a few ounces of sugar?
When I went to prison, I still had ten fingers, but now I'm missing my little one. My mother wanted to burst into tears when she saw her child's hand for the first time after more than a year of discipline. But she stopped when heard my murmured
⦁ Mom. They will send me back to an isolated cell if they see you cried, stopped mom
I am not the only victim of this cruel torture. At the same time, two more people were added: a lieutenant colonel from the National Security Committee was captured after two years in hiding (Tr T. Nguyen Trong. T), and a "remnant" warrior was captured in the forest (Diep .Lau.D ). Not to mention, in the past, many people were tortured to death or were released through the story of the old guy Nghi who used to be the head of the recruitment agency from the previous regime.
Nguoiviettudo ( HNPD )
