Wednesday, May 1, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, May 1, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY SEEING, NOT BELIEVING: Staged tour of Vietnam's POW camps By STEVE D'ARAZIEN News Analysis BINH HOA, South Vietnam. (CPS)-Recently the South Viet- namese government organized a tour of three of its six prisoner- of-war (POW) camps for news- men. The big attraction was' an in- terview with a group of POW's but the interview never took place. I went to Binh Hoa, which is supposed to be a model prison camp. Phu Quoc, the camp where captured officers are incarcerated, might have been the most in- seresting to visit but it was not on the tour. CIVIL PRISONS The six camps had been built after December, 1965, and now housed over 12,000 POW's. Prior' to that, any captured soldiers of the National Liberation Front (NLF) or of the Democratic Re- public of Vietnam (DRVN) were considered insurgents and were housed in civil prisons. According to In the Name of America, published by Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Viet- nam, the change resulted from U.S. pressure. The POW's had been frequently shot, mistreated or tortured. Now that U.S. pilots were being captured in large num- bers, this became a liability and the heat was put on the South Vietnamese government. The book also said that it is con- trary to international law for the U.S. to turn over its prisoners to the South Vietnamese, which is routinely done. The Hague Con- ventions of 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 both state that prisoners are the responsi- bility of the warring states. EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS Newsmen were asked to prepare their questions in advance so that the POW's would not be asked anything embarrassing. We were also told that the POW's names would not be used and that only group pictures would be allowed. Arriving here we were subjected to, an hour and a half briefing by Captain Phat, the camp com- mander. Both Phat and 'his lieu- tenant are North Vietnamese, as are most members of the South Vietnamese government. T h e s e Northerners are the strongest anti-Communists. Phat covered the subject of POW's at length, using flow charts and statistics, but saying little of subject. But he did say that out of 957 POW's at the camp, only 196, or less than one- fourth, were North Vietnamese soldiers. Either the soldiers of the DRVN are much more wily than the NLF, or the Administration is giving an exaggerated impression of number of North Vietnamese :liers in South Vietnam. the sol- After the briefing we had a 4uick tour of the POW camp. It1 was a depressing affair, of barbedI wire fences and mazes. The pris- oners were confined in long tin sheds. The loose dirt and the con- stant noise of the planes going in and out of nearby Binh Hoa airfield made it quite unpleasant. We saw, but were not allowed to talk with, three groups of prison- ers. The first was sitting in a reading room, trying to look in- terested in propaganda (printed in the United States). Because we had been shown the POW's schedule which had them working (at brick-making) at that time, I assume they were brought there for our benefit. The schedule also showed that all prisoners, even the 13 year olds, put in an eight-hour day. A second group was preparing the noon meal. The POW's re- ceived three meals a day, rice sup- plemented with meat, fruit and vegetables. It is a normal diet for Vietnam and costs the South Vietnamese 23 piastres ($.17) a day per prisoner. SICK CALL Although we saw only a small portion of the camp, none of what we saw suggested the prisoners were either sick or undernourish- ed. The camp physician holds sick call every morning and the POW's are submitted to detailed physicals every six months. The supplies in the infirmary were made in the U.S. There were no patients in the 20-bed dispensery. On arrival the POW's are fin- gerprinted, photographed, and as- signed numbers. They are issued four brown, made-in-the-USA un- iforms painted sloppily with big black TB's front and back. (It stands for Tu Binh, prisoner.) They are also issued a mosquito net, a blanket, toilet items, and other necessities. The South Vietnamese officers made a big point of the mail privileges. They showed us forms, one for the North Vietnamese, one for the Southerners, who are al- lowed to write once a month. None :f the Northerners and only 20 of the Southerners have ever written home. No one could explain this. Visitation is also permitted. Over 10,000 visitors were received last month, but each prisoner is allowed only five minutes for all of his visitors. Much was made of the avail- ability of religious services at the camp. Initially it seemed the camps had chaplains and that Catholic and Buddhist services were held. This was incorrect. In- stead, the services would be madeI available on request, but that no1 one had ever requested them. 1 Rehabilitation leading to re- lease is available, and so far 27 prisoners have elected it. It is quite probably that those released will be drafted to serve ' in theI South Vietnamese army (ARVN). Perhaps that is why few have chosen to leave via this routes Other POW's have been re- leased-240 because thev turn~r d With no ventilation under the hot sun, the prisoners must have bean suffering: This, an American advisor confided, was done to break down the unruly prisoners. The first big surprise had been the Captain Phat's , insistence that he knew nothing about the scheduled group interview. The second surprise came when, after only a cursory examination of the camp, we were told the visit was terminated. *A. rx .acu J v Wtu taly uUieu out to be "friendly" civilians ORDER AND CONFUSION rounded up by mistake. Others Most of the reporters seemed have been released in exchange eager to pack their gear and head for ARVN soldiers held by the iome. But Tom Fox of the Na- NLF and DRVN. , tional Catholic Reporter was in- A bulletin board outside the terested in seeing some of the 293 mess hall shows "VC atrocities." males and 21 females between the .Curiously the United States is ages of 13 and 18 that the Captain not shown in the depiction of the had said were there. conflict between the ARVN and Phat wouldn't budge and we the NLF. Perhaps this is because Left with the total impression of the presence of the Americans in the visit that there had been con- Vietnam, along with the puppet fusion where there should have status of the ARVN, is one of the been order and order where there things most objected to by the should have been spontaneity, and NLF. that possibly more went unseen The only visible sign of mis- and unsaid at Binh Hoa than treatment that we saw was one of ought to have been. the tin sheds which was sealed. But, of course, we can't prove it. ,- I Eat or Live in ... c~ ts v a... Y is co-op 9-4 Room and Board $21.00 per week Board Only $ 3 . 00 per week plus a few hours work, since we own and run our own houses WOMEN Lester, 900 Oakland 'Mark VIII, 917 S. Forest Osterweil, 388 E. Jefferson Stevens, 816 S. Forest Vail, 602 Lawrence MEN Michigan, 315 N. State Nakamura 807 S. State Owen 11017 Oakland Pickerill 923 S. Forest Debs, 909 E. University Visit a house or contact- INTER-CO-OPERATIVE COUNCIL 2546 SABt 668-6872 I. f i 1 t In' INDIANA This Weekend MASS EETE I I 7:30 P.M.,'Wed., May 1 ASSEMBLY HALL, Michigan Union The highly acclaimed film "ALL THE WAY TO JERUSALEM" on _ 7 .