Since December 1958, more than 15,000 soldiers of the regular army and equivalent forces of militia-men and civil guards have been carrying out an operation of reprisal in West Nam Bo, under the orders of Colonel Nguyen Van Y, commander of the 5th military region and the supervision of Nguyen Van Vang, ‘delegate of the Government’ in the region, and many American military advisers, including General S. Williams, chief of M.A.A.G., and Lieutenant-Colonel John H. Chamberts.
The centre of the operation was Ca Mau, Can Tho and Ba Xuyen provinces.
In Ca Mau, over three regiments and one battalion of commandos, scattered into small groups, lay in ambush at the edges of forests, and along roads, or encircled villages and hamlets. Whoever fell into their hands was arrested, tortured, then killed. The corpses were cut into pieces. Women were raped in turns, subjected to electric tortures, or to the thrusting of a stick into their vagina, etc. Sheep-dogs were used in man-hunting, and all people caught were bitten to death. A number of women were raped in the presence of their husbands who were afterwards shot dead before their eyes. At night, mass executions took place, the victims’ heads were cut off, their skulls broken and their corpses thrown into rivers. According to still incomplete data, from February 14 to April 15, 1959 alone, 92 former resistance members were killed, 28 seriously wounded, and more than 1,000 jailed in Ca Mau area. In addition, considerable damage was caused to houses and crops…
During several days in succession, from October 10 to 15, 1960, the south Viet Nam authorities launched in this region repeated air raids involving dozens of military planes; even napalm bombs were dropped on places such as Trai Day, Sao Luoi, Cai Cam, Tan Quan, Cong Nghiep, Tan Hung Tay (Cai Nuoc district). This resulted in hundreds of casualties and many houses burnt down.
At Long My (Can Tho province), three battalions of the regular army, together with militia and civil guard forces, carried out an operation in 12 communes with a view to herding 11,895 families of former resistance members into the Vi Thanh-Hoa Luu concentration camp. They divided this area into many squares, each including from 100 to 200 families, and raided them one after the other. In May 1959 alone, over 900 mopping-up operations and commando raids involving forces upwards of one group were recorded. In the three communes of Vinh Thuan Dong, Vinh Xuong and Long Binh alone, 115 people were killed within six days in late May 1959. The victims were subjected to the most savage torture before being killed; their corpses were cut into pieces, and their heads planted on banana stems set floating adrift along rivers. In some places, by way of intimidation, people were guillotined by scores, in presence of hundreds, sometimes of thousands of onlookers.
The cruel agents of the administration cut down all trees, burnt down or destroyed all houses, and razed to the ground 86 hamlets. Churches, temples and pagodas were deconsecrated.
On Long Phu island (Soc Trang province), 200 south Viet Nam soldiers rushed into the An Thanh Nhi commune, shooting indiscriminately at the people. More than 200 persons took refuge, and locked themselves up in a local militia post. But the assailants broke through the fence, tied them up, tortured them most savagely, and raped all the women including a 10-year old girl. Within an hour or more, they killed 10 persons, raped six women to death and seriously wounded about 200 people. Many houses were burnt down, considerable numbers of oxen, pigs, and fowls taken away or killed. In face of such acts, Father Le Huu Phuoc from Rach Trang church approached the officers commanding the operation, but received only the following reply: “We are acting on President Ngo’s order. Approach him, please, if you life [sic].”
The Saigon special military court dragging along with it the guillotine, followed close on the military forces’ heels. It held many sittings in the provinces of Can Tho, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, and My Tho, and passed numerous sentences of death or hard labour under law 10-59. The death sentences were immediately acted upon on the spot.
According to still incomplete data, from the beginning of 1959 to the end of 1960, the reprisals launched in West Nam Bo resulted in tremendous losses:
3,848 killed;
5,622 seriously wounded;
16,539 arrested;
24,000 herded into concentration camps;
13,000 tons of paddy and other foodstuffs plundered or burnt down;
10,000 houses, big and small, burnt down;
20,134 head of cattle taken away or killed.
The operation is still going on.
In Quang Ngai province, the operation of reprisal launched under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bui Huu Nhon, commander of the 3rd military region involved the 2nd infantry division together with militia, civil guard, commando, and security forces, in total over 10,000 men. Launched at the beginning in the districts of Ba To, Minh Long, Son Ha, Tu Nghia, Mo Duc, Duc Pho, and Nghia Hanh, it was extended later on to the district of Tra Bong. The districts of Son Ha, Ba To and Tra Bong in particular, were the scenes of dozens of raids.
It is to be pointed out that in this operation the most savage methods of torture and massacre were resorted to:
Mrs. Gi Vit (Son Ha district), having resisted the attempts to force divorce on her, was tortured into infirmity. Mrs. Truong Thi Lang, though pregnant, was subjected to ‘a journey by Dakota’, then hammered into abortion. Mr. Vo Van Hu alias Vinh (Son Ha district) was shot dead after his eyes had been gouged out; his corpse was thrown out on a rock. Mr. Dinh Het (Ba To district) was forced to drink poison. Mr. Dinh Ca Ty (Ba To district) had his tibia broken. Mrs. De’s corpse (Tra Bong district) was burnt to ashes. Mr. Hoa, an old man of over 60 (Son Ha district) was burnt alive. Mr. Vo (Tra Bong district) had his head cut off and exhibited in front of the administrative buildings. Mr. Nhan’s head (Tra Bong district) was used as a target for shooting exercises until it was broken into pieces…
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