Word: hieu
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Prison officials also manipulated the prisoners' fear and suspicion of each other to control behavior. "The first thing you learn is the prisoners must control each other," Hieu says. "If anyone violates the discipline of a prison, the whole room would be punished. We were forced to supress each other for our own good...
...Hieu and Toai charge that the Communists psychological manipulation extends to the general Vietnamese public. Although both Hieu and Toai fought against Thieu, they now say the Hanoi government is harsher and more totalitarian than was the Thieu regime--a government hardly noted for its tolerance of political opposition, much less for its respect for the average citizen. "The only thing better now than under Thieu are the jails, "Toai says...
...also say the Hanoi government makes especially good use of scapegoats to soften the impact of harsh policies. Hieu describes what he termed the government's strategy for preparing the public for the nationalization of key industries. "If they want to monopolize the fish industry in Saigon, they order the fishermen not to send their fish to Saigon. The prices shoot skyhigh, and the government launches a propaganda campaign blaming the capitalist monopoly fish industry and then they take it over," Hieu says. Hieu also charged that the Hanoi government periodically publicly executes scapegoats to combat public uproar over...
...Hieu and Toai's accusations reflect their complete disillusionment with Communism, a sharp turnaround from their earlier revolutionary actions. Toai in particular is bitter about the failure of the NLF ideals, and blames the Hanoi regime for co-opting the NLF and radicalizing its more moderate platform. He says he refused to serve on the NLF Finance Committee because he was chosen to draw up a plan to confiscate all private property in Vietnam, not an original NLF proposal. The idealistic people in the NLF sought to rely upon the power of Hanoi to overthrow the Saigon government, but once...
Whether or not Toai and Hieu speak for other political prisoners, they are passionately eager to spread their stories of political repression. And they pointedly direct their reproaches to Americans, who they believe must share the blame for Vietnam's sufferings. "I want the American government to condemn the human rights violations in Vietnam, but the American people want to forger Vietnam because they are ashamed," Toai says, adding "They are ashamed because they were wrong...