Since the early 1960's when the war was still in limited scale, human rights has been an issue well exploited by the Vietnamese Communist side in North and South Vietnam for propaganda against the Republic of Vietnam government under the late President Ngo Dinh Diem.  

Before Diem came to power, the nationalist government in French army controlled areas from North, Central and South Vietnam - known to foreigners as Tonkin, Annam and Cochinchina respectively - had had very little power. The French military did not promote anything luxurious as democracy or freedom. French military authorities had ultimate power over civilians in their areas of responsibility. War crimes were often overlooked. In operations, a soldier could kill, torture, rape anyone at his will. Human rights were never heard of in the countryside. 

Under the First Republic as South Vietnamese called the Ngo Dinh Diem's regime, the situation was getting much better. The colonial era came to an end. No more oppressive measures that had been imposed on people by the French military. President Diem has really been changing South Vietnam from an occupied territory into a republic with laws and orders. 

His government, however, has not been active enough in human rights issues. Many government and military officials, particularly local officials at village level just didn't care about the people's rights. Many of those who had served the French and were in no way patriots, remained in the ruling system. They faithfully served the government, not the people. 

Ngo Dinh Diem regime was not a true democracy by Western standards. There were no real freedom of press. There were still tortures and assassinations of dissidents. But in any aspect, it was better than when Vietnam was under French control before July 1954 and moreover, much better than the current Communist tyranny.

Since Diem was overthrown and assassinated in November 1963, the country fell into political chaos. At the same time, the Vietnam War expanded with American soldiers coming in to help defend South Vietnam. South Vietnam in war suffered many social disorders and downgrading ethical values. But strangely enough, democracy ascended to the unexpected high ranking if compared with other Third World nations. Freedoms of speech and press were at an acceptable limit that was considered more tolerant than in other countries in such a bloody war against the most brutal and wiliest enemy.

Human rights violations still existed under President Nguyen Van Thieu, but they were under control to a certain limit. A typical case has been the so-called "tiger cases" in the prison camp in Con Son Islands (Poulo Condor). Tiger Cage was nothing more than a cell below floor level, with clean concrete walls and floor. Its top was covered by a frame of barbed wire. Prisoners committing serious violations such as attempts to set fire to the prison wards, homicide or conspiracy to murder... were sent to the cages as punishment. 

For comparison, Con Son Tiger Cages are more brutal than punishment in jails of the U.S.A. but are in no way comparable with the "connex," a large metal box used by US army for shipping materials and supplies, left from the war. After April 1975, the Communist officials in prison camps lock up prisoners who violate the camps regulations in those connexes put under scorching sunshine or in biting winter coldness. Communist jailers preferred punishing inmates in connex to putting them in "official" brick cells similar to the tiger cages.

Some Westerners fiercely attacked Nguyen Van Thieu government for the tiger cages scandal. If they had been allowed to see how criminal inmates are treated in North Vietnam prior to 1975 or in all Vietnam today, they would have praised President Diem and President Thieu for their benevolence. 

For four decades, North Vietnamese under Ho Chi Minh regime have never heard of human rights. During the French Indochinese War that lasted nearly 9 years, Vietnamese people in the countryside were treated with the French terrorism policy. When the French withdrew and peace was restored, peasants in North Vietnam were extremely frightened by the Land Reform Campaign, the real objective of which were not to redistribute land to farmers but to get rid of the Class of Landlords.

From 10,000 to 15,000 landlords an "reactionaries" were put to death by shooting, beating, hanging, stoning and even locking in without food and water. The campaign not only got rid of the unwanted landlords but also scared the poor peasants into faithfulness to the Party.

Furthermore, peasants in North Vietnam would appreciate anything a little better than hardships under the colonial time.

They were taught that in every country in the world, prisoners of war are killed, except the Communist states who save the POW's lives so that they would be kept as forced labor to work for the wealth of the socialist society. They were told that prisoners have no rights of citizens; so if a prisoner was murdered, his or her family may not complain or blame anyone for the death.

People can be arrested at any time, and investigations by Public Security agents have absolute legal values. Prison guardians are allowed to beat criminal inmates at their will. Death sentences are given even to petty crimes such as copying love music from South Vietnam radio stations.

It is almost impossible to know how many innocent people have been executed by order of the Communist leaders, not including dead soldiers on the two sides of the wars since 1945. Victims could be counted only when people found mass graves such as in areas around Hue in 1968 - some three thousand bodies buried alive or after being shot or beaten to death.

Citizens are were taught since their first days at school to do everything profitable to the Party. In general, the communist regime try to make its citizens become working machines to ensure their obedience. Human rights, therefore, has no place in such education system.

Only in the recent years after 1975 when North Vietnamese have had contact with their compatriots in South Vietnam and thanks to an uncontrollable flow of small portable radios into North Vietnam, people from the North could be aware of what they had been denied by their Communist government for many decades.

During the past few years, the American government, along with France strongly criticized Hanoi regime of its human rights violations, but only to say later that there were progress in its human rights records, in order to justify investment of their capitalists in Vietnam as well as awarding the most favored nation status to Beijing.

In September, Hanoi released 2,650 inmates, including a handful of political prisoners. Some Westerners too quickly appreciated the action. In fact, Hanoi had been keeping them as "prisoner reserves" to be released at the right time for the interests of the Party. No one raises a question "When will Hanoi replace them with the new arrested?"

The fact that the United Nation Special Rapporteur was not allowed by Hanoi authorities to travel to any place in Vietnam to meet anyone he want, as they had agreed, could be considered a right hand slap at the face of the world largest organization.