On the afternoon of April 14, 2014, hundreds of prison inmates in
camp K1 of Cai Tau Prison at Khanh An commune, U Minh district, Ca Mau
province, simultaneously staged a massive protest against a disciplinary
action imposed on a fellow inmate.
Located deep in the mosquito-rich melaleuca forest in U Minh, this
prison is notoriously known for its extremely harsh living conditions.
While being detained here blogger Dieu Cay, Nguyen Van Hai, had ever
faced a harsh and dangerous form of punishment – sleeping without a
mosquito net.
"Shortly thereafter, many prisoners simultaneously screamed, smashed
items in their cells, demanded [the prison] not to discipline the
accused inmate," Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
To control the uprising of hundreds of prisoners, the prison police had
requested Ca Mau provincial authorities and the Southwest Command
Headquarters of tactical police units to send in reinforcement.
A battalion of tactical police and local police forces have been mobilized to crack down on Cai Tau prisoners.
After opening fire police quickly suppressed the prison uprising at dawn
on April 15, 2014. Currently the number of casualties from the
crackdown is unknown.
The state-run Vnexpress reports a prisoner was hospitalized after
falling to the ground from the upper floor. The chief warden, Colonel Le
Quoc Tuan, said prison police are interrogating 5 prisoners accused for
their leading role in the uprising and charges are expected.
However, reports from state-run media cannot be independently verified.
It is worth noting that prison officials have said the prison uprising
was to oppose the disciplinary action imposed on a prisoner, whose first
name is Manh, for “smoking weed in prison cell.” Under a strict prison
security system, it is hard to believe that weeds can be smuggled into
an ordinary prison cell.
By the end of June 2013, a prison uprising of thousands of prisoners
took place in Z30A Prison in Xuan Loc, Dong Nai province. Prisoners held
a prison warden hostage and demanded improved prison living conditions
and treatments. After the crackdown, several political prisoners were
fiercely retaliated and immediately transferred to another prison
overnight. Dozens of prisoners participating in the uprising received
additional jail term for many more years.
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