THE Geneva Agreements are an important victory of the peoples of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, a victory of the forces of peace and democracy the world over. For the American imperialists and their lackeys, the Geneva Agreements constitute a very serious set-back in the realization of their schemes aimed at prolonging and widening the war in Indochina, at wrecking peace in South East Asia.
That’s why, in contradiction with the correct implementation of the Geneva Agreements by our government, the American imperialists, the French colonialists opponents of the agreements and Ngo dinh Diem clique have been endeavouring to sabotage the carrying out of the important provisions of the Agreements and to spoil the great results of the Geneva Conference.
As it has been said above, apart from provisions for the cessation of hostilities, the Geneva Agreements also contain very important provisions aimed at rendering impossible the preparations for a new war and at solving fundamental political problems such as the questions of unity and independence.
These important provisions stipulate that “the two parties shall ensure that the zones assigned to them do not adhere to any military alliance and are not used for the resumption of hostilities or to further an aggressive policy”. The provisions also prohibit the establishment of new military bases throughout Vietnam and put a ban on “the introduction into Vietnam of any troop reinforcements and additional military personnal”…“of any reinforcements in the forms of all types of arms, munitions and other war material”. These provisions also stipulate that the demarcation line is only provisional and that within a fixed length of time, Vietnam should be unified through general elections. No doubt these provisions do not suit in any way the American imperialist warmongers.
That’s why immediately after the signing of the Geneva Agreements, US Secretary of State J.F. Dulles claimed that the Geneva Agreements were not against the establishment of a defensive line involving the associated states in Indochina.
Less than one month and a half later, notwithstanding the provisions of the Geneva Agreements, the American imperialists convened the Manila Conference with 8 participating countries to set up a military bloc called SEATO.
The French Government, a co-signatory with our Government of the Armistice Agreements reached in Geneva, also attended the Manila Conference.
Demagogic wording such as “joint defence” “in defence of common security”, “resist communist aggression” cannot deceive the peoples of South East Asian countries who are fully conscious of the aggressive nature of that so-called bloc for the defence of S. E. A. Out of the 8 participating countries, only 3 are South East Asian, namely Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan which, moreover, are small countries influenced by U. S. imperialism whereas sponsorship of the conference and main roles in it were played by 3 imperialist countries, the U.S.A., Britain and France. The SEATO openly included South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in its “protection zone”. This is a most glaring testimony to the aggressive policy of imperialism which decides at its own discretion to “protect” other countries — that is to commit aggression on them — in complete disregard of the independence and sovereignty of these countries.
Exactly as the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam has put it, the Manila Treaty is an “overt breach” of the Geneva Agreements, an infringement of the independence and sovereignty of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a menace to security and peace in South East Asia. This treaty which does not bring any good to peoples of South East Asia is aimed at waging aggression on countries of this area and binding them in a military alliance under US command. This treaty is a tool serving the imperialists’ schemes of repressing national liberation movements in South East Asia, of using Asians against Asians and preparing for an armed attack on the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
This treaty is part of a general plan of the US imperialists preparing for a world war.
And yet, Mr. Guy la Chambre, Minister for Associated States and Delegate of the French Government to the Manila Conference, still had the front to say that the French policy pursued in Manila is a continuation of the French policy in Geneva. Indeed this is a very queer continuation which is much more of a contradiction than a continuation.
Immediately after the signing of the Manila Treaty, the French Government set about negotiating with Washington on US aid to the French Expeditionary Corps and the 3 Associated States of Indo-China. It was General Ely, Commander-in-Chief of French Union forces in Indo-China, the representative of the French Government entrusted with the task of carrying out of the Armistice Agreements, in Indochina who took part in these negotiations which very nature constitutes a violation of the Armistice Agreements.
Following these negotiations, French Prime Minister Mendes France went to the USA to discuss the question of strengthening military potential in South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. As a result of pressure brought to bear by the US, the French Government recognized to US the right of granting aid directly to the Associated States and training directly Ngo dinh Diem’s troops in South Vietnam — concessions which France had never consented to make throughout the war in Indo-China, despite US persistent demands. On the other hand, the French Government was also obliged to back Ngo dinh Diem against Nguyen van Hinh who is the representative of pro-French elements in Bao Dai army.
But the US Government need not wait for French approval. Early in November 1954, it sent Collins to Saigon with the special task of “bringing US unqualified support to Ngo dinh Diem government”, of “bringing to Ngo dinh Diem government every aid within the limits of US Government’s possibilities”.
This aid consists mainly in “taking in hands the training of the Vietnam army” 90% of whose equipment are US made. The US planned to reorganize the regular forces of Bao Dai by eliminating pro-French elements, under the false pretense of reducing army effectives and at the same time by training these forces following methods already experimented by US in Greece and in South Korea. The US also planned to set up separate police units of Ngo dinh Diem which would comprise from the very start extremely mobile units and fascist police units with the task of savagely repressing the movement in favour of peace, national unity and democracy of the population in South Vietnam.
All the works of organizing and training Ngo dinh Diem troops are taken in hand by the US Military Advisers Mission headed by General O’ Daniel and comprising 371 instructors, to say nothing of US specialists who have come from the Philippines. US financial aid to Ngo dinh Diem Government in the fiscal year of 1955 reached 300 million US dollars of which 200 are earmarked for the building up of armed forces.
Directly taking in hands the organization and the training of armed forces, bringing in new military personnal arms and ammunition, openly granting military aid... these steps undeniably point to a military alliance. By so doing, the American imperialists and their agents have seriously violated the Geneva Agreements.
In February 1955, while tension was prevailing in Europe because of the Paris Agreements, and also in Asia as a result of American intervention in Tai-wan, the American imperialists made a further step in their schemes of wrecking peace in Indo-China and in South East Asia. A conference of participants of the SEA aggressive bloc was convened in Bangkok and attended by a French Government Delegation. The Conference discussed a number of political, economic, military measures aimed at intensifying war preparations with particular attention paid to plans for coping with what they called “subversive activities”, that is plans to repress national liberation movements in South East Asia. The Conference decided to set up a standing office of the South Asia aggressive bloc, a military advisory body comprising military representatives of 8 countries. The Bangkok Conference also worked out plans to strengthen the military potential of Thailand, the Philippines and other countries. It planned to set up mobile forces and intensify espionage activities under the signboard of “setting up a branch of security and information against subversive activities from the interior and from the outside”. Thus they are openly preparing for war. After that Conference, Dulles hurriedly went to Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam so as to step up the carrying out of the plans passed in the Bangkok Conference and to get these 2 countries and South Vietnam involved in the SEA aggressive bloc as soon as possible. The Bangkok Conference has increased tension in South East Asia.
Recently the 3 governments of USA, France and Great Britain intended to convene a conference of representatives of a high level to discuss the Indochina question.
This conference has no other aims than to discuss plans designed to step up the realization of their aggressive schemes, to create a tense situation, to sabotage the future general free elections, to sabotage the implementation of the Geneva armistice Agreements in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos thus paving the way for a more brazen American intervention into the internal affairs of these 3 countries. The convening of this conference would eventually be a serious violation of the Armistice Agreements concluded at the Geneva Conference the Final Declaration of which said:
In their relations with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, each member of the Geneva Conference undertakes to respect the sovereignty, the independence, the unity and the territorial integrity of the above-mentioned states and to refrain from any interference in their internal affairs.
Concurrently with the ever more brazen intervention of US imperialists in South Vietnam, their agents, that is the Ngo dinh Diem clique, with the countenance and complicity of French colonialists opponents of the Armistice Agreements, have been carrying out a policy of savage repression of discrimination and reprisals against those who took part in the resistance.
Article 14 C of the Geneva Agreements stipulates:
“Each party undertakes to refrain from any reprisals or discrimination against persons or organizations on account of their activities during the hostilities, and to guarantee their democratic liberties”.
Article 15 D provides that:
“The two parties shall permit no injury to the life and property of the civil population…”
Article 9 of the Geneva Conference’s Final Declaration says:
“The competent representative authorities of the Northern and Southern zones of Vietnam, as well as the authorities of Laos and Cambodia, must not permit any individual or collective reprisals against persons who have collaborated in any way with one of the parties during the war, or against members of such persons’ families.”
But all these provisions have not been carried out in South Vietnam. Acts of repression and arrests have been taking place repeatedly in the provisional regrouping zone of French Union forces. We cannot help recalling without deep grief the dramatic slaughter which took place in Kim Doi (Thua thien province, Central Vietnam) on August 2,1954, that is one day after the cease-fire had come into effect in the theatre of operations of Central Vietnam. 84 persons, among them many old men and children, were killed or injured for having hailed peace. Our people will never forget the slaughter at CamLo (province of Quang tri, Central Vietnam), Cho Duoc (Quang nam, Central Vietnam), Ngan-son Chi-thanh (province of Phu-yen, Central Vietnam), Mo-cay (province of Ben-tre, South Vietnam), Vinh-xuan (province of Can-tho, South Vietnam), Binh-thanh (Long-xuyen province, South Vietnam), in which hundreds of our compatriots were killed and thousands of others arrested and detained.
Together with this large scale repressive action, numerous arrests of those who took part in the resistance have been carried out repeatedly throughout the regrouping zone of French Union forces. Most of the persons apprehended were cruelly tortured. According to still incomplete statistics, from the date of the cease-fire till January 31, 1955, the opposite side has performed 2,321 acts of repression and slaughters, killing 822 persons, injuring 3,742 and arresting 13,000.
Investigations on a number of these cases such as the Ngan-son, Chi-thanh, Vinh-xuan, Mo cay, Binh-thanh incidents etc... led the International Commission to the conclusion that French Union forces violated articles 14 C and 15 D for having either opened fire on the mass of unarmed civilians or made excessive use of armed forces causing losses among the population.
Even most elementary individual liberties are not guaranteed in South Vietnam, to say nothing of other democratic liberties. No freedom of speech and expression: a severe censorship is now in force in South Vietnam. Eversince the signing of the Geneva armistice Agreements, 12 papers have been closed down one after another because they stood for national independence and to some extent supported peace and the unification of the country.
On November 7, 1954 Ngo dinh Diem clique issued warrants against 7 personalities of the peace movement in Saigon-Cholon and afterwards arrested about 30 other peace partisans. Faced with a strong movement of protest from every section of the population all over the country, Ngo dinh Diem clique dared not prosecute these partisans and instead had them illegally kept under surveillance at Hai-phong.
In the last few months, one of the greatest evils of the US imperialists, of the French colonialists opponents of the Armistice Agreements and Ngo dinh Diem clique was to misuse the Agreements’ provision concerning the freedom for the population to choose their residence North or South of the provisional demarcation line with a view to enticing and coercing our compatriots to go to South Vietnam.
They have been trying by all means to entice our compatriots, especially those of catholic religion to go to South Vietnam in order to strengthen Ngo dinh Diem’s position, to press our countrymen into their newly formed armed units and to enroll them as workers in rubber plantations. By so doing they also intended to create disturbances in our rear, to hamper the work of rehabilitating economic production in North Vietnam. They also wanted to throw discord between North and South and to thwart the efforts to reestablish normal relations between the two zones. They hoped to throw us into a difficult political position, to gather proofs which would enable them to slander us as having violated the Armistice Agreements, to make propaganda against us and at ease sabotage some provisions of the Geneva Agreements, with the aim of hindering the consolidation of peace and the achievement of national unity.
At the very moment when French forces were about to withdraw from a number of towns in the North, especially from the capital of Hanoi, Ngo dinh Diem henchmen did their utmost to distort and slander the policies of our government. At the same time, they organized raids to kidnap, entice or coerce our compatriots to go to the South.
After the withdrawal of French Union forces from Hanoi, the opposite side began to entice and coerce our compatriots of catholic religion in the coastal provinces of Thanh-hoa, Nghe-an to go to South Vietnam, using the following propaganda tricks: God has gone South, those who stay behind in North Vietnam will lose their soul. Those who go South will be provided with land and draught animals, whereas those who stay in North Vietnam will die from atomic bombs which the Americans will drop on North Vietnam. They have succeeded in sowing anxiety and concern among a number of our catholics and availed of this to organize illegal concentration camps, to put up in some places armed opposition against the people’s power, to make provocations with a view to using these as proofs in order to slander us as having violated the Armistice Agreements.
At present, in the perimeter of Hai-phong, they are making every effort to coax and compel our countrymen to go to South Vietnam. French military officials in Hai-phong have given instructions saying that from February 1, 1955, they would no longer be responsible for the security of those who refused to evacuate. At the same time they organize evacuation trips under circumstances which they termed as “tense situation” or “emergency”.
As a result of the above schemes, hundreds of thousands of displaced Vietnamese from the North are now living a miserable life either in the plantations or in the refugees camps of South Vietnam where starvation is rampant and sick people were left without medicines. Even American papers admitted that the Vietnamese displaced to the South have realized that they are shut up in a waste land, or that they are being engulfed in moving sand.
They also wrote that these unhappy people have not been supplied either with farm tools, money or food, as they had been assured before.
Many of the displaced are now eager to return to their houses and lands in North Vietnam, but they are prevented from so doing and only a few of them have so far succeeded in coming back to North Vietnam.
These actions are most insidious manœuvres. By so doing they have made advantage of the provisions 14 D and 8 of the Geneva Conference’s Final Declaration concerning freedom of residence and have acted against these provisions. And yet, to cover up their dark schemes, they had the front to slander us as having prevented immigration.
Typical of these propaganda tricks of slander is the incident in Balang (Thanh-hoa province). They enticed and forced our countrymen to go to the South, they man-handled the troops and resisted the local administration and illegally came into contact with ships of the opposite side. And yet, they circulated rumours that our troops have attacked a gathering of catholics that had assembled in Balang, making much noise in France and America. But what is the truth?
Investigations made on the spot by the International Commission led it to the conclusion that there has never been any concentration of catholics in Balang.
“The presence of a French ship anchored at sea near Balang, the visit to which of 12 men from the village in a fishing craft started a series of events which led to the incident, particularly when coupled with the observations in the introductory part of the memorandum show an unatural interest on the part of the French authorities in this area”.
It is well known to everybody that our Government’s policy provides for the respect of freedom of creed, for the guarantee of democratic liberties and freedom of circulation of the population. We hold that our compatriots are free to choose their place of residence and if they ever meet with difficulties in doing so, our administration will grant them help within the limits of our possibilities. Furthermore, with regard to persons who had gone South due to enemy propaganda tricks or coercive measures, their properties and lands will be looked after by the local administration during their absence and returned to them whenever they come back to the village.
However, we shall not tolerate illegal acts committed by the reactionaries such as brandishing atomic bomb bogus, illegally concentrating the population, openly resisting the Government.
From now till the withdrawal by French Union forces from the Haiphong perimeter, the enemy will try its best to coerce and incite our countrymen to go South. And after that, they will still persist in carrying out these schemes of theirs. That’s why we should be vigilant, we should resolutely struggle to frustrate these schemes so that our countrymen may decide freely to go, whether they really wish so or to stay behind, whether they so see fit, without being influenced by propaganda tricks or coercive devices.
A general look at the situation leads us to the opinion that the American imperialists, the French colonialists opponents of the Armistice Agreements and the Ngo dinh Diem clique are resolutely undertaking to systematically sabotage the Armistice Agreements. On the one hand, the American imperialists have been cynically intervening in South Vietnam, they have been increasing the military potential of South Vietnam, taking in hands the direction of internal affairs, making pretence of carrying out reforms and trying their best to consolidate the position of their faithful agent Ngo dinh Diem. On the other hand, Ngo dinh Diem administration has been carrying out a most savage policy of repression, with the aim of curbing the fighting spirit of our countrymen in South Vietnam now struggling for peace, unity, independence and democracy. They have been endeavouring to suppress the fighting spirit of the people, to prepare necessary conditions for wrecking the Armistice Agreements, for sabotaging peace, preventing the holding of free general elections to achieve Vietnam’s unity, continuing to prepare for war, and turning South Vietnam into an American military base.
The more the Americans intervene in South Vietnam, the more they harm the French position and interests in their favour. In the military field, the Americans have replaced the French by taking up the training of Ngo dinh Diem troops. In the economic field, US aid policy and investments of capital are more and more damaging the interests of French concerns. The US is doing its utmost to grab South Vietnam main resources and take over the former position held by French in the economy of this area. Besides, non content with this, the Americans have many a time expressed their dissatisfaction at French efforts to maintain economic interests in North Vietnam. In the political field, the US and Ngo dinh Diem clique are trying their best to oust pro-French elements from key positions in the administration and the army, going the length of using the false pretense of “eliminating officials guilty of speculation, extortion and embezzlement” in order to punish former French efficient agents.
Therefore, as a result of the American intervention the situation in South Vietnam is more and more confused every day. The people’s working and living conditions have turned out to be harder and harder. Frequent clashes take place between Ngo dinh Diem’s army and troops of other religious sects and recently these clashes have in several cases expanded in size. A serious menace is hovering over the peaceful life of our compatriots in South Vietnam. Our people are more and more conscious that the American imperialists are their chief and dangerous enemy.
The intervention of American imperialists and their policy of sabotaging the Geneva Armistice Agreements not only run counter to the fundamental interests of our people, but are also in contradiction with fundamental interests of the French people.
That is why the French people are against this intervention, against such a policy of the American imperialists. Even some of French bourgeois politicians grew anxious, and had raised their voices in protest against American schemes.
However, for the time being, the French colonialists opponents of the Armistice Agreements still continue to join hands with the Americans in sabotaging the Geneva Agreements. The American imperialists should bear the main responsibility for their acts but the French authorities, which are signatory of the Agreements should undoubtedly bear their own part of responsibility.
The path followed by the French government at present in sabotaging the Geneva Agreements augurs no good for France.
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