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| A view of Buon Ma Thuot prison in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak |
Buon Ma Thuot prison, located in Tu An ward of Buon Ma Thuot city, is a U-shape building complex constructed by French colonialists in 1930.
The prison has total area of 2ha, surrounded by four walls which are 4m high and have four watching towers. Inside the walls are six ranges of jails and cells where prisoners were held in custody by a cruel and harsh regime.
Between 1930 and 1945, more than 3,500 political prisoners were kept in the prison, including Vo Chi Cong, Nguyen Chi Thanh, To Huu and Phan Dang Luu.
Despite cruel torture, the communist prisoners turned the prison into a political training place. In late 1940, a secret force called “faithful force” was formed in the prison, which became the first Party cell set up in Dak Lak, contributing to the revolutionary movement in the province and laying a foundation for the 1945 uprising in Dak Lak.
The prison was recognised as a national historic-cultural relic in July 1980. It was restored in 1992 and 2006. Since 2015, the site welcomed a total of about 47,000 visitors.
Vice Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Gia Duan, said the recognition of the prison as a special national relic site will help the province upgrade the site and gather more documents and exhibits.
He said the province will promote the value of the site through adding it into tourism products of the province, making it a popular destination of Dak Lak.
