A museum with no building.
No one can visit or observe these places of detention from the inside. So Tai Vách Mạch Dừng records the accounts of people who were held there, and makes them public for anyone to read, cite and discuss.
Who it is for
Anyone who wants to understand how detention in Vietnam actually works — and, alongside them, the researchers, lawyers, journalists and human rights workers who need a record precise enough to use.
What it holds
Each person's account and a map of places of detention across the country. Summaries for each place and an analysis of the detention system are being written.
What it is not
Not a news site, and not a campaign. The record is deliberately slow and shaped like a case file: an entry appears only when it can be presented carefully, and not before.
Consent & safety
The person who spoke decides
An account is published only with the narrator's consent. To have an account taken down, the narrator can write to the project at taivachmachdung@proton.me, without giving a reason.
Every name is changed
Narrators' names are pseudonyms; identifying details such as dates, workplaces and family circumstances are changed or removed wherever they could expose a person or their relatives.
About the recordings
Some accounts are published with an audio recording; anyone can listen to and download these, and a voice can let people who know the narrator recognise them. Recordings that are not published are kept private and shared for investigative or legal purposes only with the narrator's explicit agreement.
People still inside
Where someone is still serving a sentence, the file is prepared together with their family and published only when doing so will not make their situation worse. Some files are held back for exactly this reason.
How to use the archive
When citing, give the account code (for example TN0008), the link and the date you read it. Never cite a narrator by name.
To request unpublished material for an investigation or legal proceeding, write to the project. Each request is answered individually, and the person the account belongs to is always asked again. The Methodology page sets out the limits of what these files claim.
If you have something to tell
If you or someone close to you was held in detention in Vietnam, the project would like to record whatever you are willing to tell. You can stop at any point, and nothing is published without your consent.