PRISONERS OF WAR, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM.
According to the December 1954 declaration made by Jacques Chevallier, French state secretary for War, the French returned to the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) 67,000 detainees (
détenus), including 59,700 internees and 8,000 war prisoners. The French had classified the majority of these enemy Vietnamese prisoners as
personnels internés militaires or PIM. This status technically refers to enemy prisoners taken by the
Expeditionary Corps and used for various types of
corvée labor. The French army used them behind the lines doing manual jobs and even deployed them as workers during the battle of
Dien Bien Phu during which the PIM suffered heavy casualties. According to a separate source, the French returned 64,000 PIM.
See also EXECUTIONS.