On August 7, the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Committee of the Hanoi Party Committee organized a conference to provide specialized information to press agencies and deploy key tasks of propaganda work in the press in August 2026.
Speaking at the conference, Colonel Doan Chi Thang - Deputy Head of the Political Department of the Capital High Command said that currently in the whole city there are 233 cemeteries with martyrs' graves that have not been identified, and it is necessary to take samples to determine DNA.
In which, there are 3 martyrs' cemeteries managed by the city (Mai Dich Cemetery, Ngoc Hoi Martyrs' Cemetery and Nhon Martyrs' Cemetery); 230 cemeteries in 81 communes and wards.
For 3 martyrs' cemeteries managed by the city, on July 30, the sampling of 48 martyrs' graves at Ngoc Hoi Martyrs' Cemetery was completed.
On August 2, sampling at Nhon Martyrs' Cemetery was deployed and the sampling work for 35/38 martyrs' graves and 3 graves that could not be sampled was completed.
On August 7, taking samples at Mai Dich Martyrs' Cemetery for 469 martyrs' graves.
Currently, some communes and wards have completed sampling: Phu Dong commune, Duong Noi ward, Da Phuc commune, Tung Thien ward.
Regarding the completion timeline of the "Operation 500 Days and Nights", Colonel Doan Chi Thang said that Hanoi City is determined to complete it in October 2026.
According to a report by the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs, currently, localities have developed plans for taking samples and handing over martyrs' remains; the implementation of taking samples and handing over samples by localities is deployed from August 2026, and will be accelerated, focusing on August and September in accordance with the direction and striving to complete it before October 10, 2026.
Regarding dossier management, the Department of Home Affairs is coordinating with the Department of Science and Technology and relevant departments and branches, according to the city's direction, to urgently edit and digitize all documents to update to the common database of the whole country.
In the coming time, the Department of Home Affairs will coordinate with relevant agencies to accelerate digitization and attach identification codes to each grave and each martyr cemetery. The goal is to build a unified data system, helping scientific and synchronous management, and at the same time creating conditions for people to easily look up information on the electronic information portal about martyrs nationwide.
The Department of Home Affairs emphasized that the 500 Days and Nights Campaign always receives close attention and direction from Party and State leaders and the city. The city has also prioritized allocating resources to implement the tasks of the program. Besides, there is very high consensus and support from the people.
Besides the advantages, Operation 500 Days and Nights also faced many difficulties when the terrain changed a lot, making information verification increasingly complicated.
The graves have been buried for a long time, the grave structure is relatively complex, has been restored many times, and built solidly, therefore, the evaluation, classification and organization of sampling for DNA testing will be difficult, incurring labor costs.
The remains of martyrs whose information has not been identified in the martyrs' cemeteries mainly during the resistance war against the French colonialists have gone through too long, identifying the identities of the remains is an extremely difficult task...
