Vietnam Options

[fake guest]

Beautiful, forgiving folks.

[RockZilla]

I have always wanted to go there. It looks like a beautiful country.

[Rev. Brixx]

I have always wanted to go there. It looks like a beautiful country.

till your locked in a TIGER BOX, getting beat wqith bamboo rods,bra!!

[Tantra, Goddess of Flight]

till your locked in a TIGER BOX, getting beat wqith bamboo rods,bra!!

Uh...I think they're over that now.

The Vietnamese actually have a very rich literary and poetic culture that goes back at least for a thousand years.

[RockZilla]

till your locked in a TIGER BOX, getting beat wqith bamboo rods,bra!!

As long as I get to sample the young ladies beforehand, it will be worth it.

[His Daddy]

The Vietnamese actually have a very rich literary and poetic culture that goes back at least for a thousand years.

That's too bad that it's wrapped in a language that's an onslaught to the ears.

[Rev. Brixx]

Uh...I think they're over that now.

The Vietnamese actually have a very rich literary and poetic culture that goes back at least for a thousand years.

You obviouselt havent seen the movie RAMBO have you? MIA POW's are still over there, and it makes me sick!

[ShempTheOtherStooge]

Yeah, it's a great place run by some wonderful people.

Human Rights Issues in Vietnam

Opposition parties, independent media, labor unions, and religious groups that operate outside of Vietnamese Communist Party control are banned. In 2007, authorities have increasingly suppressed activists, organizations, and political parties that surfaced in 2006 when the government temporarily eased restrictions prior to hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Of nearly 40 dissidents arrested since the crackdown began in 2006, more than 20 have been sentenced to prison in 2007, many under Penal Code article 88, conducting anti-government propaganda. In March, Roman Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, a founder of the Bloc 8406 democracy group, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Others sentenced in 2007 include human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, labor activist Tran Quoc Hien, and at least five opposition party members. Cyber dissident Truong Quoc Huy’s trial is expected by year’s end. Members of independent churches have also been imprisoned.

Vietnamese law continues to authorize arbitrary detention without trial. While administrative detention decree 31/CP was repealed in 2007, a more repressive law Ordinance 44, authorizes placing people suspected of threatening national security under house arrest or in detention without trial in Social Protection Centers, rehabilitation camps or mental hospitals. Lawyer Bui Thi Kim Thanh, who assisted farmers with land rights complaints, was arrested in November 2006 and involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. She was released in July 2007.

In addition to detaining or imprisoning individuals considered a political threat, the Vietnamese government uses other means to silence them. Dissidents’ telephones are disconnected, their internet connections are terminated, and they are questioned and often detained if they go to internet cafés. Their homes are periodically searched and their computers and documents confiscated. Their families are pressured to stop them from speaking out. They are insulted in articles in the official state media, or denounced by “angry citizens” in orchestrated public meetings. They are dismissed from their jobs, or find their client base has dried up as a result of official pressure and negative publicity. Even family members face intimidation and reprisals.

Prior to the US visit of Vietnamese President Triet in June, Vietnam released political prisoners Nguyen Vu Binh, who had served five years, and lawyer Le Quoc Quan, arrested in March 2007 and charged with attempting to overthrow the government after participating in a fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States. In October, eleven political and religious prisoners imprisoned on national security charges were released in a presidential amnesty. They included three members of the Cao Dai religion arrested in Cambodia in 2004 for trying to give a protest letter to officials attending an ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh along with seven Montagnards, at least three of whom were arrested trying to seek asylum in Cambodia.

[ShempTheOtherStooge]

You obviouselt havent seen the movie RAMBO have you? MIA POW's are still over there, and it makes me sick!

Could be true Bra!

[Tantra, Goddess of Flight]

That's too bad that it's wrapped in a language that's an onslaught to the ears.

A lot of it is in French. (I know, I know...that could be an onslaught to the ears, also.)

[Tantra, Goddess of Flight]

You obviouselt havent seen the movie RAMBO have you? MIA POW's are still over there, and it makes me sick!

Oh, OK, there's a valid source for political and historical accuracy. I have more respect for you now.

[swid]

Oh, OK, there's a valid source for political and historical accuracy. I have more respect for you now.

I get jokes.

[Rev. Brixx]

I get jokes.

haha at least some one does,bra!

[Danny Vermin]

I get jokes.

[HereWeGoSouthie]

Another beautiful and historic culture destroyed and contaminated by French corruption.

Between Haiti, Morocco and VietNam - France has quite the track record.

[Danny Vermin]

Another beautiful and historic culture destroyed and contaminated by French corruption.

Between Haiti, Morocco and VietNam - France has quite the track record.

Dont' forget Canada.

[Evil Eddie C]

Another beautiful and historic culture destroyed and contaminated by French corruption.

Between Haiti, Morocco and VietNam - France has quite the track record.

Hey, for every Haitian death squad, there is a pot of some migh-tee fine cajun gumbo cookin' up somewheres...

France's track record as an imperial power is a mixed bag, at worst.