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VIETNAM 16 <br />The government pursued a population and reproductive health strategy that set a <br />target average number of children per couple (see section 6, Women). <br />Forced entry into homes is not permitted without orders from the public <br />prosecutor, although security forces seldom followed these procedures and instead <br />asked permission to enter homes with an implied threat of repercussions for failure <br />to cooperate. During the year police forcibly entered homes of a number of <br />prominent dissidents - -such as Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Thanh Giang, Le Quoc <br />Quan, and Le Tran Luat - -and removed personal computers, cell phones, and other <br />material. <br />Government authorities continued to open and censor targeted persons' mail; <br />confiscate packages and letters; and monitor telephone conversations, e -mail, text <br />messages, and fax transmissions. The government cut the telephone lines and <br />interrupted the cell phone and Internet service of a number of political activists and <br />their family members. <br />CPV membership remained a prerequisite to career advancement for all <br />government and government- linked organizations and businesses. However, <br />economic diversification continued to make membership in the CPV and CPV - <br />controlled mass organizations less essential to financial and social advancement. <br />Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: <br />a. Freedom of Speech and Press <br />Status of Freedom of Speech and Press <br />Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, including for <br />members of the press, the government continued to use broad national security and <br />antidefamation provisions to restrict these freedoms. The law defines the crimes of <br />"sabotaging the infrastructure of socialism," "sowing divisions between religious <br />and nonreligious people," and "conducting propaganda against the Socialist <br />Republic of Vietnam" as serious offenses against national security. It also <br />expressly forbids "taking advantage of democratic freedoms and rights to violate <br />the interests of the state and social organizations." <br />Freedom of Speech: The government continued to restrict speech that criticized <br />individual government leaders; promoted political pluralism or multiparty <br />