Some elements of state control, including the widespread monitoring of civilians by police, have been relaxed in recent years. Domestic and international travel restrictions were eased in 1994. However, the security services still search homes without warrants, monitor some personal communications, and maintain neighborhood and workplace committees that inform on the population. The rule of law is nonexistent. The judiciary is not independent of the government, and trials lack adequate procedural safeguards.
Prison conditions are harsh.
In February 1998, one of three former government officials imprisoned in 1990 for advocating peaceful political reform died because he was denied medical treatment for diabetes. The two other men remain in prison. Most of the tens of thousands of people who were sent to re-education camps following the Communist victory in 1975 have been released. Unconfirmed reports, however, suggest that the regime may be holding several hundred political prisoners. Although the constitution allows for freedom of speech and expression, they are extremely limited in practice.