Da Nang in the context of Quảng Nam Province

Interrogational torture is the use of torture to obtain information in interrogation, as opposed to the use of torture to extract a forced confession, regardless of whether it is true or false. Torture has been used throughout history during interrogation, although it is now illegal and a violation of international law.

Beyond torture's moral repugnance, most experts who study interrogation consider torture an ineffective and counterproductive means of gathering accurate information, because it frequently generates false or misleading information and impairs subsequent information collection.

Waterboarding or controlled drowning is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboarding, the captive's face is covered with cloth or some other thin material and immobilized on their back at an incline of 10 to 20 degrees. Torturers pour water onto the face over the breathing passages, causing an almost immediate gag reflex and creating a drowning sensation for the captive. Normally, water is poured intermittently to prevent death; however, if the water is poured uninterruptedly it will lead to death by asphyxia. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, and lasting psychological damage. Adverse physical effects can last for months, and psychological effects for years. The term "water board torture" appeared in press reports as early as 1976.

Waterboarding has been used in diverse places and at various points in history, including the Spanish and Flemish Inquisitions, by the United States military during the Philippine–American War, by Japanese and German officials during World War II, by the French in the Algerian War, by the U.S. during the Vietnam War and the war on terror, by the Pinochet regime in Chile, by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, by British security forces during the Troubles, and by South African police during the Apartheid era. Historically, waterboarding has been viewed as an especially severe form of torture.

The French conquest of Vietnam (1858–1885) was a series of military expeditions that pitted the Second French Empire, later the French Third Republic, against the Vietnamese empire of Đại Nam in the mid-late 19th century. Its end results were victories for France as they defeated the Vietnamese and their Chinese allies in 1885, incorporated modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia into the French colonial empire, and established the territory of French Indochina over Mainland Southeast Asia in 1887.

A joint Franco-Spanish expedition was initiated in 1858 by invading Tourane (modern day Da Nang) in September 1858 and Saigon five months later. This four-year campaign resulted in Emperor Tu Duc signing a treaty in June 1862, granting the French sovereignty over three provinces in the South. The French annexed the three southwestern provinces in 1867 to form Cochinchina. Having consolidated their power in Cochinchina, they conquered the rest of Vietnam through a series of campaigns in Tonkin between 1873 and 1886. French ambitions to subjugate Tonkin were opposed by the Qing dynasty, the region being part of the Chinese sphere of influence.

15°41′49.51″N 108°25′26.66″E / 15.6970861°N 108.4240722°E / 15.6970861; 108.4240722

In Vietnam, South Central Coast (Vietnamese: Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ) and South Central Region (Vietnamese: Nam Trung Bộ) are two terms which can refer to the same region or two regions that do not correspond to each other. South Central Coast (sometimes called "South Central Region") consists of the independent municipality of Đà Nẵng and seven other provinces (picture 1), which means South Central Coast doesn't include Central Highlands (picture 2). Nevertheless, the term "South Central Region" can also be used to include Central Highlands as it is part of southern part of Central Vietnam.

Thường Ðức Camp (also known as Thường Ðức Special Forces Camp) is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base southwest of Da Nang in Quảng Nam Province, central Vietnam.

Quảng Ngãi (Vietnamese pronunciation: [kwâŋ ŋǎjˀ]) is a coastal and mountainous province located in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands regions of Vietnam. The province borders Da Nang to the north, Gia Lai to the south, and the South China Sea to the east. It also borders the Lao provinces of Sekong and Attapeu and the Cambodian province of Ratanakiri to the west.

The province's administrative is Cẩm Thành Ward, located 130 km south of Đà Nẵng, 820 km north of Hồ Chí Minh City, and 908 km south of Hà Nội along the National Route 1. Quảng Ngãi has a 129 km coastline with a territorial sea of 11,000 km (4,200 sq mi).