Pham Thanh Nghien

Immediate Concerns

Dec. 2024:

Former political prisoner Pham Thanh Nghien, who now lives in the US, accepted the 2024 Human Rights Awards given by Vietnam Human Rights Network on behalf of its three winners, none of whom could attend: Dang Dang Phuoc, Bui Van Thuan and Do Nam Trung. The three men are serving a combined total of almost 30 years in prison, Nghien said during the acceptance speech, pointing to three empty chairs on stage. She noted that in the 22-year history of this award, none of its recipients were able to attend the ceremony due to their being in prison.

Soon after Nghien’s appearance at the award ceremony, she received a call from her family in Vietnam telling her that the police in Hai Phong visited her mother’s house on Christmas Eve and interrogated her and her sister about Nghien’s activities in the US. On her Facebook page, Nghien said this was the third time her family was subjected to this type of harassment, which she considers transnational repression, with the intent to silence activists even after they’ve left the country.

July 2024:

Former political prisoner Pham Thanh Nghien, who emigrated to the U.S. last year, told Project88 that Facebook notified her that they restricted several of her commentaries about the late leader Nguyen Phu Trong and President To Lam from being shown in Vietnam after direct requests by the Ministry of Information and Communication. Facebook stated: “We conduct a legal assessment before we take action in response to a legal or government request. We also take into account human rights implications.” Nghien said although Facebook in the past had occasionally blocked some of her posts in Vietnam, this was the first time she had been notified of the reason. In one of the blocked posts, Nghien had mentioned the “gold crusted steak” that To Lam had eaten in London in 2021. In another, she argued that Vietnamese citizens should not have to wait and let history judge Nguyen Phu Trong but should be able to “judge him immediately.”

Background

In 2016, Pham Thanh Nghien got married Huynh Anh Tu, a former prisoner of conscience, who has lived in Loc Hung since 2014. They have a toddler and had just completed building their own house in Loc Hung vegetable garden one week before the new house was torn down during the forced evictions on January 4 and 8, 2019.

Profile photo source: Facebook Dương Đại Triều Lâm

Her Facebook page

History of Activism

On September 2008, Pham Thanh Nghien was arrested because of her protest against China’s illegal claim towards Paracel and Spratly Islands. Accused of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," Nghien was sentenced to four years in jail and three years under house arrest on January 29, 2010.

July 2021:

Former political prisoner Pham Thanh Nghien, residing in HCMC, was told by her family in Hai Phong (North Vietnam) that on July 26, the Hai Phong police came to tell them to tell her that she had been summoned to come to Hanoi on July 28 to answer questions regarding Nguyen Thuy Hanh, founder of the 50K Fund, who was arrested earlier in the year. Hanoi police said they found a book by Nghien — Slices of life behind bars — at Thuy Hanh’s house. It is not clear what that had to do with Nghien, or why Hanoi police did not request HCMC police contact her directly. What is clear is that it would be impossible for Thanh Nghien to leave on such short notice while both cities were in total lockdown.

May 2023:

Pham Thanh Nghien reported that police went to her house in Ho Chi Minh City and harassed her two sisters “who had come from the North to help clean up” after she left Vietnam in April 2023. As Nghien put it: “They questioned my sisters about their background and why they were there. Then they issued my sisters a citation for ‘not reporting about temporary residence’ and for ‘helping their sister clean up the house before returning it to the landlord’.”

December 2023:

Pham Thanh Nghien reported that HCMC Police surrounded their former neighborhood, Loc Hung Vegetable Garden in Binh Thanh District, which for years has been a contentious flashpoint against land-grabbing by the authorities. Since Dec. 6, work trucks had been bringing dirt, sand and other construction material to the site. Ambulances, fire trucks and frequency-jamming vehicles had been stationed in two schools near the area. All roads going in and out were monitored and controlled by police. Several people who live right outside Loc Hung had also been ordered not to leave their homes.

May 2025:

On May 20, 2025, Pham Thanh Nghien told Project88 about meetings she had with members of the U.S. Congress and State Department on May 1-2. During their trip, Pham Thanh Nghien and her husband Huynh Anh Tu raised awareness about the severe abuses endured by political prisoners in Vietnam.

Commenting on the visit, Nghien stated: “My focus for years has been tirelessly advocating for prisoners of conscience, despite moments of despair. Without persistence, hope and freedom remain out of reach. As I write this, friends remain imprisoned—some for a second time, others seeking asylum abroad. They all face constant threats and the risk of being hunted by Hanoi authorities.”

The trip is the first public advocacy effort by Nghien and her husband, Huynh Anh Tu, both former political prisoners, since they sought refuge in the U.S. in April 2023. In the U.S., Nghien continues advocating for human rights, recently accepting awards for imprisoned activists, while facing ongoing transnational repression from Vietnamese authorities targeting her family.

Family Situation

Her husband is a former prisoner Huynh Anh Tu, and they have a child. 

April 2023:

Pham Thanh Nghien and Huynh Anh Tu arrived safely in Houston with their daughter on April 13. In Houston, Nghien told the Little Saigon magazine that her family was held at Tan Son Nhut International Airport for two hours before being allowed to board because officials wanted to make sure that US Secretary of State Blinken was indeed coming to Vietnam. During their months-long process of preparation, Nghien said she was repeatedly advised by U.S. consulate officials to keep a low profile and not say anything, especially on social media.