Phạm Đoan Trang

Phạm Thị Đoan Trang (born May 27, 1978) is a Vietnamese author, blogger, journalist, and activist. She is the founder of various independent organizations such as Green Trees, Luat Khoa magazine and the Liberal Publishing House. She received numerous prizes in recognition of her work in advocating and defending human rights in Vietnam, including the 2017 Homo Homini Award, the 2019 Press Freedom Award by Reporters Without Borders, the 2022 Martin Ennals Award, and the 2022 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards.

From 2000 until 2013, Trang worked for Vietnamese state media outlets before shifting to human rights advocacy in Vietnam. She has written and published books addressing issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, environmental issues, land rights, political prisoners, democracy, and human rights. Because of these activities, she was repeatedly harassed by the authorities and had to live in hiding within Vietnam. in a family of three children. Her parents are high school chemistry teachers, and her brothers work in state institutions in Vietnam. According to Trang, feelings of sadness and grief for her parents were a major motivation for her to become an activist "with the desire to change the country." Her blog has covered a wide range of topics such as the environment, corruption, geopolitics, democracy, and human rights. According to People in Need, her blog is visited by approximately 20,000 people a day. According to The Vietnamese, in March 2007, Trang stopped working at VTC and began work at the newspaper VietNamNet In 2008, she and journalist Hoàng Nguyên wrote the book “Bóng” – Tự truyện của một người đồng tính ( This is considered the first book on male homosexuality in Vietnam, and was a best seller at the time.

In late August 2009, during her time at VietNamNet, she was arrested for allegedly "violating national security". However, the editor-in-chief of VietNamNet denied her arrest was for her articles in the newspaper. Some of her articles on VietNamNet were also blocked. She was released on September 6 and stopped working for VietNamNet in September. According to Trang, she was detained because the police misunderstood that she was involved in printing T-shirts with messages protesting the Central Highlands Bauxite Project and affirming sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, but she believes this could also be related to her writings on "sensitive political topics."

In February 2010, she started working for the newspaper Pháp luật Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, where she chose to limit posting her unpublished and pre-censored articles for the newspaper to her blog to maintain good working relations with her editors, which she had done during her time working at VietNamNet. In the same year, she was one of the four candidates for the Outstanding Writer award, organized by her newspaper.

In December 2012, she was detained while reporting on an anti-China protest in Ho Chi Minh City. She was reportedly taken to a rehabilitation camp for commercial sex workers, where she was interrogated by a group of seven officials. After her release, she asked another activist to upload the recording she secretly made while in detention online. The recording was posted on January 13, 2013, and quickly became viral, according to Trang. In the same day, police officials raided her newspaper's office and threatened its editor-in-chief with "national security-related" charges. She fled the country to avoid reprisal and imprisonment from the authorities. Under pressure from the authorities, Pháp Luật Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh fired her for "leaving work without prior notification". From 2000 to 2013, Trang said that she had worked in at least ten different state newspapers. and was one of the signatories of the network's Declaration 258, which calls on the government and the United Nations Human Rights Council to “review” provisions of Article 258, which had been criticized for its vagueness and arbitrariness. After Trang participated in handing over the declaration to several international organizations in Bangkok, Thailand, Radio France Internationale reported that the police showed up at her mother's residence under the witness of blogger Le Thien Nhan.

In January 2014, Trang and a few other activists started lobbying for human rights in Vietnam in the United States, Canada, and Switzerland ahead of the second Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations to assess the human rights situation in Vietnam since the first review in 2009. In the same year, she accepted an invitation to study public policy at the University of Southern California under the Feuchtwanger scholarship of Villa Aurora. In November 2014, she co-founded Luat Khoa, an independent magazine which aims to help Vietnamese learn about law, the constitution, and their rights. In 2017, the magazine incorporated as a non-profit in the United States under the name Legal Initiatives for Vietnam and releases the English version of the magazine called The Vietnamese. The non-profit also provides training and resources to journalists in Vietnam to produce their own work.

2015–2020: Continuing activism in Vietnam In 2015, Trang returned to Vietnam after finishing the 10-month course in the United States. Upon return, security forces detained Trang at Tan Son Nhat airport for 15 hours to ask her questions relating to "national security." It is unclear whether she was subjected to an exit ban, as according to Trịnh Hữu Long, co-founder of Luat Khoa, “her passport has not been confiscated, nor has she attempted to leave the country”. In the same year, she was one of the founders of Green Trees, In April 2015, Trang was assaulted during an environmental protest in Hanoi, causing her to walk with a limp. Her organization, Green Trees, drafted a report titled An Overview Of The Marine Life Disaster In Vietnam which addresses many issues surrounding the environmental disaster. The report was sent to Vietnamese National Assembly delegates on October 19, one day before the 2nd session of the 14th National Assembly convened. In the same year, she was invited to meet the president of the United States Barack Obama during his 2016 visit to Hanoi on May 24. Fearing the police would stop her if she traveled by plane, she decided to travel by car from Ho Chi Minh City, where she was receiving medical treatment, to Hanoi. However, she was detained for 24 hours at a hotel in Ninh Bình. Security officials reportedly denied the reason for her arrest was related to the meeting with President Obama, instead claiming that it was due to "writings on her Facebook page."

On November 16, 2017, Trang, along with activists Nguyễn Quang A, Bùi Thị Minh Hằng, and Nguyễn Chí Tuyến met with a European Union delegation to discuss the human rights situation in Vietnam. During the meeting, Trang is said to have provided the EU delegation with updated reports on the human rights situation in Vietnam, the marine life disaster in Central Vietnam, and the state of religious freedom in the country. After the meeting, Trang, Nguyễn Quang A and Bùi Thị Minh Hằng were detained by security forces. Trang was released evening of that day and was placed under "house arrest". Since 2017, she was forced to move between various cities to evade surveillance from the authorities. According to Amnesty International, she cannot settle at a location for more than a month.

In September 2017, Trang published Politics for the Common People (Vietnamese: Chính trị bình dân), Described as a textbook, it discusses the concept of democracy, rule of law and separation of powers while promoting the idea of politics "from below". The book was highly praised by activists in Vietnam for its content, writing style, and its relevancy to the situation in Vietnam. The book was considered politically sensitive in Vietnam: it is reported that customs agents in Da Nang had confiscated copies of the book in February 2018. She later went into hiding.

In August 2018, while attending the performance of "A Memory of Saigon" by singer and activist Nguyen Tin at the Casanova tea room in Ho Chi Minh City, Trang was detained by several "uninvited guests," a group of uniformed law enforcement officers, security personnel, and many people in plain clothes, who took her to a vehicle outside the venue as the audience was leaving, according to Human Rights Watch. Trịnh Hữu Long, Trang's coworker, stated that she was taken to the police headquarters of Ward 7, District 3, where she was reportedly beaten during interrogation.

In 2019, Trang co-founded the Liberal Publishing House (Vietnamese: Nhà xuất bản Tự Do), an independent publishing house operating outside of censorship from the Vietnamese government. The Liberal Publishing House has published her samizdat books such as Politics for the Common people, A Handbook for Families of Prisoners, Non-Violent Resistance, and Fighting Impunity. Among these, A Handbook for Families of Prisoners, published in May, was considered the first book in Vietnam for families with incarcerated relatives. In July, the publishing house announced it will giveaway 1,000 copies of Non-Violent Resistance; according to Trang, 1,000 copies of the book were distributed to readers within 4 days. In the same year, Trang publishes the book Politics of A Police State, which combines the content of her two previous works. The book also described the harassment she suffered as a writer and activist.

In January 2020, Trang and other activists published the first edition of the 28-page Đồng Tâm report in English; the report is said to shed light on the land clash in Dong Tam on January 9, 2020. The second edition, in English and Vietnamese, was published on February 9, 2020. The third edition, in 128 pages, considered the most comprehensive, was published on September 25, 2020. In the same month, she announced her withdrawal from the Liberal Publishing House, citing an increase in harassment from the authorities.

Arrest and imprisonment On October 6, 2020, hours after the conclusion of the 24th annual US-Vietnam human rights dialogue, Trang was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City; she was later brought to Hanoi for further investigation. The authorities charged Trang with "conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam" and "making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." The publication of the Đồng Tâm report amid the upcoming party congress in January 2021 were considered likely reasons for her arrest.

Fellow activist Will Nguyen posted on Twitter a letter in Vietnamese and English that Trang asked him to release upon her arrest. She also asks the community to take care of her family and requested her guitar be sent to her in jail. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience and advocate for her unconditional release, while stating that she is at "grave risk of torture". Additionally, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi expressed concern over the arrest, saying it "could impact freedom of expression" in Vietnam. During her detention, Trang's lawyers stated that her health had declined due to improper medical checkups and treatment. On October 26, 2021, 28 non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement demanding her unconditional release.

On December 14, 2021, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Trang to 9 years imprisonment after a single-day trial. According to the indictment, Trang was accused of unlawfully storing three documents in English, one in Vietnamese, and also gave interviews to BBC News Vietnamese and Radio Free Asia. The prosecutors alleged that Trang had "distorted the authorities' leadership and policies" and "defamed the government" through her interviews and documents. Non-governmental organizations, including the International Publishers Association, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have criticized the conviction. On August 25, 2022, the High People's Court in Hanoi rejected Trang's appeal and upheld her 9-year sentence. Reports since October 2022 have indicated that Trang was transferred to a prison in Bình Dương province, approximately away from her family in Hanoi. Earlier on May 27, 2025, four international organizations had called for similar measures, also demanding that the Vietnamese authorities cease threatening the freedom of expression of writers, journalists, dissidents, and their families. The statements also noted that Trang's health had deteriorated significantly: she suffered from lingering effects of COVID-19 contracted in prison, chronic sinusitis, arthritis, and gynaecological issues.

Awards and recognition Trang has received many awards from non-governmental organizations and governmental bodies. In 2018, Trang was awarded the Homo Homini Award by the Czech-based human rights organisation People In Need. Trang requested an employee from a Czech-based airline to receive the award on her behalf. In 2019, Trang received the Press Freedom Prize for Impact from Reporters Without Borders. She did not go to Berlin to receive the award for concerns over difficulties she may face with security officials when leaving and entering the country. Trịnh Hữu Long, editor-in-chief for Luat Khoa'', accepted the award on Trang's behalf. In 2022, she received the Martin Ennals Award, becoming the first rights activist from Vietnam to receive this award. She received many awards in the same year, including the CPJ International Press Freedom Award, International Women of Courage Award from the United States Department of State and the Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award. In 2024, Trang received the Barbey Freedom to Write Award by PEN America. In 2025, she received the PEN Tucholsky award and was named in the "10 Most Urgent Cases" list published annually by the One Free Press Coalition.

Published books Source: