Girl Asks U.S. to Help Free Her Father : Imprisonment: The Westminster man is being held in Vietnam for demonstrating against the Communist regime.

The 17-year-old daughter of a Westminster man who reportedly has been jailed in Vietnam since June for demonstrating against the Communist regime has been pleading with American government and human rights officials for help.

There is a problem: Van Thanh Nguyen, 41, who came to the United States in 1985, is not an American citizen, and authorities trying to verify his whereabouts do not know yet if they can intervene on his behalf.

“It’s really unfortunate,” said Paul Morrell, chief of staff for Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove). “But Vietnam is still a Communist country which doesn’t honor human rights, and we don’t know how much we can do.”

Dornan was one of several congressmen who have been receiving letters from the imprisoned man’s daughter, Tu Nguyen, a Westminster High School sophomore living with her 7-year-old sister, Tien, and mother, 43-year-old Diep Phan.

Van Thanh Nguyen’s detainment in Vietnam was something Phan had been fearing since her ex-husband began planning to go back to help restore democracy there. Not wishing harm to come to her children because of their father’s fervor and tired of his long hours away from home with freedom fighter groups, she divorced him several years ago, she said in an interview Friday.

“He lived by his ideals so he has to suffer the consequences, but we still love him and still have to ask people to help,” Phan said.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, referred the case to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is working to confirm that Nguyen is a political prisoner, said Paula Herrera, assistant manager of the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross.

“After that, Red Cross will have to see what can be done. If we aren’t making progress, we may make a referral to other human rights groups, like Amnesty International, for them to try different avenues to obtain his release,” Herrera said.

Van Thanh Nguyen returned to Vietnam last June to meet with fellow members of the Vietnamese Federation, a group based there and also in the United States advocating democratic changes in their homeland, said a federation member in Orange County who declined to be identified for fear that the Vietnamese regime will trace him and his family.

On June 15, some federation members, including Van Thanh Nguyen, demonstrated in front of Ho Chi Minh City’s Zoo and Botanical Garden, and authorities arrested them, according to letters federation members in Vietnam sent to colleagues here. Five days later, officials took Van Thanh Nguyen to his relative’s home, searched the house and charged the expatriate with participating in efforts to overthrow the Vietnamese government.

A trial date has not been set for Nguyen, federation members said.

Phan said she is afraid her ex-husband might be killed to set an example if the Communist authorities think no one cares about his fate.

“I understand his release is tough because he is not a citizen, and now I’d be happy just for them to set a trial date,” she said. “If they sentence him to five or 10 years in jail, I may be able to live with that because it means he will be released one day. I just don’t want him to be there indefinitely and then all of a sudden disappear, if you know what I mean.”

Since hearing about his imprisonment June 21, she has twice sent $200 back so relatives can buy food and other comforts for him.