Prisoner of conscience
Encyclopedia
Prisoner of conscience (POC) is a term defined in Peter Benenson
's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners
" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International
. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views. It also refers to those who have been imprisoned and/or persecuted for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously-held beliefs.
" by Peter Benenson
, published in The Observer
28 May 1961, launched the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty 1961" and first defined a "prisoner of conscience".
The primary goal for this year-long campaign, founded by the English lawyer Peter Benenson
and a small group of writers, academics and lawyers including Quaker peace activist Eric Baker
, was to identify individual prisoners of conscience around the world and then campaign for their release. In early 1962, the campaign had received enough public support to become a permanent organization and was renamed "Amnesty International".
Under British law, Amnesty International was classed as a political organisation and therefore excluded from tax-free charity status. To work around this, the "Fund for the Persecuted" was established in 1962 to receive donations to support prisoners and their families. The name was later changed to the "Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund" and is now a separate and independent charity which provides relief and rehabilitation grants to prisoners of conscience in the UK and around the world.
Amnesty International has, since its founding, pressured governments to release those persons it considers to be prisoners of conscience. Governments, conversely, tend to deny that the specific prisoners identified by Amnesty International are, in fact, being held on the grounds Amnesty claims; they allege that these prisoners pose genuine threats to the security of their countries.
The phrase is now widely used in political discussions to describe a political prisoner
, whether or not Amnesty International has specifically adopted the case, although the phrase has a different scope and definition than that of political prisoner.
Peter Benenson
Peter Benenson was an English lawyer and the founder of human rights group Amnesty International . In 2001, Benenson received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement.-Biography:...
's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners
The Forgotten Prisoners
"The Forgotten Prisoners" is an article by Peter Benenson published in The Observer on 28 May 1961 citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 18 and 19, announcing the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and calling for "common action"...
" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views. It also refers to those who have been imprisoned and/or persecuted for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously-held beliefs.
Definition
The article "The Forgotten PrisonersThe Forgotten Prisoners
"The Forgotten Prisoners" is an article by Peter Benenson published in The Observer on 28 May 1961 citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 18 and 19, announcing the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and calling for "common action"...
" by Peter Benenson
Peter Benenson
Peter Benenson was an English lawyer and the founder of human rights group Amnesty International . In 2001, Benenson received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement.-Biography:...
, published in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
28 May 1961, launched the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty 1961" and first defined a "prisoner of conscience".
The primary goal for this year-long campaign, founded by the English lawyer Peter Benenson
Peter Benenson
Peter Benenson was an English lawyer and the founder of human rights group Amnesty International . In 2001, Benenson received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement.-Biography:...
and a small group of writers, academics and lawyers including Quaker peace activist Eric Baker
Eric Baker (activist)
Eric Baker was a British activist and one of the founders of the human rights group Amnesty International, and the second general secretary of the organization...
, was to identify individual prisoners of conscience around the world and then campaign for their release. In early 1962, the campaign had received enough public support to become a permanent organization and was renamed "Amnesty International".
Under British law, Amnesty International was classed as a political organisation and therefore excluded from tax-free charity status. To work around this, the "Fund for the Persecuted" was established in 1962 to receive donations to support prisoners and their families. The name was later changed to the "Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund" and is now a separate and independent charity which provides relief and rehabilitation grants to prisoners of conscience in the UK and around the world.
Amnesty International has, since its founding, pressured governments to release those persons it considers to be prisoners of conscience. Governments, conversely, tend to deny that the specific prisoners identified by Amnesty International are, in fact, being held on the grounds Amnesty claims; they allege that these prisoners pose genuine threats to the security of their countries.
The phrase is now widely used in political discussions to describe a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
, whether or not Amnesty International has specifically adopted the case, although the phrase has a different scope and definition than that of political prisoner.
Current prisoners of conscience
Below is an incomplete list of individuals that Amnesty International currently considers to be prisoners of conscience, organized by country.- AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
- Jabbar SavalanJabbar SavalanJabbar Savalan is an Azerbaijani blogger and political activist. On 4 May 2011, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison on charges of dealing drugs... - BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
- Ibrahim SharifIbrahim SharifIbrahim Sharif al-Sayed is a Sunni Arab opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular liberal National Democratic Action Society . He succeeded former General Secretary Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, who fell into a coma in April 2007 and died in 2011...
; Mohammed al-Tajer - BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
- Alyaksandr Atroshchankau; Zmitser DashkevichZmitser DashkevichZmitser Dashkevich ; born July 20, 1981 in Yelsk Raion, Homiel Voblast) is a Belarusian politician and one of the leaders of the unregistered youth opposition movement Malady Front....
; Iryna KhalipIryna KhalipIryna Khalip is a Belarusian journalist, reporter and editor in the Minsk bureau of Novaya Gazeta, known for her criticism of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko....
; Mikita Likhavid; Eduard Lobau; Uladzimir NiaklajeuUladzimir NiaklajeuVladimir Niaklajeu ' born on July 11, 1946 in Smarhon) is a Belarusian poet and writer, and a head of the public campaign Tell the Truth!...
; Andrzej Poczobut; Mikola StatkevichMikola StatkevichMikola Statkevich is a Belarusian politician and presidential candidate at the 2010 election.Mikola Statkevich was born in the Slutsk raion into a family of school teachers...
; Andrei SannikovAndrei SannikovAndrei Olegovich Sannikov is a Belarusian politician and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed the Belarusian delegation on Nuclear and Conventional Weapons Armament Negotiations, also serving as the Belarusian diplomat to Switzerland. From 1995 to 1996, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister of... - Burma - Aye AungAye AungAye Aung is a currently imprisoned Burmese democracy activist. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.Aye Aung studied physics at Dagon University, where he became active in the pro-democracy group All Burma Federation of Student Unions...
; Khun BeduKhun BeduKhun Bedu is an ethnically Karenni Burmese political activist, currently imprisoned for organizing protests against the 2008 Constitutional Referendum.-Involvement in protests:...
; Khun Dee De; U GambiraU GambiraU Sandawbartha, commonly known by his pseudonym of U Gambira, , is an imprisoned leader of the All-Burma Monks' Alliance, a group which helped lead the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests....
; Htay KyweHtay KyweHtay Kywe is a currently-imprisoned Burmese pro-democracy activist considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. BBC News describes him as a key member of the 8888 Generation movement.-Background and role in 1988 protests:...
; Khun Htun OoKhun Htun OoKhun Htun Oo is a politician from Shan State, Burma who is currently imprisoned for treason, defamation, and inciting dissatisfaction toward the government...
; Ko Jimmy; Khun Kawrio; Mie MieMie MieThin Thin Aye , is a currently imprisoned Burmese democracy activist who played a leadership role in numerous anti-government protests. Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience.-8888 uprising and 1996 arrest:...
; Min Ko NaingMin Ko NaingPaw Oo Tun is the President of Universities Student Union of Burma and a leading democracy activist and dissident. He has spent the majority of the last 22 years imprisoned by the state for his opposition activities.-Biography:...
; Myo Min ZawMyo Min ZawMyo Min Zaw is a currently-imprisoned Burmese democracy activist considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.Myo Min Zaw studied English at the University of Yangon, where he became active in the pro-democracy group All Burma Federation of Student Unions...
; Nilar TheinNilar TheinNilar Thein is a Burmese democracy activist and political prisoner currently held at Thayet prison in Burma's Magway Region. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience.-8888 uprising and subsequent arrests:Nilar Thein is from Yangon, Burma...
; Ohn ThanOhn ThanOhn Than is a Burmese democracy activist who has received international attention for his "stoic one-man protests". He has spent the majority of the last twenty years imprisoned, and Amnesty International has named him a prisoner of conscience....
; Su Su NwaySu Su NwaySu Su Nway , is a democracy activist, political prisoner, and member of the National League for Democracy . In 2005, she became the first Burmese national to successfully sue local government officials under a 1999 law forced labour....
; Zayar ThawZayar ThawZayar Thaw ; born Kyaw Kyaw on 26 March 1981) is a Burmese hip-hop artist currently detained for the perceived anti-government messages of his lyrics. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience.-Hip-hop career:...
; Zaw Htet Ko KoZaw Htet Ko KoZaw Htet Ko Ko is a Burmese political activist. He is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for his work with the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students Group, and his detention has been criticized by human rights groups including Amnesty International.... - CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
- Jean-Claude Roger Mbede - EritreaEritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
- Dawit IsaakDawit Isaak- External links :*... - The GambiaThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
- Ebrima MannehEbrima MannehEbrima Manneh is a Gambian journalist believed by human rights organizations to have been arrested in July 2006 and secretly held in custody since then.... - IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- Kartam JogaKartam JogaKartam Joga is a adivasi Indian political activist for the Communist Party of India . He is currently imprisoned in Chhattisgarh on suspicions of participating in the Tarmetla ambush in which 75 members of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by CPI forces...
; Binayak SenBinayak SenBinayak Sen is an Indian pediatrician, public health specialist and activist. He is the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties .He has been accused of sedition by the Chhattisgarh Government... - IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Filep KarmaFilep KarmaFilep Jacob Semuel Karma , commonly known as Filep Karma, is a Papuan independence activist currently imprisoned for raising the Flag of West Papua in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's Papua Province...
; Buchtar TabuniBuchtar TabuniBuchtar Tabuni is a Papuan independence activist, leader of the National Committee for West Papua . Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience.... - IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
- Emadeddin BaghiEmadeddin BaghiEmadeddin Baghi is a prominent Iranian human rights activist, prisoners' rights advocate, investigative journalist, philosopher and writer. He is the founder and head of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights and the Society of Right to Life Guardians in Iran, and the author of twenty...
; Kouhyar Goudarzi; Abdollah MomeniAbdollah MomeniAbdollah Momeni is an Iranian student leader and pro-democracy activist. He became involved in the movement in the July 1999 protests, when large numbers of students across the country protested the abolition of pro-reform newspaper Salam...
; Mansour OsanlouMansour OsanlouMansour Osanloo is a leading trade union activist in Iran where he has been imprisoned several times from 2005 to 2008. Osanloo is currently held in Evin Prison, serving a five-year prison sentence...
; Jafar PanahiJafar PanahiJafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker and is one of the most influential filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave movement. He has gained recognition from film theorists and critics worldwide and received numerous awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Silver Bear at the...
; Nasrin SotoudehNasrin SotoudehNasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors...
; Majid TavakoliMajid TavakoliMajid Tavakoli is a prominent student leader and political prisoner in Iran. He is a member of the Islamic Students' Association at Tehran's Amirkabir University of Technology, where he studied shipbuilding...
; Heshmat TabarzadiHeshmat TabarzadiHeshmat Tabarzadi is a prominent Iranian democratic activist. Tabarzadi has been arrested several times on charges related to his political activities, most recently in December 2009...
; Ashkan Zahabian; Youcef NadarkhaniYoucef NadarkhaniYoucef Nadarkhani is an Iranian Christian pastor who has been sentenced to die in Tehran... - KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
- Azimzhan AskarovAzimzhan AskarovAzimzhan Askarov is an ethnically Uzbek Kyrgyzstani political activist who founded the group Vozduh in 2002 to investigate police brutality... - North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
- Shin Suk-jaShin Suk-jaShin Suk-ja is a South Korean political prisoner held in a North Korean political prison camp. She is married to Oh Kil-nam and has two daughters Oh Hye-won and Oh Kyu-won... - People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
- Dhondup WangchenDhondup WangchenDhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker currently imprisoned by the PRC government on charges related to his documentary Leaving Fear Behind...
; Guo Xiaojun; Jigme Gyatso; Liu XiaoboLiu XiaoboLiu Xiaobo is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist single-party rule in China...
; Mao HengfengMao HengfengMao Hengfeng is a women's rights and human rights activist in the People's Republic of China. She refused to abort her third child after already having twins and was detained in an ankang and then dismissed from her job...
; Shi TaoShi TaoShi Tao is a mainland Chinese journalist, writer and poet, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.-Brief history:Shi Tao... - Russian Federation - Mikhail KhodorkovskyMikhail KhodorkovskyMikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky is a Russian prisoner, considered by some - such as Amnesty International - to have been imprisoned for political reasons, jailed until 2016 and a former Russian oligarch and businessman...
; Platon LebedevPlaton LebedevPlaton Leonidovich Lebedev is a former CEO of Group Menatep, currently imprisoned in Russia, and is best known as a close associate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.-Conviction:... - RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
- Charles NtakirutinkaCharles NtakirutinkaCharles Ntakirutinka is a former Transportation Minister of the Rwandan government and current detainee. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and a 2011 "priority case".-PDR-Ubuyanja:... - Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
- Manal al-SharifManal al-SharifManal al-Sharif is a women's rights activist from Saudi Arabia who helped start a women's right to drive campaign in 2011. A women's rights activist who had previously filmed herself driving, Wajeha al-Huwaider, filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of the campaign. The video was posted on YouTube... - SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
- Mudawi Ibrahim AdamMudawi Ibrahim AdamMudawi Ibrahim Adam is a Sudanese human rights activist and engineer known for his role in exposing human rights violations in Darfur... - SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
- Kamal al-LabwaniKamal al-LabwaniDr. Kamal al-Labwani is a Syrian doctor and artist, considered one of the most prominent members of the Syrian opposition movement. He was imprisoned in Adra Prison, near Damascus until November 15, 2011, according to state media. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.- Life...
; Tuhama Mahmoud Ma’rouf; Riad SeifRiad SeifRiad Seif is Syrian political dissident, formerly a member of the Parliament of Syria and prominent businessman, who founded and lead the Forum for National Dialogue. Seif was elected to parliament in 1994 as an independent and again in 1998... - ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
- Wipas Raksakul - TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
- İnan Süverİnan Süverİnan Süver is a currently imprisoned Turkish conscientious objector.Süver was drafted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2001. He served for thirteen months before deserting, apparently on a release with an order to return to his unit... - TurkmenistanTurkmenistanTurkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
- Annakurban AmanklychevAnnakurban AmanklychevAnnakurban Amanklychev is a Turkmenistani human rights activist currently serving a prison sentence in Turkmenbashi. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".-Arrest and trial:...
; Sapardurdy KhadzhievSapardurdy KhadzhievSapardurdy Khadzhiev is a Turkmenistani human rights activist currently serving a prison sentence in Turkmenbashi. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".-Arrest and trial:... - United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
- Fahad Salim Dalk; Nasser bin Ghaith; Ahmed Abdul Khale; Hassan Ali al-Khamis; Ahmad Mansoor - UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
- Azam FarmonovAzam FarmonovAzam Farmonov is a currently-imprisoned Uzbekistani rural development activist. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".Farmonov has a wife, Ozoda Yakubova, and two children...
; Alisher KaramatovAlisher KaramatovAlisher Karamatov is a currently-imprisoned Uzbekistani rural development activist. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".... - VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
- Cù Huy Hà VũCù Huy Hà VũCù Huy Hà Vũ is a Vietnamese PhD-holding legal scholar. As a prominent government critic and a dissident in Vietnam, he has been taken into custody for, according to the communist-controlled media state, "propaganda against the state" and "plotting to overthrow the communist government of...
; Doan Van Dien; Doan Huy Chong; Nguyen Dan QueNguyen Dan QueNguyen Dan Que, M.D. , also known as Nguyen Chau , is a Vietnamese endocrinologist and pro-democracy campaigner. He is one of the leading dissidents against the communist government in Vietnam....
; Nguyen Van Ly; Tran Quoc Hien