Prisoner of conscience

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Aung San Suu Kyi was an Amnesty International-recognized prisoner of conscience from 1989 to 1995, from 2000 to 2002, and from 2003 to 2010.[1]

Prisoner of conscience (POC) is a term coined by Peter Benenson in a 28 May 1961 article ("The Forgotten Prisoners") for the London Observer newspaper. Most often associated with the human rights organisation Amnesty International, the term can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, 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 Prisoners" by Peter Benenson, published in The Observer 28 May 1961, launched the campaign "Appeal for Amnesty 1961" and first defined a "prisoner of conscience".[2]

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Any person who is physically restrained (by imprisonment or otherwise) from expressing (in any form of words or symbols) any opinion which he honestly holds and which does not advocate or condone personal violence. We also exclude those people who have conspired with a foreign government to overthrow their own.

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.[3] 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.[4]

Amnesty International has, since its founding, pressured governments to release those persons it considers to be prisoners of conscience.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

Current Amnesty International prisoners of conscience

Below is an incomplete list of individuals that Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience, organized by country.

Azerbaijan

Ilgar Mammadov, Republican Alternative Movement, Anar Bayramli;[8] Ramin Bayramov;[8] Arif Yunus,[9] Leyla Yunus,[9] Vidadi Isgandarov;[10] Taleh Khasmammadov;[8] and youth activists Bakhtiyar Guliyev, Mahammad Azizov, Shahin Novruzlu, Rashad Hasanov,[11] Rashadat Akhundov, Zaur Gurbanli, Uzeyir Mammadli and Ilkin Rustamzade[12]

Bahrain

Mahdi Abu Deeb;[13] Mohammad Sanad al-Makina;[14] and the Bahrain Thirteen: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Hassan Mushaima, Abdelwahab Hussain, Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, Mohammad Habib al-Miqdad, Abdel-Jalil al-Miqdad, Sa'eed Mirza al-Nuri, Mohammad Hassan Jawwad, Mohammad Ali Ridha Isma'il, Abdullah al-Mahroos, Abdul-Hadi Abdullah Hassan al-Mukhodher, Ebrahim Sharif, Salah Abdullah Hubail al-Khawaja[15]

Belarus

Mikalay Autukhovich;[16] Zmitser Dashkevich;[17] Iryna Khalip;[17] Eduard Lobau;[17] Uladzimir Niaklajeu;[17] Pavel Sevyarynets;[18] Mikola Statkevich[17] Anton Suryapin[19]

Cambodia

Yorm Bopha[20]

Eritrea

Aster Fissehatsion;[21] Dawit Isaak;[22] Mahmoud Ahmed Sheriffo;[21] Petros Solomon;[21] Haile Woldetensae[21]

Ethiopia

Eskinder Nega[23]

The Gambia

Ebrima Manneh[24]

India

Binayak Sen;[25] Soni Sori;[26] Irom Sharmila Chanu;[27]

Iran

Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i;[28] Zhila Bani-Yaghoub;[29] Arzhang Davoodi;[30] Ghoncheh Ghavami;[31] Kouhyar Goudarzi;[32] Zeynab Jalaliyan;[33] Mohammad Sadigh Kabudvand;[34] Zhila Karamzadeh-Makvandi;[35] Habibollah Latifi;[36] Hossein Ronaghi Maleki;[37] Narges Mohammadi;[38] Parvin Mokhtareh;[32] Abdollah Momeni;[39] Sayed Ziaoddin (Zia) Nabavi;[40] Mansour Osanlou;[41] Jafar Panahi;[42][43] Isa Saharkhiz;[29] Mohammad Seifzadeh;[44] Reza Shahabi;[45] Saeed Shirzad;[46] Abdolfattah Soltani;[44] Heshmat Tabarzadi;[47] Majid Tavakoli;[48]

Kuwait

Hamad al-Naqi[49]

Kyrgyzstan

Azimzhan Askarov[50]

Malaysia

Ali Abd Jalil[51]

Morocco

Ali Anouzla[52]

Myanmar

Phyo Phyo Aung[53]

North Korea

Oh Hae-won;[54] Oh Kyu-won[55]

People's Republic of China

Chen Wei;[56] Dhondup Wangchen;[57] Ershidin Israil;[58] Gao Zhisheng;[59] Guo Feixiong;[60] Guo Xiaojun;[61] Liu Xiaobo;[62] Mao Hengfeng;[63] Shi Tao;[48] Wang Junling;[64] Wang Xiaodong[64]

Russia

Mikhail Kosenko;[65] Nikolay Kavkazsky[66]

Saudi Arabia

Raif Badawi;[67] Mohammad bin Saleh al-Bajadi;[68] Saud al-Hashimi;[69] Khaled al-Johani;[70] Hamza Kashgari[71][72]

Singapore

Sudan

Ussamah Mohammed;[74] Faisal Saleh[75]

Syria

Ali al-Abdullah;[76] Mazen Darwish;[77] Shibal Ibrahim;[78] Riad Seif[79]

Thailand

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk[80]

Tunisia

Ramzi Abcha;[81] Ghazi Beji;[81]

Uzbekistan

Azam Farmonov;[48] Alisher Karamatov;[48] Solijon Abdrahmanov[82]

Venezuela

Leopoldo López[83]

Vietnam

Cù Huy Hà Vũ;[84] Le Cong Dinh;[85] Nguyen Dan Que;[86] Nguyen Van Hai;[87] Nguyen Van Ly;[88] Phan Thanh Hai;[89] Ta Phong Tan;[89] Vi Duc Hoi;[90] Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức.[91]

References

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  6. ↑ Human Rights and the Dirty War in Mexico by Kate Doyle
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  33. ↑ Iran: female prisoner’s conditions after 8 years behind bars - mojahedin.org - 24 Aug. 2015
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  36. ↑ Habibollah Latifi’s Death Sentence Stopped By Leadership’s Pardon - hra-news.org - 2 Sept. 2015
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  43. ↑ Jafar Panahi asks for Golden Bear winner Taxi to be shown in Iran - theguardian.com 17 Feb. 2015
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  46. ↑ Saeed Shirzad - iranian.com - 3 Sept. 2015
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  72. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  73. ↑ http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/singapore-free-16-year-old-prisoner-of-conscience-amos-yee
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  79. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  80. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  82. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  83. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  84. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  85. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  86. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  87. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  88. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  91. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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