Prisoners of Conscience
"Prisoners of conscience" are men, women or children imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs or because of their race, gender or other personal characteristics. Many have never been charged with a crime. Amnesty seeks the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience.
Recent actions taken by the Moroccan government against the press and Western Saharan rights activists suggest backsliding on core human rights such as freedom of speech, press, association and movement. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was recently in Morocco but generally praised Morocco’s human rights record despite this disturbing trend. Call on the US government to press Morocco to quickly address these recent abuses
Zhao Lianhai, father of a boy who became ill from contaminated milk powder in China in 2008 is being held as a prisoner of conscience and is at risk of torture and other ill- treatment for his campaigning for justice for other affected families.
Youth Azerbaijani activists, Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade have been sentenced to two and a half years and two years respectively in an unfair trial regarding a satircal video made by Hajizade in June, criticizing the government.
Igor Koktysh is a 29 year old social activist that could be forcibly returned at anytime from Ukraine, where he is at risk of the death penalty for fabricated charges.
Mohammad Pour Abdollah, who was arrested in February in Tehran, is now on trial for his involvement with an Iranian student organization. He is at risk of torture and other ill treatment while he is in detention.
Dr. Mohammad Maleki, a 76-year old male Iranian scholar and former Chancellor of Tehran University has been incommunicado in Teheran's Evin prison for 40 days. He is suffering from prostrate cancer and other illnesses, and Amnesty International fears that his life is in danger.
Natalia Estemirova, one of the leading human rights defenders who worked in the North Caucasus region, was abducted in Grozny, Chechnya on July 15th on her way to work. She was dragged into a car by several men and driven off in an unknown direction. According to witnesses, Natalia Estemirova managed to shout out that she was being abducted. Her body was found several hours later in the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. PDF format | RTF format
In February 2007, Egyptian authorities sentenced blogger Karim Amer to four years' imprisonment for the "crime" of publishing material on the internet that was critical of Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The former al-Azhar University student was sentenced on 22 February 2007 and the Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence on 12 March of the same year. He was 23 years old at the time.
Authorities arrested Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev in June 2006 on account of their human rights activism. By September of that year, Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khadzhiev were serving seven-year prison terms on fabricated charges. Their plight illustrates all too well the grave risks faced by human rights defenders in Turkmenistan.
On December 1, 2004, some 200 people participated in a nonviolent ceremony in Papua Province during which the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, was raised in commemoration of the declaration of Papuan independence in 1962. For peacefully raising this flag, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage may spend the next decade or more in prison in Indonesia.
The military rulers of Myanmar have jailed thousands of people in their continuing efforts to crush all dissenting views. Most prominent of those detained is Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has spent 13 of the past 18 years under some form of detention.
The activists of the human rights organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) know the price of freedom. For organizing peaceful demonstrations to protest the worsening social, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe, WOZA members have been repeatedly harassed, intimidated, beaten and jailed by authorities.
Libyan authorities arrested Fathi el-Jahmi in 2002 after he called for free speech and political reforms during a conference in Tripoli. For that "crime," he was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released in March 2004 following international pressure. Mr. el-Jahmi's freedom proved short-lived, however, as authorities detained him again just weeks later after he repeated his call for democracy during a television interview.
For peacefully raising a flag at an annual Indonesian ceremony, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage may spend the next decade or more in prison. Amnesty International considers Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage to be prisoners of conscience who have been detained for the peaceful and legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression. Please urge the President of Indonesia to bring about the immediate and unconditional release of Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage.
Ebrima B. Manneh was arrested in July 2006 at the offices of the newspaper Daily Observer by plainclothes officers, thought to have been from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). He has been held in incommunicado detention without charge or trial for over two years. Please call on Gambian authorities to release Ebrima Manneh, a prisoner of conscience.
