There is no universally accepted notion of a political prisoner. The understanding of the term as used by the «Political Prisoners. Memorial» project is primarily focused on protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms and raising public solidarity with the victims of political repressions.
Our understanding of the term ‘political prisoner’ is based on PACE Resolution 1900 (2012).
We recognise two categories of prosecuted people as political prisoners (prosecuted for political reasons):
- Firstly, there are those who are persecuted solely for exercising their civil rights, for belonging to a national, religious or other group, for their beliefs and opinions (such persons are called prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International).
- Secondly, there are those who are persecuted by the authorities with substantial violations of the law or in a clearly selective manner, on the one hand, and on the other hand, for a political motive.
We exclude from lists of political prisoners those who have used violence against individuals or called for violence based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc. This exclusion does not mean, however, that we consider the prosecution of such persons to be unquestionably justified and lawful or that we approve of such prosecution.
The full grounds for political prisoners are set out in the international Guidelines on Definition of Political Prisoner.