prisoner of conscience

Anyone confined for their opinions alone, usually a political dissenter or conscientious objector. In 1992, there were 4,500 PoCs in 62 countries according to the human rights organization Amnesty International, which campaigns for their release.

Notable examples of prisoners of conscience include Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned in South Africa 1964–90; Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, who was held under house arrest 1989–95; and Andrei Sakharov, the Russian physicist and human rights activist who was held in internal exile in the closed city of Gorky 1980–86.