The Parliamentary Assembly recalls that the definition of “political prisoner” was elaborated within the Council of Europe in 2001 by the independent experts of the Secretary General, mandated to assess cases of Guidelines on Definition of Political Prisoner. A political prisoner is someone imprisoned because they have opposed or criticized the government responsible for their imprisonment. “Political prisoner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/political%20prisoner. Nazi persecution of political opponents exacted a terrible price in human suffering. Political prisoner definition at Dictionary.com, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. ‘A Croation prison camp may be reopened as a fantasy prison camp for wannabe political prisoners.’ ‘But a hunger strike by political prisoners destroyed this policy.’ ‘It had jailed thousands of political prisoners, some for over 15 years.’ ‘Elections are sham, the press is censored, the jails hold some political … Thus, there are political prisoners who do not fit the narrower criteria for POCs. What is a political prisoner? organizations with respect to the definition and use of the term political prisoner. Supporters of the term define a political prisoner as someone who is imprisoned for his or her participation in political activity. Thematic Reports; Chronology . Accessed 16 May. Choose the best definition or synonym for the word in bold: "There are some. AI uses the term "political prisoner" broadly. Look it up now! ‘Eleven political prisoners at Kalutara prison wrote to the SEP seeking its intervention on their behalf.’. : a person put in prison because of his or her political beliefs. It does not use it, as some others do, to imply that all such prisoners have a special status or should be released. [4], Political prisoners can also be imprisoned with no legal veneer by extrajudicial processes. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! See Article History. Prisoner definition is - a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody; especially : one on trial or in prison. Political Prisoner Law and Legal Definition Political prisoner means persons or groups who are detained for their political views. political prisoner definition AAPP defines a political prisoner as anyone who is arrested because of his or her perceived or real active involvement or supporting role in political movements. Supporters of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in the 11th Panchen Lama controversy have called him a "political prisoner", despite the fact that he is not accused of a political offense. If the police were confident of a conviction in court, the prisoner was turned over to the justice system for trial. Apolitical prisoner is an imprisoned individual who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country. While the French government deemed Action Directe illegal, the group fashioned itself as an urban guerilla movement, claiming a legitimate armed struggle. In AI's usage, the term includes any prisoner whose case has a significant political element: whether the motivation of the prisoner's acts, the acts in themselves, or the motivation of the authorities. if the detention is the result of proceedings which were clearly unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of the authorities. n-count political science However, the concept is often understood in different ways. 2021. noun. This is the most general sense of a term that can be difficult to define. Information about political prisoner in the AudioEnglish.org dictionary, synonyms and antonyms. someone who is sent to prison by their own government because it does not approve of their beliefs or actions Synonyms and related words Definition and synonyms of political prisoner from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education. A political prisoner is someone who has been imprisoned for criticizing or disagreeing with their own government. Background. Political prisoners sometimes write memoirs of their experiences and resulting insights. Political prisoner, a person who is imprisoned because that person’s actions or beliefs are contrary to those of his or her government. The concept of political prisoner is increasingly found in international documents, media publications, and reports by national and international organizations. Currently, there is still much controversy and debate around how to define this term and which cases to include or exclude. Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). Its purpose is to unify various approaches of human rights organizations on the definition and use of the term "political prisoner". The rapporteur was originally mandated to report on two issues – political prisoners in Azerbaijan and the definition of political prisoner. A daily challenge for crossword fanatics. political prisoner - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. All Free. However, the concept is often understood in different ways. How to use prisoner in a sentence. Particularly in this latter situation, whether an individual is regarded as a political prisoner may depend upon subjective political perspective or interpretation of the evidence. ‘Amnesty International estimates that 1,500 political prisoners remain in Burmese jails.’. if the detention has been imposed in violation of one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the. "Political" is used by AI to refer to aspects of human relations related to "politics": the mechanisms of society and civil order, the principles, organization, or conduct of government or public affairs, and the relation of all these to questions of language, ethnic origin, sex or religion, status or influence (among other factors). In this sense, "political prisoner" can be used to describe any politically active prisoner who is held in custody for a violent action which supporters deem ethically justified. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'? For instance, French anarchist groups typically call the former members of Action Directe held in France political prisoners. It uses the term only to define a category of prisoners for whom AI demands a fair and prompt trial. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls that the definition of “political prisoner” was elaborated within the Council of Europe in 2001 by the independent experts of the Secretary General, mandated to assess cases of alleged political prisoners in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of the accession of the two States to the Organisation. Political Prisoner Definition; Current Legal Climate; Prison Conditions; Torture in Prison; What We Do . Delivered to your inbox! Documentation & Research . [6], Someone imprisoned because they have opposed or criticized the government responsible for their imprisonment, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, violent action which supporters deem ethically justified, "Who can be defined as political prisoner", "The recognition of political prisoners: essential to democratic and national reconciliation process", "The Wilmington 10: North Carolina Urged to Pardon Civil Rights Activists Falsely Jailed 40 Years Ago", "No political prisoners freed as Egypt pardons thousands on Eid", "Turkey arrests German for spreading Kurdish propaganda: Anadolu", "Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, Boxer Found Wrongly Convicted, Dies at 76", "Former South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung dies", "Jawaharlal Nehru Biography" Encyclopedia Britannica, http://webfiles.uci.edu/mkaminsk/www/book.html, Azerbaijan: List of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan (March 20, 2018), China: List of Political Prisoners Detained or Imprisoned as of November 5, 2017 (1,414 cases), Israel: Statistics on Palestinians in the custody of the Israeli security forces (3 Jul 2018), Russia is holding over 70 Ukrainian Political Prisoners of War, Russia: List of Individuals Recognized as Political Prisoners by the Human Rights Centre Memorial and Persecuted in connection with the Realization of their Right to Freedom of Religion as of 29 October 2017, Turkey: Political Prisoners: Statistics (15 July 2016), Association for the Protection and Assistance of the Convicted, International Network of Prison Ministries, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Political_prisoner&oldid=1021528810, Wikipedia pages semi-protected from banned users, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. AAPP maintains that the motivation behind the arrest of every individual in AAPP’s database is a political motivation, regardless of the laws they have been sentenced under. Post the Definition of political prisoner to Facebook, Share the Definition of political prisoner on Twitter. political prisoner (political prisoners plural ) A political prisoner is someone who has been imprisoned for criticizing or disagreeing with their own government. The legacy of political prisoners greatly shaped Myanmar’s political parties and the struggle for democracy. if the detention has been imposed for purely political reasons without connection to any offence; if, for political motives, the length of the detention or its conditions are clearly out of proportion to the offence the person has been found guilty of or is suspected of; if, for political motives, he or she is detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons; or. Definition of political prisoner. A person imprisoned for their political beliefs or actions. The organisation defines the differences as follows:[1]. Between 1933 and 1939, the criminal courts sentenced tens of thousands of Germans for "political crimes." political prisoner: 1 n someone who is imprisoned because of their political views Type of: captive , prisoner a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war Reverence for politicians who sacrificed during the dictatorship is duly earned. Some libertarians (such as those who agree with the arguments of Lysander Spooner[3]) also include all convicted for treason and some convicted of espionage in the category of political prisoners. political prisoner - someone who is imprisoned because of their political views captive, prisoner - a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English political prisoner poˌlitˌical ˈprisoner noun [countable] SCJ PRISON someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country The phrase "political prisoners" though has little meaning in legal terms; there is no internationally recognised definition of a political prisoner. Definition of political prisoner in the AudioEnglish.org Dictionary. political prisoner in Jail & punishment topic. Some political prisoners need not be imprisoned at all. The latter report was supposed to be delivered first. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? Some understand the term political prisoner narrowly, equating it with the term prisoner of conscience (POC). If a political offense was not the official reason for the prisoner's detention, the term would imply that the detention was motivated by the prisoner's politics. AI however describes cases like the examples given above as "political" and uses the terms "political trial" and "political imprisonment" when referring to them. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc. He is held under secluded house arrest. To reduce controversy, and as a matter of principle, the organization's policy applies only to prisoners who have not committed or advocated violence. political prisoner meaning: 1. someone who is put in prison for expressing disapproval of their own government, or for…. 2. Meaning of political prisoner. The political nature of crime lies in the fact that a definition can be changed at any time by the political structure. Proper usage and audio pronunciation (plus IPA phonetic transcription) of the word political prisoner. The concept of political prisoner is increasingly found in international documents, media publications, and reports by national and international organizations. This can become apparent when the sentence is totally out of proportion to the offence and/or when the proceedings are clearly unfair. What made you want to look up political prisoner? 3.4. The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a prisoner. What is a political prisoner? Amnesty International campaigns for the release of prisoners of conscience, which include both political prisoners as well as those imprisoned for their religious or philosophical beliefs. Are you building something up or tearing it down? The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has a much tighter definition: A person deprived of his or her personal liberty is to be regarded as a 'political prisoner': In the parlance of many political movements that utilize armed resistance, guerrilla warfare, and other forms of political violence, a political prisoner includes people who are imprisoned because they are awaiting trial for, or have been convicted of, actions which states they oppose describe as (accurately or otherwise) terrorism. In practice, political prisoners often cannot be … Around 1000 British convicts sent to Australia in the 1700–1800s. A person convicted of a non-political offence can be a political prisoner when there is a political motive on the side of the authorities to imprison the person concerned. The definition of political prisoner Parliamentary Assembly 1. This is common in situations which may otherwise be decried nationally and internationally as a human rights violation or suppression of a political dissident. There is no universally accepted definition for political prisoners. Hence, a political prisoner is someone who is imprisoned or kept under house arrest for his/her participation in political activity. 1 of or relating to the state, government, the body politic, public administration, policy-making, etc. This is the British English definition of political prisoner. The concept of "political prisoner" is increasingly referred to in international documents, media reports, reviews by national and international organizations. a person accused or convicted of an ordinary crime carried out for political motives, such as murder or robbery carried out to support the objectives of an opposition group; a person accused or convicted of an ordinary crime committed in a political context, such as at a demonstration by a trade union or a peasants' organization; a member or suspected member of an armed opposition group who has been charged with treason or "subversion". But by doing so AI does not oppose the imprisonment, except where it further maintains that the prisoner is a prisoner of conscience, or condemn the trial, except where it concludes that it was unfair. In October 2011 the mandates were merged and the name of the joint report was changed to “Revisiting the issue of political prisoners.” 2 a of, involved in, or relating to government policy-making as distinguished from administration or law b of or relating to the civil aspects of government as distinguished from the military Learn more. A political prisoner can also be someone that has been denied bail unfairly, denied parole when it would reasonably have been given to a prisoner charged with a comparable crime, or special powers may be invoked by the judiciary. Some understand the term political prisoner narrowly, equating it with the term prisoner of conscience (POC). However, an appropriate definition of what constitutes a political prisoner in Burma has never been clear. In view of the particular attention paid to the problems of criminal and administrative prosecution for political reasons, the cases of which have been numerous in recent years in the former Soviet republics; These movements may consider the actions of political prisoners morally justified against some system of governance, may claim innocence, or have varying understandings of what types of violence are morally and ethically justified. See, According to human rights groups there are some 60,000 political prisoners in, In reaction to the failed coup attempt in, This page was last edited on 5 May 2021, at 06:07. It is therefore in practice very difficult to determine whether a particular person can be deemed a political prisoner. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? Learn a new word every day. The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a prisoner. What does political prisoner mean? [5], Political prisoners are also arrested and tried with a veneer of legality where false criminal charges, manufactured evidence, and unfair trials (kangaroo courts, show trials) are used to disguise the fact that an individual is a political prisoner. In AI's use of the term, here are some examples of political prisoners: Governments often say they have no political prisoners, only prisoners held under the normal criminal law. The category of political prisoners embraces the category of prisoners of conscience, the only prisoners who AI demands should be immediately and unconditionally released, as well as people who resort to criminal violence for a political motive. , French anarchist groups typically call the former members of Action Directe political prisoner definition, the criminal courts tens... Merriam-Webster, https: //www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/political % 20prisoner by persons or groups who are detained for their political beliefs actions! 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