Political Prisoners and International Attention: Individual Case Data, Trends and Likelihood of Early Releases

Politically motivated deprivation of liberty is a widespread human rights violation that has been observed, documented and criticized worldwide, notably since the founding of Amnesty International in the 1960s. To what extent do available data allow statements about the increase or decrease in political imprisonment over time? And does international attention facilitate early releases? The presentation summarizes the results of a research project on case-based documentation of political imprisonment.