Introducing Political Prisoners Watch

At a time when authoritarian practices are spreading and the world is becoming less free, political imprisonment is increasingly a key tool for limiting dissent. The types of people targeted are myriad: they include activists, journalists, lawyers, and ordinary people, and they are found in prisons in every region of the world.

Freedom House’s new feature, Political Prisoners Watch, draws attention to the ways undemocratic leaders are silencing democracy’s courageous guardians by imprisoning them, and to the broader effects political imprisonment has on society. Our first edition focuses on prisoners held long distances from their families, and the profound consequences of this separation.

Far From Family

The United Nations’ minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners recognizes the importance of family bonds, stating that prisoners should, to the extent possible, be detained in “prisons close to their homes or their places of social rehabilitation.” But authorities often flout this regulation, imprisoning people hundreds of miles away from their loved ones. This has serious practical and psychological consequences for both the prisoner and those close to them.

Access to health care: Political prisoners often rely on family members to bring them vital medications. In cases where the medication expires quickly, regular visits to replenish the stock are essential. Idris Khattak, a Pakistani human rights defender who was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in 2021 for his work documenting abuses, including against Pakistan’s Pashtun minority, has diabetes and nerve issues that cause severe back pain. The latter has been exacerbated by the conditions of his confinement. Khattak relies on his family to bring the necessary medications, but traveling to the jail takes hours, making regular visits difficult.

Financial burdens: Traveling long distances not only takes time, but also substantial financial resources. Khattak’s family has endured significant economic difficulties in traveling to see him. The Moroccan activist Nasser Zefzafi, sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018 for leading a nonviolent movement demanding socioeconomic development and justice in Morocco’s Rif region, is separated from his family by around 185 miles (300 kilometers). The winding road his relatives must traverse to reach him, cutting through rugged mountains, is a challenging route. They are allowed to bring Nasser his medications on a weekly basis, but the difficult journey and associated expenses ultimately mean that some visits have to be canceled. The high cost of visiting led the family of imprisoned Cameroonian journalist Tsi Conrad to move to Yaoundé, where he is being held, from their home in Bamenda nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) away.

Access to legal counsel: When political prisoners are held far from their lawyer, mounting a defense can be extremely difficult. Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American human rights defender and lawyer serving a six-year prison sentence for opposing Cambodia’s repressive regime, was initially held in a remote prison in the north of the country. In addition to making it harder to see her family, the distance made it difficult to meet with her attorneys as they prepared her appeal.

While state authorities eventually transferred Seng to a prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, Khattak and Zefzafi’s families’ requests for transfers have been denied.