What are prisoners of conscience?

There is no single definition of a “prisoner of conscience”. The term was originally coined by Amnesty International in the early 1960s to apply to anyone held in detention because of their peaceful expression of any opinion, including on politics and religion or belief.  

Mr Shannon says the debate is intended to focus on those detained for their religion or belief.

Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 says everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the freedom of opinion and expression, and to hold opinions without interference and to manifest their religion or belief in practice, worship and observance.

Who are prisoners of conscience?

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent US agency responsible for monitoring freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) globally, has sought to raise awareness of prisoners of conscience imprisoned for their religion or belief in its FoRB victims list and country profiles.

As the USCIRF notes, due to challenges in accessing information the lists are not comprehensive and information on individuals may be incomplete. The lists include individuals who have been detained, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, placed under house arrest, or subjected to forced renunciation of their faith. It only includes individuals in the 28 countries that the Commission has recommended the US State Department treat as countries of concern.

Appendix 2 of the Commission’s 2025 report on international religious freedom provides a summary of its most recent list. The current list includes 1,342 people assessed as imprisoned because of their religion or belief, with the largest numbers in China (532), Russia (372) and Iran (87).

The UK is a member of the Article 18 alliance on FoRB, which also regularly publicises the cases of individual prisoners of conscience. There are 38 members of the alliance, primarily from Europe but also some states in Africa and the Americas.

UK-based Release International of Persecuted Christians, Norway-based Forum 18 and Jehovah’s Witness also list those imprisoned for their faith.

What is UK Government policy?

In his submission to the Back Bench Business Committee, Jim Shannon MP said that in 2025 the All-party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, which he chairs, has launched a programme whereby parliamentarians may adopt prisoners of conscience. It is being delivered in collaboration with the civil society group, Alliance Defending Freedom International.

The US Congress has a similar advocacy programme, known as the Defending freedoms project.

In response to a written parliamentary question on the steps the government is taking to support those detained for their religious beliefs worldwide, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister responsible for human rights internationally, Lord Collins, said in April 2025 that:

The UK champions, and remains strongly committed to, freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral organisations, our bilateral work, working with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith, and our programme funding, including the Rule of Law (ROLE UK) legal reform programme.

Section 4 of the Commons Library research briefing The UK and global freedom of religion or belief, March 2025, provides information on government policy on FoRB and its use of diplomacy, aid and sanctions, the role of the UK’s special envoy, evaluations on the effectiveness of UK actions, and further resources and reading on the issue. The remainder of the briefing provides information on the global state of FoRB.

Further reading

Prisoners of Conscience (webpage)

Amnesty International – Prisoners of conscience (webpage)

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, United States Congress – Prisoners of conscience (webpage)

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