“There can be a fine line between defending the rights of terror suspects and defending their views. Amnesty International has been thrust into a very public struggle about where exactly that line is.” – Guz Raz, NPR Host of “All Things Considered” February 27, 2010
For decades, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations (HROs) have been working for the release of “prisoners of conscience” throughout the world. These individuals are often serving long prison sentences in excruciating conditions; they have been jailed for nothing more than their beliefs and non-violent advocacy efforts. Once a prisoner of conscience is identified, Amnesty International and other HROs begin a media campaign designed to increase pressure on a regime to release the prisoner. Through press releases, emails, and social media, HROs try to get individuals around the world to understand the plight of the prisoner and join efforts to get the prisoner released.
HRO campaigns, however, do not operate in a political vacuum. Once campaigns gain momentum, repressive governments often attempt to invalidate their claims. In the context of campaigns in support of prisoners of conscience, government responses often attempt to discredit the prisoner by accusing them of engaging in violence. Sometimes, like in the well-known case of Nelson Mandela, political prisoners have acknowledged their past use of violence. Other times, however, prisoners of conscience have been accused of violence without clear evidence that they have engaged in it. Such attempts at discrediting increasingly include labeling the abused individual a terrorist.
