Prisoner of conscience (POC) is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views. It also refers to those who have been imprisoned and/or persecuted for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously held beliefs.
Read more about Prisoner Of Conscience: Definition, Current Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience
Famous quotes containing the words prisoner and/or conscience:
“The only conception of freedom I can have is that of the prisoner or the individual in the midst of the State. The only one I know is freedom of thought and action.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Control cannot be called conscience until we are able to take it inside us and make it our own, until—in spite of the fact that the wrongs we have done or imagined will never be punished or known—we nonetheless feel that the clutch in the stomach, that chill upon the soul, that self-inflicted misery called guilt.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)