Where our data comes from
Political Prisoner Watch is a data aggregator. We compile, translate, and enrich case information from established human rights organizations. Every case on this platform originates from the public records listed below — we do not conduct original field research.
Each case in our public registry credits its primary source and links to the original record. If you represent one of the organizations listed and have a question about how your data appears here, please get in touch.
Aggregator, not original researcher
Political Prisoner Watch does not conduct original field research. We aggregate public reporting from established human rights organizations, then add value through these four functions:
Translation
Machine translation makes Russian and Belarusian case files accessible across languages without losing fidelity to the source.
Structured extraction
Charges, sentences, locations, and timeline events are pulled into a normalized schema so cases can be searched, filtered, and compared.
Cross-referencing
The same person reported by multiple sources is reconciled into a single case, with each contributing source preserved on the record.
Analytics & tools
Aggregated cases power our analytics, visualizations, and legal-evidence tooling — all built on the underlying public reporting.
Primary data sources
These are the established human rights organizations whose public reporting feeds the registry. We are not formally partnered with any of them — we credit their work and link back to it.
OVD-Info
Independent Russian human rights media project tracking political persecution, providing legal assistance, and documenting repressions.
Visit external recordMemorial Human Rights Centre
One of Russia's oldest and most respected human rights organizations, documenting political prisoners since the Soviet era. Forcibly dissolved by Russian courts in 2021; affiliated entities continue the work in exile, including the Memorial Political Prisoners list at memopzk.org.
Visit external recordViasna Human Rights Centre
Belarusian human rights organization founded in 1996, documenting political persecution and providing assistance to political prisoners and their families.
Visit external recordOpen Dialogue Foundation
International foundation protecting human rights, rule of law, and democracy in post-Soviet states, with a focus on political prisoners in Central Asia.
Visit external recordRadio Free Europe / Radio Liberty — Tajik Service
International news organization providing independent journalism in countries where press freedom is restricted, including comprehensive coverage of political persecution in Tajikistan.
Visit external recordUzbek Forum for Human Rights
Independent monitoring organization documenting human rights violations in Uzbekistan, including forced labor, political persecution, and civil liberties.
Visit external recordMediazona
Independent Russian media outlet focused on the criminal justice system, law enforcement, and political repressions.
Visit external recordCommittee to Protect Journalists
Independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide and maintains a public database of imprisoned, missing, and killed journalists.
Visit external recordAmnesty International
Global human rights organization investigating and exposing abuses, campaigning for change, and providing support to individuals at risk.
Visit external recordHuman Rights Watch
International non-governmental organization conducting research and advocacy on human rights across more than 100 countries.
Visit external recordU.S. Department of State
Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Visit external recordAdditional acknowledgments
Court records & user submissions
Beyond the organizations above, we cross-reference cases against court filings, government gazettes, legal monitoring services, and tips submitted via the intake form. Every cross-referenced item is verified against our inclusion criteria before being published.
Photographs & portrait images
Photographs displayed on case pages may link to or be sourced from the databases listed in Section 03. If you represent a source organization and have a question or concern about the use of an image, please contact us.
See our methodology
How aggregated data flows through the technical pipeline.