Support Political Prisoners
Political Prisoner Watch is a research and documentation project. The most direct way to help the people in this registry is to support the human rights organizations doing the work on the ground — legal defence, family aid, and on-the-record monitoring.
This page lists four concrete actions you can take today, plus the organizations whose public reporting feeds the registry. Donations made through the links below go directly to those organizations — Political Prisoner Watch does not collect a cut.
Four ways to make a difference
Every action — financial, attentional, or political — contributes to the documented record. You do not need to do all four; pick the one closest to where you can act.
Donate
Direct contributions support legal aid for detained activists, supplies for prisoners and their families, and the operational costs of independent monitoring organizations.
Support an organizationRaise awareness
Share specific cases on social media, with your community, and through your professional networks. International visibility is documented to reduce the risk of further mistreatment.
Share a caseAdvocate
Contact elected representatives, sign petitions, and join coordinated campaigns calling for the release of political prisoners and accountability for human rights abuses.
Send a letter
Use the advocacy letter generator to draft and send personalised letters to embassies, UN bodies, and government officials demanding accountability for specific cases.
Open the letter toolWhere your donation goes
These are the independent human rights organizations whose reporting we credit on every case page. Donate directly through their websites — none of these flows pass through Political Prisoner Watch.
OVD-Info
Independent Russian human rights media project combating political persecution. Provides legal aid, publishes news on detentions, and monitors violations across the Russian Federation.
Memorial Human Rights Centre
One of Russia's oldest human rights organizations, focused on historical memory and documenting contemporary political repression. Forcibly liquidated by Russian courts in 2021; affiliated entities continue the work in exile.
Viasna Human Rights Centre
Belarusian human rights organization documenting political persecution and providing assistance to political prisoners and their families. Founded in 1996; staff have themselves been imprisoned for their work.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Independent nonprofit defending the right of journalists to report the news safely. Maintains the canonical worldwide database of imprisoned, missing, and killed journalists — cited annually by the UN, the U.S. State Department, and newsrooms across every continent.
Amnesty International
Global movement campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Researches abuses, advocates with governments, and mobilizes public pressure on behalf of prisoners of conscience.
Human Rights Watch
International NGO investigating and reporting on abuses worldwide. Directs advocacy toward governments, armed groups, and businesses to push them to change or enforce their laws and practices.
Freedom Now
Legal advocacy organization providing direct representation to prisoners of conscience worldwide. Files petitions with UN bodies, advocates with foreign governments, and works to free individual political prisoners.
Stay close to the record
Read the case files this work is built around. Share specific cases — that is how international visibility starts.
A daily digest of new case files and sentencing updates from the regions we cover. Easy to opt out at any time.
Send a letter today
Generate an embassy or UN advocacy letter for a specific prisoner using their public case file.