Editing Prisoner of conscience (section)

{{short description|Anyone imprisoned for their demographics, beliefs, or the nonviolent expression thereof}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir.png|thumb|200px|[[Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir]] was sentenced to death after he wrote an article critical of religion and the [[caste]] system in [[Mauritania]]. He later moved to [[France]].]]

A '''prisoner of conscience''' ('''POC''') is anyone imprisoned because of their [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[sexual orientation]], [[religion]], or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the [[nonviolent]] expression of their conscientiously held beliefs.

Most often associated with the human rights organisation [[Amnesty International]], the term was coined by that organisation's founder [[Peter Benenson]] in a 28 May 1961 article ("[[The Forgotten Prisoners]]") for London newspaper ''[[The Observer]]''.