# Amnesty International 2002: Even more dishonest than......Amnesty International 2001 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360 "2002-06-04T19:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/1 "2002-06-04T19:58:09Z")
Amnesty International’s 2001 Annual Report blasted Israel for holding prisoners on what they call, _Political Charges_. The report defined “Political Prisoners” as those held for _offenses such as attacks on Israelis_. Got that? Attacking and murdering Israeli civilians makes someone a “political prisoner” – meaning someone who presumably is unfairly held. For 2002, AI “improved” their Annual Report by not even providing a definition of _Political Charges_. Why take the risk that someone might actually understand what the figures mean? The 2002 Report also omitted the offenses for which, “more than 2,000 Palestinians were arrested.” The only information provided was that, “several of those arrested were prisoners of conscience.” This presentation invited the inference that most of these arrests were made without any valid reason. This was a step “forward” from 2001, when the Report carelessly informed readers that that most of those arrested were “charged with offenses such as stone-throwing.” The same was true in 2002, but they decided not to let readers know. Read the [cite](http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1022691076603%5B/url). There were other distortions as well. WTF is going on? How can it be helpful to produce this sort of crap? What is the impact on Israel’s reputation among those who rely on AI’s reports? And, what about AI itself? Since they dissimulate about Israel, why should we believe anything they say? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/2 "2002-06-04T20:29:58Z")
**december:** _And, what about AI itself? Since they dissimulate about Israel, why should we believe anything they say?_ I guess that means that we can write off the alleged attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians, then, since Amnesty International has [repeatedly protested and condemned them](http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2002/israel05302002.html). Silly me, I used to think that some Palestinians **were** suicide-bombing Israelis, but I now know that since Amnesty International said so, it must be lies. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/3 "2002-06-04T20:32:04Z")
I’m just so tired of arguing spin. Why not talk about how to stop people dying rather than the same old ‘my perspective/semantics are more valid than your perspective/semantics’ ? It. Gets. No. One. Anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/4 "2002-06-04T21:08:38Z")
December, your bias is enough to make me automatically agree with what ever Amnesty says. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/5 "2002-06-04T21:20:21Z")
What got me about Amnesty International was the difference in how they view capital punishment, depending on what culture is imposing it. Remember when they urged the French government not to cooperate with any American investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui as long as there was the possibility that we might sentence him to death? Turns out they had no such problem with Nigeria’s condemnation of Safiya Hussaini, the woman sentenced to be stoned to death under Sharia law for having an extramarital affair. Even though Hussaini was eventually pardoned, Amnesty International’s only reaction at the time was that they wanted Hussaini to have proper legal representation so that she’d get a fair trial. But hey, if, after the fair trial, they wanted to literally beat her brains out, no biggie. This story is several months old, so I’m not sure if the cites listed in my blog (see my sig) are still active. You’ll have to go into the first archive page to see the stories. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/6 "2002-06-04T21:22:43Z")
The bias in the report itself jumps out. Here’s the [Middle East Highlights](http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2002.nsf/regMDE/regMDE?OpenDocument) page. What jumped out at me was: – The “violations” by Israel were the first ones listed. – There was no mention that the attacks had been started by Palestinians – There was no mention that Palestinians were intentionally killing civilians, while Israel was not. – Although it mentioned the Palesntian arrest of suspected “collaberators,” it omitted the fact that many had been lynched or otherwise killed. – It mentioned Palestinian houses destroyed, but ignored Israeli property destroyed by suicide bombers. Nor did it mention destruction of property anywhere else. (Apparently destruction of property is only a gross human rights violation when Israel does it to Palestineans.) I’ve been financially supporting AI for years. Reading this stuff makes me sick to my stomach, because I had such respect for Amnesty International. I counted them among the world’s “good guys.” And, I can’t even figure out how they could put out a report this biased. Are they bending over backwards? Do they believe they’re being fair? It’s OK to call it spin, as **London\_Calling** does. But, it matters. This is a report to the world on the state of human rights violations. It’s important. And, why such a bias? This isn’t the Republicans blasting the Democrats or the old USSR blasting the West. This is a group presumably without an axe to grind. Aside from anything else, I’m upset at not understanding what’s going on? Is it anti-semitism? Pro-Palestinianism? Anti-Israelism? Bad habits? Whatever the cause, this report disgusts me. Ugh! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/7 "2002-06-04T21:37:29Z")
Amnesty International makes a difference between a political prisoner and a prisoner of conscience. The confusion between those two is probably what prompted the OP. Amnesty International definitions: prisoner of conscience - a person who is imprisoned for the non-violent expression of their political beliefs, and someone who has never used or advocated violence. AI will call for their prompt and unconditional release. political prisoner - a person whose imprisonment (and / or the charges against them) have a political aspect. AI will call for those people to have a fair and impartial trial that meets international Human Rights standards - e.g. no torture. So the people in the OP are political prisoners but not prisoners of conscience. AI will ask for them to have a fair trial, but **does not** ask for their unconditional release. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/8 "2002-06-04T21:40:57Z")
**december:** \*Amnesty International’s 2001 Annual Report blasted Israel for holding prisoners on what they call, Political Charges. The report defined “Political Prisoners” as those held for offenses such as attacks on Israelis. Got that? Attacking and murdering Israeli civilians makes someone a “political prisoner” – meaning someone who presumably is unfairly held. \* Hmmm. I couldn’t access **december** ’s link to the _Jerusalem Post_ (some kind of SQL error, it sez), but when I read the actual [AI 2001 Annual Report](http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webmepcountries/ISRAEL+AND+OCCUPIED+TERRITORIES?OpenDocument) on Israel, what it said about political prisoners was this: > [@](#): > > Political prisoners > > Israel continued to detain 1,600 Palestinians from the Occupied Territories and 29 Palestinians from Israel sentenced in previous years by military courts for offences such as attacks on Israelis. About 120 were released during the year. A number of foreign nationals including 16 Lebanese and four Jordanian nationals sentenced by military courts in previous years continued to be held. Some had reportedly been tortured and received unfair trials. > > Mordechai Vanunu continued to serve an 18-year sentence for revealing information about Israel’s nuclear weapons capability imposed in a secret trial in 1987. Apparently, what causes AI to designate these people (not just Palestinians, but foreign nationals as well as an Israeli) “political prisoners” is simply the fact that they are being held on the findings of what AI considers to be an “unfair” (i.e., secret or military) trial. Moreover, I notice that the [same report](http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2001.nsf/webmepcountries/PALESTINIAN+AUTHORITY?OpenDocument) also applies the designation “political prisoners” to people held by the Palestinian Authority: > [@](#): > > [a] further 22 detainees from Islamist and leftist groups [who] continued to serve prison sentences imposed after unfair trials before state security and military courts. Mercy me, how blatantly partisan of AI to seek to smear the Palestinian Authority by designating such convicts “political prisoners”! For shame! I trust we will soon see a new OP by **december** complaining about this “dissimulating” use of the term “political prisoner”, as well as similarly “dissimulating” uses of it in the report’s sections on, e.g, Yemen, Libya, and Syria. :rolleyes: **AW:** \*Amnesty International makes a difference between a political prisoner and a prisoner of conscience. The confusion between those two is probably what prompted the OP. \* Word. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/9 "2002-06-04T21:43:13Z")
Take it easy, there, **December**. Stuff a few puppies into the blender, little de-stress action. AI has consistently played the role of the global Town Scold, and done it rather well, for the most part. I’ve always had the impression of scrawny pacifist Vegans and little old ladies with a faint odor of lilac who knit doilies and put out position papers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But no matter how unanimously the sheep pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism, the wolf has the deciding vote. It is quite impossible for an organization so devoted to self-righteousness not to screw up once in a while. The ACLU has publicly stepped on its own pecker more times than I can count. So what? They provide a needed service to the Republic by being the adamant fundamentalists of the 1st Amendment. In this instance: I think a charge of spin control is largely sustainable. But in a situation when both sides are behaving in a coarse and savage manner, spin control doesn’t blip on the screen. Who you going after next, **Dec**? Doctors Without Borders? Keep writing those checks, pal. Got a lot of penance to cover. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/10 "2002-06-04T21:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ogre \* > Turns out they had no such problem with Nigeria’s condemnation of Safiya Hussaini, the woman sentenced to be stoned to death under Sharia law for having an extramarital affair. … But hey, if, after the fair trial, they wanted to literally beat her brains out, no biggie. This is totally false. Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases. As a matter of fact at our last Amnesty International meeting we sent out 20 letters concerning a woman in Nigeria who received the death penalty under Sharia law for having a child out of wedlock. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/11 "2002-06-04T21:51:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kimstu \* > Apparently, what causes AI to designate these people (not just Palestinians, but foreign nationals as well as an Israeli) “political prisoners” is simply the fact that they are being held on the findings of what AI considers to be an “unfair” (i.e., secret or military) trial. Quick correction - the exact definition of Amnesty International is (or was last time I checked): a political prisoner is any person whose trial / imprisonment has a “political” aspect, e.g. opposition to an established government. To give a real-life example of the difference between prisoner of conscience (POC) and political prisoner: Nelson Mandela was never adopted by Amnesty International as a POC because he belonged to the ANC and the ANC did not renounce violence. He was however considered a political prisoner. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/12 "2002-06-04T22:03:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*This is totally false. Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases. As a matter of fact at our last Amnesty International meeting we sent out 20 letters concerning a woman in Nigeria who received the death penalty under Sharia law for having a child out of wedlock. \*\* Amina Luwal Kurami. Yes, I read that. It is also covered in the blog, this time as a condemnation of Sharia law rather than AI. Perhaps AI’s position on the Hussaini case was poorly worded, but I assure you the quote was accurate, according to the best information we (the other blogger and me) had at the time. I do, however, see that the BAOBAB article on the AI website has a clearer version of AI’s position on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Neptune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/13 "2002-06-04T22:04:08Z")
I started giving money to Amnesty after seeing this commercial showing a person being improsoned for toasting to freedom. I stopped giving money to Amnesty when I saw they were trying to prevent the extradition of an alledged serial rapist-murderer from Canada to the US on the grounds that he faced the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/14 "2002-06-04T22:04:51Z")
Ach. Here’s a [link](http://web.amnesty.org/802568F7005C4453/0/AAD5EEE61C7DD82580256B88003E7792?Open&Highlight=2,nigeria). ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/15 "2002-06-04T22:07:42Z")
What? You’re sasying this quote “But hey, if, after the fair trial, they wanted to literally beat her brains out, no biggie.” was accurate? In which AI document did you find this? ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/16 "2002-06-04T22:08:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \*Amnesty International definitions:…political prisoner - a person whose imprisonment (and / or the charges against them) have a political aspect. AI will call for those people to have a fair and impartial trial that meets international Human Rights standards - e.g. no torture. > > So the people in the OP are political prisoners but not prisoners of conscience. AI will ask for them to have a fair trial, but **does** not ask for their unconditional release. > [@](#): > > **Kimstu** > Apparently, what causes AI to designate these people (not just Palestinians, but foreign nationals as well as an Israeli) “political prisoners” is simply the fact that they are being held on the findings of what AI considers to be an “unfair” (i.e., secret or military) trial. I presume **Arnold Winkelried** is correct about AI’s definition of “political prisoner.” Two problems, however: 1. Readers may not be familiar with AI jargon. E.g., **Kimstu** guessed wrong. 2. It differs from the dictionary definition: - A person who has been imprisoned for holding or advocating dissenting political views.\* or _Someone who is imprisoned because of their political views_ The general reader is apt not to appreciate that some of those “political prisoners” in Israel are actually mass murderers. > [@](#): > > **elucidator** > AI has consistently played the role of the global Town Scold, and done it rather well, for the most part. I always thought so. This is exactly why I’m upset to see them doing it so badly here. I wouldn’t be as bothered to see this degree of spin coming out of the _National Review_ or the _Nation_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/17 "2002-06-04T22:27:20Z")
**AW:** \*Quick correction - the exact definition of Amnesty International is (or was last time I checked): a political prisoner is any person whose trial / imprisonment has a “political” aspect, e.g. opposition to an established government. \* Right. I didn’t mean to imply that what AI calls a political prisoner is **necessarily** someone who has received what they consider an unfair trial, just that that was the reason AI designated **these particular detainees** as “political prisoners.” **december:** _The bias in the report itself jumps out._ Well, you see what you want to see. _Here’s the Middle East Highlights page._ Of which, I note, the section on Israel/Palestine is **six fucking sentences long**. Exactly how much information do they have to put into an extremely brief “Highlights” section before you will stop considering its omission an act of blatant bias? Here, for the record, are the six sentences in question: > [@](#): > > More than 460 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, including 79 children and at least 32 individuals targeted for assassination. Palestinians armed groups killed 187 Israelis, including 154 civilians among them at least 36 children. > > Thousands of Palestinians were arrested, frequently in incommunicado detention, sometimes for several days, and were reportedly subjected to torture or ill-treatment. > > The Israeli authorities maintained strict closures on Palestinian towns and villages and at least 350 Palestinians houses were destroyed and 29 people died after delays impeded their access to hospitals. > > Under the Palestinian Authority hundreds of suspected “collaborators” with Israel and scores of alleged members of armed opposition groups were arrested. > > Reports of torture by various Palestinian security forces remained widespread and three men died in custody in circumstances which suggest that torture may have contributed to their deaths. \*What jumped out at me was: – The “violations” by Israel were the first ones listed. \* Immediately followed, in the same paragraph, by the killings committed by Palestinian groups. This by you is **bias**? What do you want, parallel columns? Which one has to be on the left? Maybe you require a Java script that will randomly switch the sentence order when the page is accessed? :rolleyes: \*-- There was no mention that the attacks had been started by Palestinians \* I also found no accusations of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. The report just talks about human rights violations, it doesn’t discuss the rationales that the perpetrators use to justify them. \*-- There was no mention that Palestinians were intentionally killing civilians, while Israel was not. \* Did you read the actual report on Israel/Palestine, or just the six sentences in the Highlights? Says [right there](http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2002.nsf/mde/israel+and+the+occupied+territories+!Open) that “Palestinian armed groups killed Israeli security force personnel and deliberately targeted Israeli civilians.” \*-- Although it mentioned the Palesntian arrest of suspected “collaberators,” it omitted the fact that many had been lynched or otherwise killed. \* ? Are you talking about the notorious killings of suspected collaborators that took place a couple of months ago? You are aware that those occurred after the end of calendar year 2001 and thus are not covered in the 2002 report, right? If not, which killings are you talking about? Cites, please. \*-- It mentioned Palestinian houses destroyed, but ignored Israeli property destroyed by suicide bombers. \* Because the deliberate bulldozing of Palestinian houses is considered a separate human rights violation—“part of a discriminatory planning policy which prohibits the building of Palestinian houses while freely allowing Israelis to construct settlements”—not just collateral damage in attacks on human beings. \*Reading this stuff makes me sick to my stomach, because I had such respect for Amnesty International. I counted them among the world’s “good guys.” And, I can’t even figure out how they could put out a report this biased.\* **december** , if the reports from AI, which have frequently and vigorously condemned Palestinian suicide bombings as well as rights violations in lots of other Middle Eastern countries, seem to you so biased as to make you “sick to your stomach”, I think the problem is probably yours, not AI’s. I suspect that you have so much emotional investment in your support of Israel that you simply can’t tolerate the suggestion that Israel can be seriously wrong in some way. To avoid having to confront such a suggestion, you are willing to label anything and anyone “biased” if they voice any criticism of Israel at all. And just look how much good it does. All you do is inspire some people systematically to debunk your illogical claims, and disgust others with your promulgation of ignorance to the point where, as **ToF** commented, they simply assume that the opposite of anything you say must be true. With friends like you, **december** , Israel hardly needs enemies. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/18 "2002-06-04T22:39:45Z")
I always understood “political prisonners” as meaning : people who are detained for actions prompted by a political motive. That could be terrorists as well as people handing flyiers in the street. Many countries, even officially, call these people “political prisonners”, even when they condemned them and think they were right to do so… So, yes, attacking and murdering a civilian makes you a “political prisonner” if you did that for political reasons. The fact you’re a political prisonner doesn’t mean you’re an innocent guy persecuted by an evil government. As for the palestinians bombings not being mentionned, AFAIK, Amnesty is only concerned with the actions of governmental bodies, not of individuals, or so is my understanding… ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/19 "2002-06-04T23:15:37Z")
clairobscur - you’re right, Amnesty International was originally formed to protest human rights abuses committed by governments / governmental entities / government security forces. The organization is slowly expanding its mandate to cover HR abuses by non-governmental organizations, e.g. the Sendero Luminoso guerillas in Peru and/or para-military groups in other countries. But the organization does not create special reports or publicize actions for human rights abuses committed by individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360/20 "2002-06-04T23:15:37Z")
I’m with **Arnold** and **clairobscur** on the definition of “political prisoner”. That their incarceration has a political element by no means makes them automatically innocent of any wrongdoing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amnesty-international-2002-even-more-dishonest-than-amnesty-international-2001/112360.md?page=2)