Prevention of political imprisonment requires holding perpetrators accountable

International responses to political imprisonment should focus not only on victims, but also on perpetrators, concluded the 25 human rights experts convened by GPPi on January 16. The experts – including exiles, former political prisoners and representatives from academia, NGOs and governments – agreed that international attention helps individual prisoners, but often fails to prevent new arrests. Participants revisited the US Magnitsky Act and Germany’s historical registry in Salzgitter to develop ideas for an international mechanism that documents perpetrators of repression, including police, judges, prosecutors and propaganda officials.