Political Prisoners

As you read this, thousands of men, women, and even children are being held in prisons around the world, not because they have committed violence, theft, or broken drug laws, but because they spoke against their governments. They are political prisoners; in some cases, they did not even intend to cross their nations' leaders-they just happened to get in the way of schemes of which they were not even aware. This book tells the stories of political prisoners, both past and present. Some of them have become leaders in their countries, like Nelson Mandela and Vaclav Havel. Some have "disappeared" and may no longer be alive, like the sixteen-year-old Panchen Lama. Many of these political prisoners are people of tremendous courage and inner strength, like Wei Jingsheng, the Chinese human rights activist. Political Prisoners tells the true and inspiring accounts of these people that every informed citizen of our world should know. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Each title in this series contains a foreword from the Associate Dean of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, color photos throughout, charts, and back matter that includes an index and further resource lists of books and Internet resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series, encouraging library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content-rich nonfiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers can reference back to the definitions-building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Text-Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the reader's comprehension of the chapter they have just read, while sending the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects are provided at the end of each chapter as well and provide readers with suggestions for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Educational Videos provide links via QR codes to online video content that gives a multimedia dimension to the topics. And a Series Glossary of Key Terms is included in the back matter containing terminology used throughout the series. Words found here broaden the reader's knowledge and understanding of terms used in this field.