UN findings of arbitrary detention, and where each person is now
18 opinions of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning named people in 12 countries, with each government's position and the person's current status.
Findings on this site are those of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent body of experts. Its opinions are not court judgments. Each record includes the government's position where it gave one.
Alaa Abd El-FattahEgypt · WGAD Opinion No. 6/2016Released from prison on 23 September 2025, the day after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardoned him on 22 September 2025, per Al Jazeera and The National.Ales BialiatskiBelarus · WGAD Opinion No. 39/2012Released on 13 December 2025 among 123 prisoners freed by Belarus in an agreement with the United States, and taken to Lithuania, per Reuters and ABC News.Alexey GorinovRussian Federation · WGAD Opinion No. 78/2022In prison. On 29 November 2024 a court in the Vladimir region sentenced him to a further three years on a charge of justifying terrorism, which he denied, per AP and AFP. OVD-Info reported on 26 September 2025 that he was held in Correctional Colony No. 10 in Rubtsovsk, Altai Krai, and that the new sentence was upheld in April 2025.Andrei SannikovBelarus · WGAD Opinion No. 14/2012Pardoned and released on 14 April 2012 by presidential decision, as recorded in the Working Group's opinion. Swissinfo reported in February 2023 that he lives in exile in Warsaw, and Novaya Gazeta Europe reported in February 2024 that he continues his work in exile.Aung San Suu KyiMyanmar · WGAD Opinion No. 46/2008Reuters reported on 17 April 2026 that she was serving a 27 year sentence, cut by one sixth in an amnesty, and that her whereabouts had been unknown. On 30 April 2026 state broadcaster MRTV announced that President Min Aung Hlaing had commuted the remainder of her sentence to be served at a designated residence, per NPR and Reuters. Reuters reported on 1 May 2026 that a member of her legal team said she was in Naypyidaw. NPR reported that her son, Kim Aris, said he did not know where she was and that the move had not been independently verified.Evan GershkovichRussian Federation · WGAD Opinion No. 11/2024Released on 1 August 2024 in a multi-country prisoner exchange carried out in Ankara and coordinated by Turkey, per Reuters and CNN.Gao ZhishengChina · WGAD Opinion No. 26/2010Whereabouts not disclosed by the authorities. RFA reported on 15 August 2017 that he had gone missing from his home near Yulin in Shaanxi Province. RFA reported in April 2021 that his wife said Yulin police had admitted holding him but did not let her speak to him. AsiaNews reported in August 2024 that he had been missing for seven years and that Beijing had released no information on where he was held.Ilham TohtiChina · WGAD Opinion No. 3/2014Sentenced to life imprisonment on a separatism charge by a court in Urumqi in September 2014, per AP. He denied the charge. Table.Media reported in September 2024 that the EU reiterated its call for his release. ANI reported in January 2025 that he was serving a life sentence and, citing his daughter, that he had been held incommunicado since 2017 with no confirmed location.Jimmy Lai Chee-yingChina (Hong Kong) · WGAD Opinion No. 34/2024Serving a 20 year prison sentence imposed on 9 February 2026, after being convicted in December 2025 on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials, per Reuters and CNN. Reuters reported on 6 March 2026 that his lawyer said he would not appeal the conviction or the sentence. In a separate case, AFP reported that on 26 February 2026 the High Court quashed his 2022 fraud conviction and set aside that sentence.Julian AssangeSweden and United Kingdom · WGAD Opinion No. 54/2015Released from Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on 24 June 2024. On 26 June 2024 he pleaded guilty under a plea agreement in the US federal court in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, to a charge of conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified information, was sentenced to 62 months with credit for time already served in a British prison, and flew to Canberra, Australia, per Al Jazeera and CNN.Liu XiaoboChina · WGAD Opinion No. 15/2011Died on 13 July 2017 at the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, while serving his 11 year sentence, per RFE/RL, The Irish Times and PBS NewsHour. The Shenyang judicial authorities announced the death and said he died of multiple organ failure after treatment for late stage liver cancer. RFE/RL reported that Chinese authorities said he had been granted medical parole after his diagnosis in late May 2017 and that he was held in a heavily guarded hospital.Nabeel RajabBahrain · WGAD Opinion No. 12/2013Released. The EU said on 10 June 2020 that a Bahraini court had granted him a non-custodial alternative sentence in place of the five year prison term he had been serving since 2016.Narges MohammadiIran · WGAD Opinion No. 48/2017Arrested on 12 December 2025 in Mashhad, per Reuters and AFP. In February 2026 she was sentenced to six years for assembly and collusion and one and a half years for propaganda, plus two years of internal exile in Khusf and a two year travel ban, per Reuters and AFP. AFP reported that prison terms run concurrently under Iranian law and that her lawyer said the verdict was not final and could be appealed. Reuters reported she was held at a detention centre in Mashhad. Bloomberg also reported the new sentence.Nasrin SotoudehIran · WGAD Opinion No. 21/2011Detained by Iranian intelligence agents at her home in Tehran in early April 2026, her daughter told AP on 2 April 2026. AP reported no immediate word on the reason. Democracy Now reported that she had been out on bail for health reasons at the time.Paul RusesabaginaRwanda · WGAD Opinion No. 81/2021Released in late March 2023 after the Government of Rwanda commuted his 25 year sentence by presidential order, and arrived in Doha, Qatar, on 27 March 2023 on his way to the United States, per AP and AFP.Ryan CorneliusUnited Arab Emirates · WGAD Opinion No. 19/2022In prison. The European Parliament stated in a resolution adopted on 10 July 2025 that he remains in prison in the UAE, where he has been held since 2008, and called for his immediate and unconditional release.Zara MohammadiIran · WGAD Opinion No. 82/2022Released from Sanandaj prison on 10 February 2023, after serving about a year of her five year sentence, per Rudaw and The New Arab. Rudaw reported her saying she had not asked for a pardon. The New Arab reported that the release came days after the Supreme Leader pardoned tens of thousands of prisoners.Zhanbolat MamaiKazakhstan · WGAD Opinion No. 11/2023Not in prison. On 10 April 2023 the Bostandyq District Court in Almaty gave him a suspended six year sentence on charges of organising mass unrest, spreading false information and insulting a government representative, per RFE/RL and Eurasianet. RFE/RL reported that the court barred him from activism, journalism and social media use for six years.
By country
Bahrain (1)Belarus (2)China (3)China (Hong Kong) (1)Egypt (1)Iran (3)Kazakhstan (1)Myanmar (1)Russian Federation (2)Rwanda (1)Sweden and United Kingdom (1)United Arab Emirates (1)