Where our data comes from
The Detained is a data aggregator. We compile, translate, and enrich case information from established human rights organizations. Every case on this platform originates from the public records listed below — we do not conduct original field research.
Each case in our public registry credits its primary source and links to the original record. If you represent one of the organizations listed and have a question about how your data appears here, please get in touch.
Aggregator, not original researcher
The Detained does not conduct original field research. We aggregate public reporting from established human rights organizations, then add value through these four functions:
Translation
Machine translation makes Russian and Belarusian case files accessible across languages without losing fidelity to the source.
Structured extraction
Charges, sentences, locations, and timeline events are pulled into a normalized schema so cases can be searched, filtered, and compared.
Cross-referencing
The same person reported by multiple sources is reconciled into a single case, with each contributing source preserved on the record.
Analytics & tools
Aggregated cases power our analytics, visualizations, and legal-evidence tooling — all built on the underlying public reporting.
Primary data sources
These are the established human rights organizations whose public reporting feeds the registry. We are formal partners with Viasna and Political Prisoners Support. Memorial; the others we credit and link back to.
OVD-Info
Independent Russian human rights media project tracking political persecution, providing legal assistance, and documenting repressions.
Visit external recordPolitical Prisoners Support. Memorial
"Political Prisoners Support. Memorial" is an independent human rights project that maintains the canonical list of recognized political prisoners in Russia. Continuing the political prisoner documentation tradition developed within the original Memorial institution before its forced dissolution by Russian courts, the project now operates in exile and publishes at memopzk.org.
Visit external recordViasna Human Rights Centre
Belarusian human rights organization founded in 1996, documenting political persecution and providing assistance to political prisoners and their families.
Visit external recordOpen Dialogue Foundation
International foundation protecting human rights, rule of law, and democracy in post-Soviet states, with a focus on political prisoners in Central Asia.
Visit external recordRadio Free Europe / Radio Liberty — Tajik Service
International news organization providing independent journalism in countries where press freedom is restricted, including comprehensive coverage of political persecution in Tajikistan.
Visit external recordUzbek Forum for Human Rights
Independent monitoring organization documenting human rights violations in Uzbekistan, including forced labor, political persecution, and civil liberties.
Visit external recordMediazona
Independent Russian media outlet focused on the criminal justice system, law enforcement, and political repressions.
Visit external recordCivil Georgia
English-language Georgian news outlet (Civil Georgia / civil.ge) reporting on politics, civil society, and rights. Used to document the detention, prosecution, and sentencing of protesters, activists, journalists, and opposition figures.
Visit external recordPolitical Prisoners of Georgia
Registry and documentation of political prisoners in Georgia, maintained by the Union of Political Prisoners of Georgia.
Visit external recordKazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Kazakhstan's oldest human rights organisation, monitoring political prosecutions, freedom of assembly and conditions of detention.
Visit external recordInternational Partnership for Human Rights
Brussels-based organisation working with partners in Central Asia and Eastern Europe on political prisoner cases and civic-space monitoring.
Visit external recordNorwegian Helsinki Committee
Human rights organisation documenting political persecution across the former Soviet space and Central Asia.
Visit external recordFront Line Defenders
International foundation for the protection of human rights defenders at risk; publishes case files on detained defenders.
Visit external recordFreedom Now
Legal advocacy organisation representing prisoners of conscience before UN bodies and foreign governments.
Visit external recordRadio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
International news organisation providing independent journalism in countries where press freedom is restricted.
Visit external recordForum 18 News Service
Oslo-based news service documenting violations of freedom of religion or belief, with detailed reporting on prisoners of conscience in Central Asia and Russia.
Visit external recordRadio Azattyq (RFE/RL Kazakh Service)
Kazakh Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, covering political trials, protests and detentions in Kazakhstan.
Visit external recordRadio Azattyk (RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service)
Kyrgyz Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, covering political prosecutions and press-freedom cases in Kyrgyzstan.
Visit external recordRadio Ozodi (RFE/RL Tajik Service)
Tajik Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, covering political persecution in Tajikistan.
Visit external recordRadio Ozodlik (RFE/RL Uzbek Service)
Uzbek Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, covering political prosecutions and religious-freedom cases in Uzbekistan.
Visit external recordRadio Azatlyk (RFE/RL Turkmen Service)
Turkmen Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, one of the few independent newsrooms reporting on detentions in Turkmenistan.
Visit external recordRadio Tavisupleba (RFE/RL Georgian Service)
Georgian Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, covering protest-related arrests and prosecutions in Georgia.
Visit external recordGmirebi
Georgian civic project profiling people detained in connection with the 2024–2025 protests.
Visit external recordHuman Rights Activists News Agency
News agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, documenting arrests, trials and prison conditions.
Visit external recordZMINA Human Rights Centre
Ukrainian human rights centre documenting persecution of civilians, including in occupied territories.
Visit external recordPolitical Prisoners Directory
Country-by-country roster of political prisoners in Central Asia and the Caucasus, compiled from partner human rights organisations.
Visit external recordAmnesty International
Global human rights organization investigating and exposing abuses, campaigning for change, and providing support to individuals at risk.
Visit external recordHuman Rights Watch
International non-governmental organization conducting research and advocacy on human rights across more than 100 countries.
Visit external recordU.S. Department of State
Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, published by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Visit external recordAdditional acknowledgments
Court records & user submissions
Beyond the organizations above, we cross-reference cases against court filings, government gazettes, legal monitoring services, and tips submitted via the intake form. Every cross-referenced item is verified against our inclusion criteria before being published.
Photographs & portrait images
Photographs displayed on case pages may link to or be sourced from the databases listed in Section 03. If you represent a source organization and have a question or concern about the use of an image, please contact us.
See our methodology
How aggregated data flows through the technical pipeline.
Correcting and removing data.
Every case on this platform links back to its original source, and we treat the organizations we draw from — and the people we document — as the authority on their own records.
Request a correction or removal
If you are a source organization (such as Political Prisoners Support. Memorial, OVD-Info, Viasna, or CPJ) and wish to correct, update, restrict, or remove your data from this platform, contact us. We do not claim ownership of your data; a request from a source organization to remove or correct its own records is honored. We can also adjust how your organization is attributed or described.
Report an error about a case
If you are a documented person, a family member, or a legal representative and something on a case page is inaccurate, out of date, or should be removed for safety reasons, tell us. We will review the case against its primary source and correct or remove it as appropriate.