| By Jamie Fly Say Their Names. Demand Their Freedom. On the occasion of October 30, the International Day of Political Prisoners Jamie Fly is the CEO of Freedom House and former president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) In October 1968, Ugandan writer Rajat Neogy was arrested on charges of sedition after the literary journal he founded published an article that was critical of the country’s increasingly authoritarian government. After his release the following year, Neogy famously wrote that “The political prisoner’s greatest fear is of being forgotten.” Decades later, these words remain a potent reminder of why dictators throughout the world continue to imprison journalists, democracy defenders, and other activists – to erase their names and silence the causes. It’s our responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen. More than one million political prisoners are detained around the world. With a number that large, it is easy to lose sight of the individuals behind the statistic: journalists imprisoned for reporting the truth, ethnic minorities advocating for better treatment, religious believers who simply want to practice their faith, students who dare to challenge powerful institutions, artists who use their medium to criticize and ridicule, ordinary citizens who share their thoughts on social media, and countless others imprisoned for exercising their fundamental freedoms. Those of us who have the freedom to do so have an obligation to say their names, tell their stories, and demand their freedom. Take Joshua Wong, for instance. Joshua was just 14 years old when he stood up for democracy in Hong Kong, helping to launch a student movement opposing efforts to introduce Chinese Communist Party propaganda into schools. By 17, he had become one of the most recognizable faces of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, inspiring a generation of young people to demand a voice in their future. As a Senate staffer to then Senator Marco Rubio, I personally witnessed Joshua’s courage and passion inspire U.S. policymakers to put Hong Kong front and center of U.S. policy. Today, Joshua is 30 years old and has spent nearly six consecutive years behind bars, with the prospect of an even longer sentence on additional charges ahead of him. While most young people spend their twenties building careers, starting families, and planning their futures, Joshua has spent much of these formative years in prison. Tsi Conrad, a journalist in Cameroon, has also paid a heavy price for refusing to stay silent. Before his arrest in 2016, Tsi filmed and documented government abuses in the country’s English-speaking regions, which have been neglected and repressed by the Francophone-dominated government. Despite knowing the risks – Cameroon is one Africa’s most dangerous countries for journalists – and facing repeated harassment from security forces, he continued his reporting. For Tsi, this work was personal; he is from Bamenda, the capital of the English-speaking Northwest Region. In December 2016, while covering a protest, he was arrested, tortured, and forced to sign a false confession, and he was later sentenced to 15 years in prison by a military court. This December will mark his tenth year in prison. These stories serve as a tragic reminder of just how much political prisoners sacrifice, and why we cannot allow their names or their causes to be forgotten. As I’ve advocated for political prisoners, from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalists who worked for me to political activists through our Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, one theme is clear. Political prisoners are strengthened by international advocacy on their behalf. International attention matters. It lifts their spirit and moves governments to release them. I hope everyone reading this will take one action on behalf of someone who remains behind bars: learn their name, share their story, or write them a letter. Securing every political prisoner’s freedom will take time, but we can refuse to let them be forgotten—and insist that our governments do the same until they are released. Find us on social media: Instagram | X | Youtube Thoughts on today’s newsletter? Email us at freedomdesk@washpost.com. | 
