Open Side Menu Search Icon
    pdf View PDF
    The content displayed below is for educational and archival purposes only.
    Unless stated otherwise, content is © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

    You may be able to find the original on wol.jw.org
    A handcuffed prisoner being escorted inside a prison

    Jehovah’s Witnesses Imprisoned for Their Faith—By Location

    Jehovah’s Witnesses imprisoned for their faith as of July 2025

    WHERE

    IMPRISONED

    REASON

    Crimea

    14

    • Religious activity

    Eritrea

    65

    • Conscientious objection

    • Religious activity

    • Undisclosed reasons

    Russia

    160

    • Religious activity

    Singapore

    8

    • Conscientious objection

    South Korea

    1

    • Conscientious objection

    Ukraine

    7

    • Conscientious objection

    Other Lands

    Over 4

    • Religious activity

    Total

    Over 259

    “The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” is a fundamental human right, according to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.a In some lands, however, Jehovah’s Witnesses are denied this basic right and are unjustly jailed and even suffer cruel mistreatment. Most of those imprisoned were arrested merely for practicing their faith. Others are imprisoned for their conscientious objection to military service.

    a See also the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, and the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9.