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FreeThe20 campaign facts for kids

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Samantha Power Speaking in Geneva
Samantha Power

FreeThe20 was a special campaign that aimed to bring attention to women around the world who were held as political prisoners. These are people who are put in jail because of their political beliefs or actions, often unfairly. The campaign specifically named twenty women who were imprisoned without good reason. Samantha Power, who was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at the time, started this campaign. She launched it to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, an important meeting about women's rights.

The main goal of the FreeThe20 campaign was to tell governments to stop unfairly jailing women. It also wanted to let these women and their families know that people cared about them and they were not forgotten. For twenty days, one woman's name was highlighted each day, representing each year since the Beijing Declaration.

In September 2015, a special bill called "#FreeThe20" was introduced in the U.S. Senate. This bill had support from both major political parties, meaning it was "bipartisan." All twenty women senators, from both parties, supported the bill. They said they were united in asking governments to respect women's basic human rights and to release women who were unfairly imprisoned for using those rights.

Who Were the Women?

The FreeThe20 campaign highlighted many brave women from different countries. Here are their names and where they were from:

You can find more details about the status of these women on the #FreeThe20 Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Concern Campaign website.

What Happened to the Women?

The campaign helped bring attention to these women. Here's an update on their situations as of March 2017:

Still Detained

Some of the women were still imprisoned or under house arrest:

  • Aster Yohannes, from Eritrea.
  • Liu Xia, from China. She was under house arrest after her husband, Liu Xiaobo, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.
  • María Lourdes Afiuni Mora, from Venezuela.
  • Matlyuba Kamilova, from Uzbekistan.

Released Women

Many of the women were eventually released from prison. Here are some of them:

  • Bahareh Hedayat, from Iran, was released in September 2016.
  • Blen Mesfin, from Ethiopia, was released in December 2016.
  • Bui Thi Minh Hang, from Vietnam, was released in February 2017.
  • Gao Yu, from China, was released in November 2015.
  • Nadiya Savchenko, from Ukraine/Russia, was released in May 2016.
  • Naw Ohn Hla, from Burma, was released in April 2016.
  • Khadija Ismayilova, from Azerbaijan, was released in May 2016.
  • Leyla Yunus, from Azerbaijan, was released in December 2015.
  • Meron Alemayehu, from Ethiopia, was released in November 2015.
  • Nigist Wondifraw, from Ethiopia, was released in November 2015.
  • Phyoe Phyoe Aung, from Burma, was released in April 2016.
  • Rasha Sharbaji, from Syria, was released in February 2017.
  • Sanaa Seif, from Egypt, was released in September 2015, then imprisoned again in May 2016, and finally re-released in November 2016.
  • Ta Phong Tan, from Vietnam, was released in September 2015.
  • Wang Yu, from China, was released around August 2016.

More Information

  • You can see photos related to the FreeThe20 Campaign on Flickr.
  • Follow the #FreeThe20 hashtag on Twitter to see discussions about the campaign.
  • You can read the full text of the #FreeThe20 bill that was introduced in the U.S. Senate.
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