N.B.: According to Wikipedia, prisoner of conscience (POC) is a term coined by Peter Benenson in a 28 May 1961 article ("The Forgotten Prisoners") for the London Observer newspaper. Most often associated with the human rights organisation Amnesty International, the term can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. It also refers to those who have been imprisoned and/or persecuted for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously held beliefs.
1855-1926 - Eugene V. Debs - Socialist. Repeated presidential candidate. Co-founded Industrial Workers of the World. Sentenced 10 years for sedition (served 1918-21). 
1869-1928 - William (Big Bill) Haywood - Labor organizer. Led strikes. Co-founded Industrial Workers of the World. Fled to Soviet Union in 1921.
1869-1940 - Emma Goldman - Anarchist, writer & renowned lecturer. Created "Mother Earth" magazaine in 1906. 
#5
1869-1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - "The Great Soul." Leader of Indian independence movement. Pioneer of satyagraha.
P 
Posthumous 
1871-1944 -
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi - Educator. Founded Soka Gakkai in 1930. Opposed Japanese militarism in WW-II. 
P
1871-1945 - Hermann Kallenbach - Architect & Zionist. Had intimate & long lasting friendship Mahatma Gandhi starting in South Africa. 
1872-1950 - Leon Blum - Socialist theoretician. Three times prime minister of France.
1875
1877-1948 - Kate Richards O'Hare - Socialist. Anti-war activist during World War I.
1878-1919 - Charles John Cobb - Conscientious objector. Imprisoned five times between 1916 & 1919. CO
1879-1915 - Joe Hill - Labor activist (Industrial Workers of the World) & songwriter. Wrote "There'll be Pie in the Sky By-and-By." Executed after mysterious trial. 
1879-1945 - Pierre Creesole - Engineer. Founded Service Civil International or International Voluntary Service for Peace (IVSP) in 1920. P
1879-1954 - Leon Jouhaux - Trade union leader. Helped set up International Labour Organization (ILO).
1951
1884-1956 - Zeth Höglund - Communist politician, anti-militarist, author, journalist & mayor of Stockholm 1940–1950. Wrote "Down with Weapons!"
1885-1977 - Alice Paul - Suffragist & women's rights activist. Knew the Pankhursts in England (qv). Wrote the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). 
1888-1942 - Emil Flusser - Pediatrician. His 1932 "War as Illness" (w/forward by Albert Einstein) said war is a physic epidemic.
1888-1988 - Fenner Brockway - Born in Calcutta. Anti-war activist & politician. Statue in London. CO 
1897-2001 - Shidzue Kato - Feminist. One of first women elected to Diet. Pioneer in birth control movement & strong supporter of labour reform.
1900
1900-1940 - Rudolf Redlinghofer - Jehovah's Witness draft resister. Executed in Plotzensee Prison. Rehabilited in 1998.
1905-1997 - Viktor E. Frankl - Neurologist & psychiatrist. Holocaust survivor. Founded logotherapy. See "Statue of Responsibility."
1912-1947 - Raoul Wallenberg - Architect & diplomat. Rescued Jews from the Holocaust in Budapest in 1944. Many monuments.
1912-1996 - Marion Coddington Bromley - Secretary of A.J. Muste [qv]. Tax resistance & civil rights activist. Married Ernest Bromley [qv]. Arrested desegregating Coney Island in 1952.
1912-1997 - Ernest Bromley - Minister. Civil rights & peace activist. Founding member of Freedom Riders, tax resistance movement & Peacemakers. Married Marion Bromley [qv] in 1948." 
1913-2005 - Rosa Parks. "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." Sparked bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. 
1991 
1996
Year? 
1914-2008 - Ralph DiGia - Lifelong pacifist & social justice activist. Staffer at War Resisters League for 52 years. P
1918-2013 - Nelson Mandela - Anti-apartheid activist. Pres of S.Africa 1994-99. 1993 w/F.W.de Klerk 2000 2002 
1918-Alive - Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi - Conscientious objector. Lost case against Japanese internment in 1943 but exonerated in 1987. CO
c1920-2009 - Kimani Maruge - Mau Mau freedom fighter. Holds Guinness World Record as oldest person to start primary school (at age 84). Spoke to United Nations.
1921-1989 -
Andrei Sakharov - Nuclear physicist. Dissident & human rights advocate. Husband of Yelena Bonner (qv). 1975
1980
1921-1997 - Paulo Freire - Educator & theorist of critical pedagogy.
Wrote "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" in 1970. Published conversation with Myles Horton (qv).
1921-2005 - Peter Benenson - Lawyer. Founded Amnesty International in 1961. Coined term Prisoner of Conscience.
1921-Alive - Daniel Berrigan - RC priest, peace activist & Christian anarchist. Brother of Philip Berrigan (qv). 
1923-2002 - Philip Berrigan - RC priest. Peace activist. Brother of Daniel Berrigan (qv). Married Elizabeth McAlister (qv).
1923-2011 - Yelena Bonner - Nurse. Human rights advocate. Exiled to Gorky. Wife of Andrei Sakharov (qv).
1925
1925-1998 - Aki Kurose - Japanese-American educator in Seattle. Pacifist & peace activist, Inturned during WW-II. See Floyd Schmoe. P
1927-Alive - Simone Veil - Politician. Survivor of Auschwitz. Honorary President of Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah.
1928-Alive - Helen Fabela Chávez - Labor activist. Arrested four times. Wife of César Chávez [1927-1993] (qv).
1928-Alive - Elie Weisel - "Messenger to mankind." Professor & holocaust survivor.
1986
1995
1929-1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr. - Iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights.
1964 1977 #1 Posthumous
1929-Alive - Israel Si Dresner - President of Education Fund for Israeli Civil Rights & Peace. Friend of MLK, Jr. Called "the most arrested rabbi in America."
1930-Alive - Megan Rice - Nun. One of 3 Transform Now Plowshares activists who cut fence in 2012 at Y12 National Security Complex & painted protests on Highly Enriched Uranium Facility.
1931-Alive - Toni Morrison - Novelist, editor & professor at Princeton University. Wrote "Beloved" in 1987 about a slave. 1993
1932-Alive - Father Louie Vitale - Priest & anti-nuclear activist. Co-founded protest group Nevada Desert Experience in 1983. Arrested more than 400 times.
1933-Alive -
Fr. Carl Kabat - Priest (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate). Best known for his eccentric, nonviolent protests against nuclear weapons. Has served over 17 years in prison.
1934-Alive - Marjorie Swann Edwin - Nuclear resister. Co-founded Cte for Nonviolent Action in 1957. Wife of Robert Swann (qv).
1935-2011 - Jackie Hudson - Dominican Sister. Missioned to Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action near Bangor Trident Naval Base. Arrested at Y-12 in 2010.
1935-Alive - Jack Gilroy - Veteran & teacher. Sentenced 90-days for protesting US drone attacks at Hancock Air National Guard Base.
1936-1995 - Mary Moylan - Nurse-midwife. Worked in Uganda. "Most elusive" of the Catonsville Nine in 1968. Remained in hiding until 1979.
1937-Alive - Sister Mary Dennis Lentsch, PBVM - Anti-war activist. Emprisoned for protesting at Y-12 bomb plant in Oak Ridge, TN.
1938-Alive - Father Roy Bourgeois - Priest & Human rights activist. Founded School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) in 1990 to protest US militarism in Central America. Year? 
1994
1938-Alive - Saad Eddin Ibrahim - Sociologist & author. Egypt's leading human rights & democracy activist. Critic of Hosni Mubarak.
1939-Alive - Lynne Stewart - Attorney. Represented controversial, poor & often unpopular defendants. Sentenced in 2005 for conspiracy & providing material support to terrorists.
c1940-Alive -
Sybila Arredondo - Anthropologist. Imprisoned in Peru as human rights activist. 
c1940-Alive -
Sister Lelia (Lil) Mattingly - Maryknoll Sister in Ossining, NY. Arrested in 2004 at School of the Americas (SOA), Fort Benning, GA.
1941-Alive - Joan Baez - Folk singer. Civil rights activist. Had relationship with Bob Dylan (qv). Married to David Harris (qv) 1968-1973. P
1943-Alive - Lech Walesa - Trade-union & HR activist. Co-founded Solidarity. Pres of Poland 1990–95. 1983 1989 1999
1944-Alive - Angela Davis - Civil rights activist, educator & author.
Member of Black Panther Party. Founded Critical Resistance in 1998.
1944-Alive - Leonard Peltier - American Indian Movement. In prison for deaths at Pine Ridge IR. A political prisoner according to many. 
1945-Alive - Aung San Suu Kyi - General Secretary of Burmese National League for Democracy. Released from house arrest in November 2010. 1991
c1945-Alive -
Steve Clemens - Nuclear resister. Arrested >30 times, eg at Pantex (1981); White Train 7 (1986). Lived at Koinonia, GA.
c1945-Alive -
Tom Hastings - Director of peace & nonviolence, Portland State University. 
c1945-Alive -
Eric Johnson - Presbyterian minister. Activist at School of the Americas in Georgia & Y-12 nuclear plant in Oak Ridge, TN. Husband of Libby Johnson.
1946-Alive - David Harris - Journalist & author. Protested Vietnam War. Married to Joan Baez (qv) 1968-1973. CO
1947-Alive - Sylvia Baraldini - Radical activist. Emprisoned 17 years in USA + 7 in Italy. See 2009 film "Freeing Silvia Baraldini."
1948-Alive - Benjamin Chavis - Civil rights leader. Led Wilmington Ten in 1971. Active in NAACP, Million Man March, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, etc.
1949-Alive - Alan Phillip Gross - International development professional. Emprisoned 2004-14 for taking communications gear to Jewish group in Cuba under contract to USAID. 
1949-Alive - Michael R. Walli - One of 3 Transform Now Plowshares activists who cut fence in 2012 at Y12 National Security Complex & painted protests on Highly Enriched Uranium Facility.
1950
1950-Alive - Wei Jingsheng - Chinese democracy movement. Wrote "Fifth Modernization" on "Democracy Wall" in 1978.
1951-Alive -
Gerald (Jerry) Ebner - Omaha Catholic Worker. Arrested Dec. 28, 2012, during a nonviolent direct action at Offutt AFB (Strtegic Air Command). "Prisoner for peace."
1952-Alive - Kathy Kelly - Peace activist. A founder of Voices in the Wilderness. Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. In Iraq 26 times. Arrested >60 times. Emprisoned 3-months for protesting US drone war. P
1954-Alive - Mordechai Vanunu - Nuclear technician. Revealed Israeli nuclear program in 1986. CND headquarters named for him in London. 
1987
1955-Alive - Gregory I. Boertje-Obed - One of 3 Transform Now Plowshares activists who entered Y12 National Security Complex in 2012 & painted protests on Highly Enriched Uranium Facility.
1955-Alive - Adam Keller - Israeli "refusenik." Cofounder of & spokesman for Gush Shalom / Peace Bloc. CO
1955-Alive - Liu Xiaobo - Human rights activist. Pres of Independent Chinese PEN Center. Sentenced to prison 2009-2020. 
2010
1956-Alive - Ellen Barfield - Peace activist. US Army 1977-81. Peace Farm. In Veterans for Peace, WILPF, WRL, SOAW & NCNR. Wife of Larry Egbert. 
1957-Alive -
Ai Weiwei - Artist & political activist. Prisoned for investigating government corruption & cover-ups. Subject of 2012 documentary "Never Sorry."
1959-Alive - Father John Dear - Priest, pacifist, author & lecturer. Arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice & nuclear weapons.
1960-Alive - Jafar Penahi - Filmmaker. Smuggled "This is Not a Film" out of Iran in 2011 to protest his being banned from filmmaking.
c1960-Alive -
Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou - Author, documentary filmmaker, public intellectual, organizer, pastor & theologian. Click here for his FOR blog. 
1961-Alive - Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. Co-founded Ctr for Human Rights. Arrested in 2011. Featured at Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta. 
1961-Alive - Leyla Zana - Turkish politician emprisoned for speaking Kurdish.
1964-Alive - Sergeant Kevin Benderman - Court martialed in July 2005 for refusing to serve US Army in Iraq. CO 
c1967-Alive - Bassem al-Tamimi - Teacher. Convicted by Israeli military of "sending people to throw stones." Called "human rights defender" by EU & "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty Intl.
1968-Alive - Malcolm Kendall-Smith - Royal Air Force officer. First British officer to face criminal charges for challenging legality of war against Iraq. CO
1968-Alive- Eskinder Nega - Journalist. Jailed 7 times. Convicted for treason & terrorism. Featured at Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta.
c1970-Alive - Sussan Tahmasebi. Activist. Jailed
when Hafte Tir Square protest demanded women's rights. Featured at Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta..
1971-Alive - Chen Guangcheng - Civil rights activist. Self-taught lawyer. Blind. Advocates for women's rights, land rights & welfare of the poor. Escaped house arrest in 2012 & went to USA.
1975
1975-Alive - Abduwali Ayup - Linguist & poet. Masters from Univ of Kansas. Operates Uighur-language schools in Xinjiang. Emprisoned for collecting "illegal donations."
1975-Alive - Mikhail Kosenko - Activist in Bolotnaya Square. Sentenced to psychiatric treatment. Featured at Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta.
1979-Alive - Samer Tariq Issawi - Prisoner of conscience. Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine. Captured by Israel in 2002, released in 2011, rearrested in 2012. Now on hunger strike.
1981-Alive - Bahareh Hedayat - Women's rights activist. Imprisoned 9.5 years for anti-state propaganda. Featured at Center for Civil & Human Rights in Atlanta.
c1982-Alive - Kimberly Rivera - Iraq War resister. First female US military deserter to flee to Canada. Deported in 2012. Designated a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. 
CO
1989-Alive - Ghoncheh Ghavami - Law graduate of University of London. Emprisoned for Protesting ban on women in sports stadia. 
Date?-Alive -
Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou - Author, documentary filmmaker, public intellectual, organizer, pastor & theologian. "One of the foremost religious leaders of his generation." Click here for his FOR blog.
