Revolving door effect
The revolving door effect is when political prisoners are released at roughly the same time that new prisoners are arrested, so the total number of political prisoners stays about the same.
The term was coined by Venezuelan activist Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, based on his research.
In Venezuela, the pattern has been noted for several years. In 2016, the number jailed exceeded those released. In 2017, some prisoners who had been jailed for one to three years were freed, and new arrests followed soon after. In 2018, the National Constituent Assembly announced 79 releases, but only 40 of those were political prisoners on a list; released individuals were required to appear before the Assembly rather than before courts, which raised concerns.
Romero revisited the idea in a 2020 publication, The Clock of Repression, linking the releases to new arrests that happened shortly afterward.
The revolving door pattern has been observed beyond Venezuela. In Cuba, the mechanism appeared after the Black Spring of 2003, when 75 dissidents were imprisoned; after international pressure, many were released, but some faced further pressure, were forced to leave the island, or were kept under ongoing harassment and control.
In 2016, the term was used by Burma Campaign UK to describe similar conditions in Myanmar. NGOs in Nicaragua have also accused Daniel Ortega’s regime of using the revolving door approach with political prisoners.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:51 (CET).