About HuMENA, for human rights and civic engagement
A statement of standing
We are for the journalist who keeps writing when the law forbids it.
For the lawyer who defends those detained for gathering.
For the woman defender threatened for organizing.
For the queer voice whose existence is criminalized.
For the organizer who carries her country’s struggle into exile.
For the witness who refuses to look away.
— HuMENA
Opened 2024
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Brussels
·
Beirut
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15 countries across MENA
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Regional & diaspora work
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Ongoing
The question
Who stands when civic space shrinks?
The answer
We do.
HuMENA is a regional human rights organisation working across the Middle East and North Africa, and with communities in exile. We defend civic space — the room where people gather, speak, organise. We protect those who do that work: journalists, lawyers, women human rights defenders, LGBTQI+ voices, social movements, and the researchers who carry their stories forward.
We do not negotiate with power. We document.
Civic space is shrinking. Across the region, the laws that once protected protest, association, expression have been bent, suspended, or rewritten. Defenders are arrested, exiled, surveilled. Where the public square has been emptied, we work to keep its memory alive — and to rebuild it with those who refuse to leave it.
We document with witnesses. We verify with partners. We sign together. We carry the work to the UN, the EU, to governments. And we stay until something changes.
This page is our working file. It is meant to be read, cited, and held to account.
Our mission
To defend civic space — and the people who fill it.
We work across the Middle East and North Africa, and with communities in exile, to protect three fundamental freedoms: assembly, association, expression. We support those who carry the work forward — human rights defenders, women human rights defenders, LGBTQI+ voices, social movements, journalists, lawyers, organisers. We document. We verify. We sign together. We carry to power. We stay.
- Defend civic space, combat its shrinking
- Promote freedoms of assembly, association, expression
- Stand with HRDs, women HRDs, LGBTQI+, social movements
- Work in the region & in exile / diaspora
Our vision
A region where the public square belongs to its people.
Where defenders are protected, not pursued. Where journalists report without fear. Where communities — in their countries and in exile — gather, speak, organise as a matter of right, not of permission. Where civic space is the rule, not the exception.
“Civic space is not a privilege. It is the ground every other right stands on.”
The work
Five fronts. One mission.
Where we put hours, words, and pressure. drag →
01
Civic Space
Press freedom · peaceful assembly · the freedoms that hold democracy together.
Open the file
02
Protection of Defenders
Documentation, advocacy, and emergency response for those at risk.
Open the file
03
Digital Rights
Surveillance, online repression, and rights-based civic technology.
Open the file
04
Governance & Justice
Independent judiciary, accountability, transitional justice.
Open the file
05
Diaspora & Exile
Communities in exile, transnational repression, cross-border solidarity.
Open the file
The method
How the work moves.
A protocol, not a brand statement.
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01
Document with witnesses.
Direct from those affected. Sourced. Time-stamped. Held in confidence where it must be.
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02
Verify with partners.
Triangulated against legal records, on-the-ground organisations, and regional networks.
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03
Sign together.
Joint statements, coalition advocacy. Shared standing carries further than a single signature.
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04
Carry to the UN, EU, governments.
Formal mechanisms: UPR submissions, treaty-body briefings, parliamentary outreach.
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05
Stay until something changes.
Most cases take years. We track. We follow up. We do not move on.
The network
Where the work travels.
15 countries in MENA, regional advocacy, communities in exile.
Regional
Cross-border advocacy & multi-country joint work.
Diaspora & Exile
Communities outside MENA, transnational repression, return.
Open the full Atlas
Where we are
Two offices. One region. Communities in exile.
Brussels
EU advocacy & institutional relations
Headquartered in Brussels, close to the EU institutions where regional cases are carried.
Beirut
Regional coordination & field work
On-the-ground in the region. Where defenders, journalists, and partners meet.
MENA-wide
Distributed network
Researchers, lawyers, and contributors across 15 countries plus diaspora communities.
The voices
The people who make this work.
Team
Mostafa Fouad
Co-Founder
View bio
Feryel Charfedine
View bio
Mohammed Ali Moghabat
Senior Researcher
View bio
Sarra Zidi
View bio
Sayed Yusuf Almuhafdha
Researcher
View bio
Thea Khoury
View bio
Sarah Gebrayel
View bio
George Ghanoum
View bio
Board of Directors
Mai El-Sadany
Board Member
View bio
Dima Samaro
Board Member
View bio
Muzna Duraid
Board Member
View bio
Contributors
Researchers, writers, lawyers, and defenders whose work appears in our publications.
Mostafa Al-A’sar
View bio
W.N
View bio
Shorouk Sallam
View bio
Sarah Sheikh Ali
View bio
Ritaj Ibrahim
View bio
Rawan Natsheh
View bio
Omar Mahdy
View bio
Nour Halabi
View bio
Nour (pseudonym)
View bio
Nawres Hammedi
View bio
Mostafa Foaad
View bio
Ahmed AbdelHalim
View bio
Maya Al Jarf
View bio
Louay Ghanjati
View bio
Ichraq Ghdiri
View bio
Ibrahim Ezzeldin
View bio
Ghias Aljundi
View bio
Falah Sayed
View bio
Elssy Karaoghlanian
View bio
Elham Barjas
View bio
Anas Younes
View bio
The public record
Latest from the work.
Every publication we produce is filed, dated, citable. The full ledger lives at /resources/.
Joint Statements
Syria | The Future of Justice in Syria Requires an Independent and Effective Commission of Inquiry
Joint Statements
Saudi Arabia Surpasses 2,000 Executions Under King Salman
Statements
HuMENA at HRC61: Advocacy on Digital Rights and Civic Space in MENA
The frame
How we operate.
No mystery. The structure is public.
- Legal status
- Non-profit, registered in Belgium & Lebanon. Independent. Non-partisan.
- Governance
- Board of Directors with regional and international representation. See the board →
- Funding
- Listed on the annual report. Transparency-first — we publish funder names, totals, and conflict-of-interest policies.
- Methodology
- Documentation with witnesses, verification with partners, joint signatures. Read the protocol →
- Archive integrity
- Every publication on /resources/ is dated, citable, and held on the record permanently.
- Conflict-of-interest
- Board members and staff disclose conflicts annually. No editorial positions taken on funder priorities.
Stand with us
There’s a way for you in.
PRESS
Journalists
Press kit, interviews, fact-checking. Direct line.
Press kit
RESEARCH
Researchers
Open data, citation guides, methodology notes.
Browse the record
DEFEND
Defenders & allies
Emergency support, joint advocacy, protection.
Reach us
PARTNER
Partners & funders
Coalitions, grants, programmatic partnership.
Partner memo
We do not stop.