WHAT WE DO ›
Digital Rights & Civic Tech
Defending free expression and privacy online, exposing surveillance and digital authoritarianism, and equipping civil society with the tools to operate safely in the region.
Coverage in progress
OVERVIEW
Why digital rights are human rights
The MENA region has become a laboratory for digital authoritarianism. Spyware purchased from democracies is repurposed against journalists. Encryption laws are weaponized. Platforms over-moderate Arabic content while leaving incitement against activists in place. The internet shutdown is now a routine tool of state response.
HuMENA tracks surveillance markets and infrastructure, documents platform-governance failures, and trains civil society in operational security — connecting on-the-ground evidence to policy windows in Brussels, Geneva, and Washington.
Our work intersects every other area: defenders, civic space, refugees, women, minorities. The digital layer is where repression scales the fastest.
HOW WE WORK IN THIS AREA
Three roles, one mission
01
Monitor
We track patterns of repression, civic-space restrictions, and rights violations through trusted partners and primary sources across the region.
02
Document
We produce reports, statements, and analyses grounded in evidence — translating fragmented testimony into structured records that hold up to scrutiny.
03
Advocate
We carry findings to UN mechanisms, EU institutions, and bilateral missions — converting documentation into protection, accountability, and policy change.
FEATURED
Recent reports & analyses
Statements
HuMENA at HRC61: Advocacy on Digital Rights and Civic Space in MENA
During the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement joined a civil society advocacy mission in Geneva alongside the Innovation for Change MENA Hub (I4C…
Read publication → Press Releases
Detention of Fareah Al-Saqqaf and Suad Al-Munayes by State Security Raises Serious Concerns about Freedom of Expression and Legal Safeguards in Kuwait
Kuwaiti authorities have detained activist and writer Fareah Al-Saqqaf and thinker and activist Suad Al-Munayes over social media posts in which they expressed political views. Available information i…
Read publication → Joint Statements
Egypt | Human rights organizations condemn the expansion in summoning human rights and political figures for investigation before the Supreme State Security Prosecution: Security measures and vague charges aimed at silencing independent voices
The undersigned human rights organizations condemn the ongoing escalation of summonses to human rights, political, and journalistic figures for investigation by the Supreme State Security Prosecution,…
Read publication → Press Releases
Tunisia | Detention of MP Ahmed Saeedani and Risks to Parliamentary Independence
Tunisian Member of Parliament Ahmed Saeedani was suspended following a Facebook post in which he criticized the executive authority’s handling of the country’s worsening economic situation, particular…
Read publication →ALL PUBLICATIONS
Browse the full archive
Feb 11, 2026
Jordan | HuMENA Condemns the Targeting of Kamil Al-Zoubi for Peaceful Expression
Jan 25, 2026
Egypt | January 25 Revolution, 15 Years On: A Human Rights Reading of Freedoms and Participation
Dec 10, 2025
On Human Rights Day 2025: Civic Space in the Middle East and North Africa under Systematic and Sustained Pressure
Dec 4, 2025
Call for Trainer | Geneva Advocacy for WHRDs & LGBTQI+ Defenders
Dec 1, 2025
Call for Tenders | Lead Developer / Civic-Tech Team – Civic Space Watchdog (AI-Assisted MVP)
Nov 25, 2025
Algeria | Human rights organisations and international trade union federations call for the immediate release of unionist and human rights defender Ali Mammeri
Nov 20, 2025
Egypt | African Commission Should Act to Protect Rights… Government and Commissioner’s Reports Exclude Key Violations
Oct 30, 2025
Silence by Force: Systematic Houthis Violations Against Human Rights Defenders in Yemen
Oct 27, 2025
Egypt | Rights Groups Condemn the Arbitrary Referral of Exiled Academic Taqadum Al-Khatib to Trial and Call for an End to Transnational Repression
WHERE WE WORK
Digital-rights coverage by country
Stay close to the work. Get our briefings on digital rights and civic tech in MENA.