HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement strongly condemns the ruling issued on 1 October 2025 by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance in Nabeul, sentencing citizen Saber Chouchane to death. Saber Chouchane is a day laborer from a remote area in the Cap Bon region, a father of three children, with…
We, the undersigned human rights organizations, strongly condemn the escalating crackdown by Moroccan authorities on peaceful protests, including minors and human rights defenders, which has now extended into a third day. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The…
As Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza escalates, enabled by US military and political support, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on prominent Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. This represents a grave assault…
We the undersigned Egyptian and international civil society organizations welcome the decision of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to not sign the draft Criminal Procedure Code into law and instead to send it back to parliament for revision. The House of Representatives has since announced that it will convene an urgent session on October 1 on…
The undersigned human rights organizations are deeply concerned over the severe deterioration in the health of lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdel-Moneim, 66 years old, who has been in pretrial detention since 1st of November 2018. Abdel-Moneim‘s life is imminently at risk. According to her lawyer, Ms. Abdelmonem had two heart attacks on 23…
On the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC), the undersigned organisations draw attention to the persistent and systemic failure of this institution to function as an independent national human rights institution (NHRI). The SHRC continues to engage in covering up for ongoing violations rather than fulfilling its stated mandate…
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, urge all UN member states to refrain from voting for Egypt in the upcoming elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2026–2028 term. Membership in the Human Rights Council comes with a solemn responsibility to uphold the highest standards of international human rights and strengthen…
We strongly condemn the unprecedented weaponization of Egyptian diplomatic missions as tools of transnational repression against peaceful protesters abroad. A recently leaked recording of Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty shows him instructing embassy staff to “grab them [protestors], tie them up, drag them inside, and make their lives hell”—a shocking directive that fundamentally undermines the principles…
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement strongly condemns the security raids carried out by the Ansar Allah (Houthis) group in Sana’a and Hodeidah, which targeted the offices of the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, and led to the arrest of sixteen current and former staff members. Among those detained is Ms. Luna Shukri,…
We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the Egyptian security services’ targeting of minors for their digital activity through online gaming platforms. This alarming practice has resulted in children being arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, denied due process, and reportedly facing torture and other ill-treatment while in detention. These grave human rights violations contravene both Egypt’s national…
We strongly urge all participants to withdraw from the upcoming World Summit on Counter-Terrorism organised by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), a research institute of Israel’s Reichman University. The event, scheduled for September 15-18, 2025, and branded as the “most influential event in the field of counter-terrorism today”, is taking place amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in…
For decades, Egypt has witnessed a series of peaceful protests that represent the voice of the Egyptian people on various social and political issues. These protests are considered an integral part of Egypt’s modern history, as they represent an ongoing struggle to improve conditions, whether political conditions, labor issues, or otherwise. Nevertheless, peaceful protests in…
In an era of accelerating repression in Egypt and a shrinking civic space, we must ask again why the state is intent on criminalising the right to protest and what the consequences are for those who exercise their right to peaceful expression and assembly. This text re-examines the relationship between constitutional texts and daily security…
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement strongly condemns the Israeli airstrike on 10 August 2025 that targeted a media tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, killing journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Quraiqa, Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Alouwa, and Mohammed Noufal, along with a relative, while they were documenting violations and reporting from the field. The…
The undersigned organizations condemn the ongoing judicial and security harassment of Mada Masr, one of the last operating independent media platforms in Egypt. The latest incident involved the summoning of Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah for interrogation before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on Monday, 4 August 2025, in Case No. 6182 of 2025 (SSSP). This…
We, the undersigned organisations, express deep concern over the continued arbitrary detention of the Saudi human rights defender Mohammed al-Bejadi more than two years beyond his sentence. His continuing detention, along with countless others, demonstrates that despite a recent spate of prisoner releases, the Saudi authorities’ severe repression of rights activists and critics remains. We call for his immediate…
The undersigned organizations are extremely concerned over the continued enforced disappearance of Turkish-Egyptian poet and political dissident Abdulrahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi for more than 200 days. Abdulrahman Yusuf was arrested in Lebanon on 28 December 2024 and forcibly extradited to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 8 January 2025, in flagrant violation of due process guarantees…
What happens when the square is closed but the screen is open? How have the streets of chanting turned into silent arenas where protests are conducted from behind glowing screens?
Over the past decade, the Middle East and North Africa region has experienced a significant shift in the landscape of protest and political…
