Skip to the record
Living Archive
Defenders.
An open record of human rights defenders across the Middle East and North Africa. Every entry is a case file — dated, sourced, and kept current.
173
Records on
the open archive
87
Currently held
detained · sentenced · on trial
57
In exile or under
transnational repression
11
In memoriam
killed for their work
The Record
Filtered cases
HM-IQ-2026-008
On trial
Ali Akram al-Bayati
Ali Akram al-Bayati, a physician and former IHCHR Commissioner, faces defamation charges for documenting torture claims while serving Iraq's national human rights…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-004
Under restriction
Yasser Al-Hamdani
Iraqi journalist charged with defaming an official after exposing corruption on social media. Arrested under warrant in 2022, questioned and bailed in…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-005
Under restriction
Tanya Darwish
Tanya Darwish led Rasan Organisation, the only LGBTIQ+ rights group in Iraqi Kurdistan, until a court ordered its closure over a rainbow…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-006
Released
Jassim Al-Asadi
Jassim Al-Asadi, Iraq's leading expert on the southern marshlands, was kidnapped near Baghdad by an unknown armed group, tortured for fifteen days,…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-002
Under restriction
Delsoz Khalaf
Delsoz Khalaf leads a human rights organisation in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She faces two criminal complaints filed by a Workers'…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-003
Sentenced
Sherwan Sherwani
Kurdish journalist who investigated corruption and prisoners' rights in Iraqi Kurdistan, arrested in 2020 amid a crackdown on protests, sentenced to six…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-023
Detained
Murtadha Al-Janoubi
Environmental activist documenting the degradation of Maysan's marshes, arrested after participating in protests demanding fair water allocations for communities facing drought and…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-001
Killed
Yanar Mohammed
Yanar Mohammed co-founded Iraq's first network of safe houses for women fleeing violence. She was shot and killed outside her home in…
Medical urgency
Open case file