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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-MA-2026-007
Assets frozen
Maâti Monjib
Maâti Monjib leads associations defending press freedom and investigative journalism in Morocco. Convicted in absentia in 2021 of threatening state security, he…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-005
Under restriction
Ahmed Ettanji
Ahmed Ettanji is a Sahrawi journalist who founded Équipe Média to break Morocco's information blockade. He was expelled from Cape Bojador in…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-006
Released
Rida Benotmane
Rida Benotmane is a journalist, author, and member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. He served eighteen months in Laarjat 1…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-002
Under restriction
El Hussein Amaadour
El Hussein Amaadour is a Sahrawi student organizer and advocate for self-determination, imprisoned for leading university protests. He is held in Bouizakarne…
Medical urgency
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-003
Released
Ismail Lghazaoui
Agricultural engineer and pro-Palestine advocate imprisoned for two months for social-media posts supporting boycotts of companies linked to Israel. Released February 2025…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-004
Under restriction
Mohamed Mayara
Mohamed Mayara is a Sahrawi journalist who co-founded two key documentation groups in Western Sahara. He was expelled from Cape Bojador by…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-001
Sentenced
Saida El Alami
Saida El Alami uses social media to denounce corruption and restrictions on free speech in Morocco. Arrested in July 2025, she was…
Open case file
HM-MA-2023-001
Detained
Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim
Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim is a Sahrawi human rights monitor who has endured years of racialized abuse, medical neglect, and repeated punitive transfers…
Hunger strike
Day 1,171 · since 2023-03-23
HM-MA-2025-002
Sentenced
Nezha Majdi
Nezha Majdi is a professor in Morocco who protested alongside contract teachers in April 2021. She reported sexual assault and violent treatment…
Day 170 · since 2025-12-18
HM-MA-2025-001
Sentenced
Ibtissame (Betty) Lachgar
Ibtissame Lachgar is a clinical psychologist, feminist, and co-founder of MALI, an organization defending individual freedoms. She was arrested after posting a…
Medical urgency
Day 300 · since 2025-08-10