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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
Journalists
HM-XX-2026-021
Sentenced
Zied El Heni
Tunisian journalist sentenced to one year in prison for criticizing a court ruling in a colleague's case. The prosecution used telecommunications law…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-010
Sentenced
Yasser Abu Al-Ela
Yasser Abu Al-Ela is a journalist arrested in March 2024, forcibly disappeared for 50 days, and subjected to torture. He remains in…
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-DZ-2026-005
Under TNR
Slimane Bouhafs
Chairman of the St. Augustine Coordination of Christians in Algeria, advocate for freedom of expression and democracy. Abducted from Tunisia in August…
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-2026-004
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-DZ-2026-003
Under restriction
Said Boudour
Journalist and human rights monitor with the Algerian League for Human Rights, active in Hirak protest movement defence and migrant rights. Charged…
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-002
Under restriction
Jamila Loukil
Journalist and member of the Algerian League for Human Rights, covering Hirak demonstrations in Oran. Charged with terrorism-related offences in 2021 and…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-007
Under restriction
Imtithal Abdelfadeel
Imtithal Abdelfadeel is a journalist and member of the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate who reports on displaced communities and women's rights. She was…
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-004
Released
Mohad Gasmi
Mohad Gasmi organised unemployed youth in southern Algeria, protested fracking, and joined the Hirak reform movement. He spent more than four years…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-002
Under restriction
Hisham Ali Mohammad Ali
Sudanese blogger stabbed in Addis Ababa in December 2025 in what appears to be a targeted attack. His passport remains invalid and…
Medical urgency
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