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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-TN-2024-001
Detained
Abdallah Saïd
Abdallah Saïd was arrested in Tunisia on 12 November 2024 and charged with money laundering, forming a criminal association, and undermining state…
Day 571 · since 2024-11-12
HM-TN-2024-002
Detained
Ikbel Khaled
Ikbel Khaled, a Tunisian municipal official, was arrested in May 2024 for signing a partnership agreement between the Municipality of Sousse and…
Day 766 · since 2024-05-01
HM-BH-2026-002
Detained
Hussain Moosa
Hussain Moosa is detained in Bahrain. Further biographical and case details are under editorial research.
Open case file
HM-JO-2025-001
Detained
Hamza Bani Issa
Chemistry teacher and political activist who lost his left eye after security forces beat him for refusing a public strip search in…
Medical urgency
Day 438 · since 2025-03-25
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-DZ-2021-001
Detained
Mustafa Guira
A father of four, Mustafa has spent decades supporting families of the disappeared and prisoners of conscience across Algeria. Arrested in 2021,…
Day 1,870 · since 2021-04-23
HM-JO-2025-002
Detained
Omar Al-Zayood
Omar Al-Zayood, publisher of the independent Jordanian news outlet Al-Hashmiyah, was arrested in March 2025 after former Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh filed…
Day 446 · since 2025-03-17
HM-TN-2024-004
Detained
Mourad Zghidi
Mourad Zghidi is a Tunisian journalist sentenced in January 2026 to three years and six months in prison on money laundering and…
Day 766 · since 2024-05-01
HM-EG-2020-004
Detained
Sayed Said Khalaf
Sayed Said Khalaf defended families of detainees and advocated for elderly and sick prisoners. He has been held in pretrial detention since…
Day 2,083 · since 2020-09-22
HM-EG-2017-002
Detained
Ahmed Abdelsattar Amasha
Ahmed Abdelsattar Amasha is a lawyer, trade unionist, and environmental defender who documented enforced disappearances and torture in Egypt. He was disappeared…
Medical urgency
Day 3,375 · since 2017-03-10
HM-EG-2020-005
Detained
Ahmed Hamdy Abou Zeid Al-Tanoubi
Ahmed Hamdy Abou Zeid Al-Tanoubi is a journalist, trade unionist, and researcher at the Arab Observatory for Media Freedom who has spent…
Day 2,265 · since 2020-03-24
HM-EG-2022-001
Detained
Ahmed Nazir El-Helw
Ahmed Nazir El-Helw is an Egyptian lawyer who has spent much of his career defending political prisoners and advocating for the rule…
Medical urgency
Day 1,310 · since 2022-11-04