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
Mahfouda Bamba Lefkire
A mother and advocate in El Ayoun, Western Sahara, organising workshops for families of political prisoners. After hosting a meeting to support…
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 strikeBadr Baabou
Co-founder of Damj and advocate for LGBTI+ rights in Tunisia, Badr Baabou was attacked and robbed by police and security officers in…
Sultana Khaya
Sahrawi women's rights defender under de facto house arrest since November 2020. She has endured repeated sexual assaults, physical attacks, and forced…
Mohamed Eldai Musa
Mohamed Eldai Musa was 28 years old when he was killed by armed militia in West Darfur. He monitored human rights abuses…
Ameira Osman Hamid
Ameira Osman Hamid, an engineer and women's rights defender, was arrested from her home in January 2022 by plain-clothed security officers weeks…
Babouzeid Mohamad Said Labbihi
Director of CODESA, the Sahrawi human rights network, repeatedly harassed by Moroccan security forces for documenting abuses in Western Sahara. Kidnapped and…
Meriem Bribri
Meriem Bribri was sentenced to four months in prison and fined for sharing a video of police violence on Facebook. A telecommunications…
Jamila Mojahid
A Sahrawi human rights defender prosecuted for "insulting public officials" after security forces attacked her vehicle and arrested her in May 2022.…
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,…
Nizar Saghieh
A founding member of the Legal Agenda, Nizar Saghieh faces disbarment proceedings for criticising amendments that require Bar approval before lawyers speak…
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…
