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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-EG-2026-034
On trial
Said Abdelrazek
Said Abdelrazek converted to Christianity and was arrested from his Cairo home in July 2025. He was subjected to torture and held…
Open case file
HM-SA-2026-004
Sentenced
Ahmed al-Doush
Ahmed al-Doush, a British-Saudi business analyst, was arrested at Riyadh airport in 2024 while returning home with his family. He is serving…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-025
Under restriction
Azza Soliman
Azza Soliman, a women's rights lawyer and founder of CEWLA, endured five years of travel bans and asset freezes in Egypt's foreign…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-026
Detained
Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy
Egyptian human rights lawyer detained at Cairo airport in September 2017 while travelling to brief the UN on enforced disappearances. Held in…
Medical urgency
Day 3,191 · since 2017-09-10
HM-XX-2026-032
Detained
Ibrahim Mrikli
Ibrahim Mrikli was arrested in El Ayoun on 15 May 2020 and charged with insulting public servants, stone throwing, and violating quarantine…
Open case file
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-XX-2026-033
Under restriction
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…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-027
Released
Ramy Kamel
Egyptian Coptic Christian human rights defender released in January 2022 after more than two years of pre-trial detention. Charges in Case 1475/2019…
Medical urgency
Arrested 2019
HM-EG-2026-028
On trial
Ezzat Ghoneim
Ezzat Ghoneim, a lawyer who led one of Egypt's most active human rights groups documenting disappearances, was himself disappeared in 2018, then…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-031
Under restriction
Hossameldin Ali
President of the Egyptian Democratic Academy, which promotes democracy and political participation, Hossameldin Ali faced travel bans, asset freezes, and detention in…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-034
Under restriction
Yahya Mohamed El Hafed Aaza
Known as 'the father' among Sahrawi political prisoners for his support work, Yahya Mohamed El Hafed Aaza has endured enforced disappearance, solitary…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-008
Under restriction
Faleh Hammoudi
Head of the Tlemcen office of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, convicted to three years in prison for…
Open case file