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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
Every case, on the record.
Each card is a case file. Open it to read the timeline, the sources, and the current verification status. When a case closes, the record stays.
HM-TN-2026-008
Released
Saif Ayedi
Saif Ayedi was arrested by plainclothes police in October 2022 after attending a press conference on police violence. He was released two…
Open case file
HM-SA-2026-001
Released
Mohammed Fahd Al-Qahtani
Saudi economist and co-founder of ACPRA, jailed in 2013 on a 10-year sentence. Forcibly disappeared for two years after his term expired…
Arrested 2012
HM-XX-2026-027
Under restriction
Jamila Mojahid
A Sahrawi human rights defender prosecuted for "insulting public officials" after security forces attacked her vehicle and arrested her in May 2022.…
Open case file
HM-TN-2026-007
Under restriction
Arroi Baraket
Journalist convicted and fined after a police officer physically attacked her during a traffic stop, threw himself on her while punching her,…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-006
Released
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,…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-015
Released
Yasir Mirghani
Yasir Mirghani, a pharmacist who leads a Sudanese consumer-rights organization, was arrested in April 2023 on embezzlement charges tied to decade-old EU…
Open case file
HM-LB-2026-001
Under restriction
Nizar Saghieh
A founding member of the Legal Agenda, Nizar Saghieh faces disbarment proceedings for criticising amendments that require Bar approval before lawyers speak…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-005
Under restriction
Tanya Darwish
Tanya Darwish led Rasan Organisation, the only LGBTIQ+ rights group in Iraqi Kurdistan, until a court ordered its closure over a rainbow…
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-004
Under restriction
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…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-014
Killed
Khidir Sulieman Abdelmageed
Head of the human rights organisation Afkar in West Darfur, killed on the road in El Geneina on 11 June 2023 after…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-013
Killed
Khamis Arabab
Khamis Arabab was a lawyer in El Geneina who spent two years defending victims of attacks on IDP camps. He was killed…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-012
Killed
Abd Elrazeg Adam Mohammed
Abd Elrazeg Adam Mohammed, 28, monitored human rights violations in West Darfur during Sudan's 2023 civil war. He was killed alongside his…
Open case file