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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-LB-2026-002
Released
Ghassan Abdallah
Director of the Palestinian Human Rights Organisation in Lebanon, Ghassan Abdallah has faced repeated airport searches, interrogations, and arbitrary detention in retaliation…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-038
Killed
Saud al-Faraj
Saud al-Faraj was executed in April 2026 after a trial at Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court that followed nearly two years of…
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-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-SD-2026-016
Killed
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…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-030
Under restriction
Jalal Bouchaab
Jalal Bouchaab is a Sahrawi student-rights defender arrested in September 2021 after a peaceful demonstration in Guelmim, held on charges of unlawful…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-023
Released
Patrick George Zaki
A researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, he was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2023 for an article on…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-029
Under restriction
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…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-028
Under restriction
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…
Open case file
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-XX-2026-020
Under restriction
Mhamed Hali
Mhamed Hali holds a doctorate in international humanitarian law and leads the Association for the Protection of Saharan Prisoners. Morocco has blocked…
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-006
Released
Kamira Nait Sid
Kamira Nait Sid co-leads an international NGO defending Amazigh rights. She was abducted from her home in August 2021, held incommunicado for…
Open case file