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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-XX-2026-036
Released
Malcolm Bidali
A Kenyan security guard and blogger detained in Qatar for documenting migrant worker rights abuses. Held in solitary confinement for nearly a…
Open case file
HM-SA-2026-002
Released
Raif Badawi
Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger and co-founder of Free Saudi Liberals, served ten years in prison for posts about free speech and…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-018
Under restriction
Rasha Azab
Journalist and screenwriter tried for expressing solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. Faced criminal prosecution after film director claimed defamation and financial…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-006
Released
Rida Benotmane
Rida Benotmane is a journalist, author, and member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. He served eighteen months in Laarjat 1…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-006
Detained
Ahmed Douma
Egyptian writer and central figure of the January 25 revolution. Pardoned by President al-Sisi in August 2023 after nearly ten years in…
Day 4,567 · since 2013-12-03
HM-EG-2024-001
Detained
Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi
A dual Egyptian-Turkish poet arrested at the Lebanon-Syria border, forcibly extradited to the UAE, and held incommunicado since January 2025 after publishing…
Day 524 · since 2024-12-28
HM-EG-2020-001
Detained
Ahmed Al-Tohamy
Ahmed Al-Tohamy is a political science scholar whose research has been recognized internationally. He was arrested from his home in Cairo in…
Day 2,193 · since 2020-06-03
HM-DZ-2025-003
Sentenced
Saad Bouakba
Saad Bouakba is a journalist and author. He was jailed in November 2025 after discussing historical allegations about Algeria's first president in…
Day 190 · since 2025-11-27
HM-XX-2026-001
Imprisoned
Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith
An Emirati economist who taught at the Sorbonne's Abu Dhabi campus, Nasser bin Ghaith now serves overlapping sentences totalling 25 years for…
Hunger strike
Day 3,944 · since 2015-08-18
HM-JO-2026-001
On trial
Ayman Hussein Al-Atoum
Ayman Hussein Al-Atoum was arrested in Jordan on 9 January 2026 and remains detained. Full details of his work, the charges, and…
Day 147 · since 2026-01-09
HM-DZ-2025-002
Sentenced
Mohamed Tadjadit
Known as the "poet of the Hirak," Mohamed Tadjadit has been arrested six times since 2019. In January 2025, aged 32, he…
Day 505 · since 2025-01-16
HM-TN-2025-003
Detained
Chaima Issa)
Chaïma Issa was sentenced to twenty years in prison by a Tunisian Court of Appeal on charges of conspiracy against state security…
Hunger strike
Day 520 · since 2025-01-01