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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-BH-2011-001
Imprisoned
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja
Co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, sentenced to life in prison after the 2011 uprising. Tortured, sexually assaulted, and held…
Hunger strike
Day 5,634 · since 2011-01-01
HM-BH-2021-001
Imprisoned
Ahmed Jaafar
Ahmed Jaafar is a Bahraini labour activist serving life imprisonment after Serbia forcibly extradited him in January 2022 despite a binding European…
Day 1,675 · since 2021-11-03
HM-BH-2011-004
Imprisoned
Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad
Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad is a Bahraini Shia cleric and social activist who supported peaceful calls for reform in 2011. Arrested, disappeared, tortured,…
Medical urgency
Day 5,544 · since 2011-04-01
HM-EG-2018-003
Imprisoned
Tarek Al-Selkawi
Tarek Al-Selkawi is a human rights lawyer who defended detainees and pressed for legal reform. Arrested in 2018, he was tortured in…
Day 2,773 · since 2018-11-01
HM-SA-2018-001
Imprisoned
Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan
Saudi Red Crescent aid worker forcibly disappeared in March 2018 over an anonymous satirical Twitter account. Sentenced to 20 years in prison…
Day 3,007 · since 2018-03-12
HM-SA-2017-001
Imprisoned
Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili
Abdulaziz Al-Shubaili is a lawyer and founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association who defended fellow activists in court…
Day 3,183 · since 2017-09-17
HM-SA-2017-002
Imprisoned
Mohammed Al-Otaibi
Mohammed Al-Otaibi co-founded the Union for Human Rights in Riyadh. He fled to Qatar in 2017 to escape prosecution and was deported…
Hunger strike
Day 3,299 · since 2017-05-24
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-XX-2026-002
Imprisoned
Mahmood Al-Hosani
Emirati journalist arrested in 2012 for signing a reform petition. Sentenced to seven years, then held indefinitely after his term ended. Retried…
Day 5,072 · since 2012-07-16
HM-XX-2026-003
Imprisoned
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Siddiq
Scholar, former lecturer, co-founder of the Eslah society. Signed a 2011 petition for democratic reform. Arrested 2012, sentenced in the UAE94 mass…
Day 5,170 · since 2012-04-09
HM-SA-2022-001
Imprisoned
Mohammed Al-Ghamdi
Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghamdi is a teacher from Abha, Saudi Arabia, whose brother is a dissident scholar in UK exile. Arrested in 2022…
Day 1,455 · since 2022-06-11
HM-XX-2026-004
Imprisoned
Dr. Hadef Al-Owais
Dr. Hadef Al-Owais taught law at UAE University and sat on the International Court of Arbitration. He has been imprisoned since 2012…
Day 5,015 · since 2012-09-11