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
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…
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…
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…
Bahjaa Abdelaa Abdelaa
Bahjaa Abdelaa Abdelaa was a 26-year-old economist and women's rights defender in Darfur who supported survivors of sexual violence. She was shot…
Ahmed Mohamed Abdella
A lawyer who provided legal aid to victims of human rights violations in Darfur, Ahmed Mohamed Abdella was kidnapped and killed less…
El Sadeg Mohammed Ahmed Haroun
A lawyer with the Darfur Bar Association who filed cases against the Rapid Support Forces for attacks on displaced-persons camps. Killed in…
Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik
Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik, 50, was a founding member of the Darfur Bar Association and served on the steering committee of the…
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…
Khamis Arabab
Khamis Arabab was a lawyer in El Geneina who spent two years defending victims of attacks on IDP camps. He was killed…
Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi
Arrested at a checkpoint with friends in Muharraq on 19 March 2026, forcibly disappeared, and killed under torture eight days later. His…
Medical urgencyYanar Mohammed
Yanar Mohammed co-founded Iraq's first network of safe houses for women fleeing violence. She was shot and killed outside her home in…
Medical urgency