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
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…
Hoda Abdelwahab
Hoda Abdelwahab, a lawyer leading an organisation that defends judicial independence across the Arab world, has been barred from leaving Egypt for…
Murtadha Al-Janoubi
Environmental activist documenting the degradation of Maysan's marshes, arrested after participating in protests demanding fair water allocations for communities facing drought and…
Ahmed Ettanji
Ahmed Ettanji is a Sahrawi journalist who founded Équipe Média to break Morocco's information blockade. He was expelled from Cape Bojador in…
Slimane Bouhafs
Chairman of the St. Augustine Coordination of Christians in Algeria, advocate for freedom of expression and democracy. Abducted from Tunisia in August…
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…
Mhamed Hali
Mhamed Hali holds a doctorate in international humanitarian law and leads the Association for the Protection of Saharan Prisoners. Morocco has blocked…
Rida Benotmane
Rida Benotmane is a journalist, author, and member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. He served eighteen months in Laarjat 1…
El Hussein Amaadour
El Hussein Amaadour is a Sahrawi student organizer and advocate for self-determination, imprisoned for leading university protests. He is held in Bouizakarne…
Medical urgencyImtithal Abdelfadeel
Imtithal Abdelfadeel is a journalist and member of the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate who reports on displaced communities and women's rights. She was…
Mohamed Al-Roken
Mohamed Al-Roken is a human rights lawyer who defended activists and critics of the UAE government. Arrested in 2012, he completed a…
