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
Khaled Drareni
Algerian journalist arrested in 2020 while covering Hirak protests; released by pardon February 2021.
Solafa Magdy
Egyptian journalist and 2020 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award winner, detained since November 2019 on terrorism and false news charges. Denied medical…
Medical urgencyKhadeeja Aldewaihi
Khadeeja Aldewaihi, a women's rights defender and TV presenter in Sudan, faces criminal charges under the 2018 Cybercrimes Act for a 2020…
Ghanem Al-Masarir
Ghanem Al-Masarir, a Saudi dissident YouTuber living in London, was targeted with Pegasus spyware and physically assaulted by Saudi agents. In 2026…
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was detained for 52 days after posting verified footage of a US military jet crash in Kuwait, then stripped of…
Esraa Abdel Fattah
Egyptian journalist and co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, known as "Facebook Girl" since 2008. Released on bail in July 2021…
Mansour Mohamed Atti Al-Maghrabi
Mansour Mohamed Atti Al-Maghrabi produces "Shatt al-Hurriya," a satirical TV series about everyday life in Libya. Armed men abducted him in June…
Hafiz Haron
Hafiz Haron reports on police violence in Sudan. When he tried to report a burglary, officers beat him, then charged him with…
Medical urgencyNegad El Borai
Lawyer and founder of the United Group, specialising in individual freedoms and property law. Charged in Egypt's foreign-funding case; subjected to five…
Maâti Monjib
Maâti Monjib leads associations defending press freedom and investigative journalism in Morocco. Convicted in absentia in 2021 of threatening state security, he…
Hunger strikeRamy Kamel
Egyptian Coptic Christian human rights defender released in January 2022 after more than two years of pre-trial detention. Charges in Case 1475/2019…
Medical urgencyHossam Bahgat
Hossam Bahgat is a journalist and human rights monitor whose investigative reporting has made him a recurring target of Egypt's security apparatus.…
