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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-IQ-2026-006
Released
Jassim Al-Asadi
Jassim Al-Asadi, Iraq's leading expert on the southern marshlands, was kidnapped near Baghdad by an unknown armed group, tortured for fifteen days,…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-027
Under restriction
Jamila Mojahid
A Sahrawi human rights defender prosecuted for "insulting public officials" after security forces attacked her vehicle and arrested her in May 2022.…
Open case file
HM-SA-2026-001
Released
Mohammed Fahd Al-Qahtani
Saudi economist and co-founder of ACPRA, jailed in 2013 on a 10-year sentence. Forcibly disappeared for two years after his term expired…
Arrested 2012
HM-TN-2026-008
Released
Saif Ayedi
Saif Ayedi was arrested by plainclothes police in October 2022 after attending a press conference on police violence. He was released two…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-017
Released
Haytham Mohamadeen
Haytham Mohamadeen is a labour lawyer who spent over four years in preventive detention on terrorism-related charges. He was arrested in 2018,…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-019
Released
Ibrahim Ezz El-Din
An engineer who documented forced evictions, Ibrahim Ezz El-Din was arrested in June 2019, disappeared for 167 days, then held in pre-trial…
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-007
In forced exile
Zaki Hannache
Zaki Hannache documented arrests of protesters after Algeria's 2019 Hirak uprising. He was arrested in 2022, charged with terrorism-related offences, and held…
Medical urgency
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-016
In forced exile
Ahmed Gamal Ziada
Egyptian journalist and editor-in-chief of Zawia3, now in Belgium. In August 2023, Egyptian security forces arrested his father and charged him with…
Medical urgency
Open case file
HM-IQ-2026-003
Sentenced
Sherwan Sherwani
Kurdish journalist who investigated corruption and prisoners' rights in Iraqi Kurdistan, arrested in 2020 amid a crackdown on protests, sentenced to six…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-021
Sentenced
Zied El Heni
Tunisian journalist sentenced to one year in prison for criticizing a court ruling in a colleague's case. The prosecution used telecommunications law…
Open case file
HM-BH-2026-005
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 urgency
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-023
Detained
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…
Open case file