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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-2026-010
Under TNR
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…
Open case file
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 1,676 · since 2021-11-03
HM-BH-2026-001
Detained
Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali
Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali was extradited from Serbia to Bahrain in 2021 despite a binding European Court order. Convicted in absentia after…
Open case file
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 5,073 · 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 5,171 · since 2012-04-09
HM-XX-2026-005
Imprisoned
Abdulsalam Al-Marzooqi
A former Dubai court official held since 2012 for signing a pro-democracy petition. After serving 10 years, authorities extended his detention indefinitely,…
Hunger strike
Day 5,065 · since 2012-07-24