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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-XX-2026-020
Under restriction
Mhamed Hali
Mhamed Hali holds a doctorate in international humanitarian law and leads the Association for the Protection of Saharan Prisoners. Morocco has blocked…
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-002
Under restriction
Jamila Loukil
Journalist and member of the Algerian League for Human Rights, covering Hirak demonstrations in Oran. Charged with terrorism-related offences in 2021 and…
Open case file
HM-MA-2026-002
Under restriction
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 urgency
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-001
Under restriction
Rehab Mubarak
Rehab Mubarak is a lawyer and member of the Emergency Lawyers executive office who documents human rights violations during Sudan's ongoing conflict.…
Open case file
HM-BH-2011-001
Imprisoned
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja
Co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, sentenced to life in prison after the 2011 uprising. Tortured, sexually assaulted, and held…
Hunger strike
Day 5,635 · since 2011-01-01
HM-EG-2024-001
Detained
Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi
A dual Egyptian-Turkish poet arrested at the Lebanon-Syria border, forcibly extradited to the UAE, and held incommunicado since January 2025 after publishing…
Day 525 · since 2024-12-28
HM-JO-2025-001
Detained
Hamza Bani Issa
Chemistry teacher and political activist who lost his left eye after security forces beat him for refusing a public strip search in…
Medical urgency
Day 438 · since 2025-03-25
HM-DZ-2024-001
Sentenced
Hadjer Zitouni
Former communications director at the Algerian Red Crescent who reported mismanagement of humanitarian aid in 2023. Detained and prosecuted after the organization's…
Day 767 · since 2024-04-30
HM-JO-2023-001
Sentenced
Ayman Sanduka
Ayman Sanduka is a mathematics professor and political activist in Jordan. He was arrested in December 2023 over a Facebook post criticizing…
Day 898 · since 2023-12-21
HM-MA-2023-001
Detained
Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim
Al-Hussein Al-Bashir Ibrahim is a Sahrawi human rights monitor who has endured years of racialized abuse, medical neglect, and repeated punitive transfers…
Hunger strike
Day 1,171 · since 2023-03-23
HM-TN-2024-006
On trial
Salwa Ghrissa
A Tunisian human rights defender working on social inclusion and the right to difference. Arrested in December 2024, held in severely overcrowded…
Day 543 · since 2024-12-10
HM-DZ-2025-003
Sentenced
Saad Bouakba
Saad Bouakba is a journalist and author. He was jailed in November 2025 after discussing historical allegations about Algeria's first president in…
Day 191 · since 2025-11-27