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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-EG-2026-026
Detained
Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy
Egyptian human rights lawyer detained at Cairo airport in September 2017 while travelling to brief the UN on enforced disappearances. Held in…
Medical urgency
Day 3,191 · since 2017-09-10
HM-EG-2026-023
Released
Patrick George Zaki
A researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, he was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2023 for an article on…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-029
Under restriction
Sultana Khaya
Sahrawi women's rights defender under de facto house arrest since November 2020. She has endured repeated sexual assaults, physical attacks, and forced…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-028
Under restriction
Babouzeid Mohamad Said Labbihi
Director of CODESA, the Sahrawi human rights network, repeatedly harassed by Moroccan security forces for documenting abuses in Western Sahara. Kidnapped and…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-020
Under restriction
Abdelrahman Tarek
Abdelrahman Tarek was arrested in September 2019 during a judicial observation session and has been held in arbitrary detention ever since, despite…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-SA-2026-002
Released
Raif Badawi
Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger and co-founder of Free Saudi Liberals, served ten years in prison for posts about free speech and…
Hunger strike
Open case file
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-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-SD-2026-009
Killed
Ahmed Mohamed Abdella
A lawyer who provided legal aid to victims of human rights violations in Darfur, Ahmed Mohamed Abdella was kidnapped and killed less…
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-EG-2026-010
Sentenced
Yasser Abu Al-Ela
Yasser Abu Al-Ela is a journalist arrested in March 2024, forcibly disappeared for 50 days, and subjected to torture. He remains in…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-DZ-2026-005
Under TNR
Slimane Bouhafs
Chairman of the St. Augustine Coordination of Christians in Algeria, advocate for freedom of expression and democracy. Abducted from Tunisia in August…
Open case file