Skip to the record
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-2026-047
Released
Loujain al-Hathloul
Saudi women's rights defender held in detention from May 2018 to February 2021 and now under an indefinite travel ban.
Arrested 2018
HM-XX-2026-048
Released
Khaled Drareni
Algerian journalist arrested in 2020 while covering Hirak protests; released by pardon February 2021.
Arrested 2020
HM-EG-2026-043
Under TNR
Amal Fathy
Women's rights defender sentenced to prison for criticising Egypt's failure to protect women from sexual harassment. Convicted on false-news and insult charges…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-046
On trial
Shatha Odeh Abu Fannouneh
Director of a Palestinian health organization, arrested at her home in Ramallah in July 2021 and held in Israeli prisons under charges…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-047
In exile
Alaa Abdel Fattah
Alaa Abdel Fattah, a blogger and digital rights defender, was arrested in 2019 while complying with probation conditions. He has been held…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-048
Released
Ahmed Samir Santawy
Ahmed Samir Santawy, a graduate student researching women's reproductive rights in Egypt, was sentenced to four years in prison by an emergency…
Hunger strike
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-019
Sentenced
Waad Bahjat
Women's rights defender, blogger, and member of the Umbda Resistance Committee who was arrested, ill-treated, and convicted on charges of public annoyance…
Open case file
HM-SD-2026-020
On trial
Khadeeja Aldewaihi
Khadeeja Aldewaihi, a women's rights defender and TV presenter in Sudan, faces criminal charges under the 2018 Cybercrimes Act for a 2020…
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-049
Released
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 urgency
Open case file
HM-EG-2026-050
Released
Sanaa Seif
Sanaa Seif was abducted in June 2020 outside the prosecutor's office where she had gone to file a complaint after being assaulted.…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-038
Killed
Saud al-Faraj
Saud al-Faraj was executed in April 2026 after a trial at Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court that followed nearly two years of…
Open case file
HM-XX-2026-042
Detained
Husain Mouneif al-Jabri
Arrested in 2012 and sentenced to ten years in the UAE84 trial, Husain Mouneif al-Jabri completed his term in 2022 but was…
Open case file