What we do
Civic Space & Freedoms
Working to defend and expand the space where civic actors operate, protecting freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly across the MENA region and its diasporas.
OVERVIEW
Why civic space matters
Civic space is the foundation on which every other right depends. When governments restrict who can speak, organize, or assemble, the consequences cascade across protections for women, minorities, refugees, defenders, and the press.
HuMENA tracks and documents civic-space restrictions across the MENA region: from sweeping security laws and NGO crackdowns to digital surveillance, travel bans, and arbitrary detention of activists. We work with partners on the ground to surface patterns, name actors, and build the evidentiary record that international advocacy depends on.
Our coverage spans Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, and the diasporas where transnational repression now follows exiled voices.
HOW WE WORK IN THIS AREA
How HuMENA works on civic space & freedoms
01
Follow protest and assembly
We follow arrests of protesters, protest bans and the laws used to restrict assembly and association, country by country.
02
Research the right to assemble
Our research on peaceful assembly in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia maps the laws and security practices used against protest.
03
Take it to the UN and the EU
We bring this evidence to the UN Human Rights Council, UN treaty bodies and EU institutions, usually with partner organisations.
FEATURED
Recent reports & analyses
Joint Statements
Urgent Global Call Following the Referral of Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah to Trial
We, the undersigned civil society organizations and independent media outlets from around the world, join together to condemn the unprecedented attack on press freedom in Egypt following the referral…
Read publication → Statements
Tunisia | Article 24 Reform Leaves Questions of Justice Unanswered
HuMENA calls for a review of the situation of detainees and convicted people, data on the amendment’s impact and redress for previous convictions.
Read publication → Statements
HuMENA condemns the reported torture of Matsada2sh journalists and calls for an independent investigation
HuMENA condemns the torture and ill treatment that journalists of the fact-checking platform Matsada2sh reported to the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
Read publication → Analysis
Criminalization of Art in Egypt: Artists Behind Bars
In Egypt, artists remain in prison. This piece looks at artivism and the prosecution of artists for publishing false news.
Read publication →ALSO RECENT
More recent work
- Tunisia | Court hearings continue for activists arrested after protest in solidarity with detained Sumud Flotilla activists Statements
- Global Call for the Release of Entire Newsroom at Egyptian Investigative Journalism Platform MatsadaashJoint Statements
- Tunisia | Drop Terrorism and State-Security Charges Against Journalist Zied El Heni, Already Serving a One-Year Sentence Statements
- Levels of Disappearance: Between Disappearance and ConcealmentAnalysis
- Tunisia | Ensure Mohamed Yousfi’s Defense Rights and Medical Care Pending His ReleaseStatements
- From Criticism to Crime: How Tunisia Uses Article 86 Against DissentAnalysis
WHERE WE WORK
Civic-space coverage by country
Stay close to the work. Get our briefings on civic space and freedoms across MENA.