Human rights defenders
HuMENA documents the cases of human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa who have been targeted for their work. Each entry is a dated case file.
Scope of the archive and inclusion criteria
HuMENA applies the definition set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders: a human rights defender is any person who, individually or with others, acts by peaceful means to promote or protect internationally recognised human rights, their own or those of others. The status derives from the act, not from a person's profession or title.
Each person in this archive meets two conditions, established by reliable sources: a specific act of this kind, and targeting that followed from it. Cases that rest solely on a violation suffered, on family ties to a defender, on party membership, or on prosecution in a politically sensitive case fall outside its scope.
References: UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (resolution 53/144, 1998); HuMENA Editorial Guide.
Defenders on record, by country
Select a country to show its case files in the list below. The same countries are available in the country filter.
The Record
Filtered cases
At liberty Loujain al-Hathloul
Released February 2021, arrested December 2014
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 13 May 2024
At liberty Amal Fathy
Released December 2018, arrested May 2018
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Final judgment, 11 January 2022
At liberty Shatha Odeh Abu Fannouneh
Released June 2022, arrested July 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 18 August 2022
At liberty Ahmed Samir Santawy
Released July 2022, arrested February 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban imposed, 16 April 2026
At liberty Waad Bahjat
Released November 2020, arrested November 2020
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 4 May 2021
At liberty Samar Badawi
Released June 2021, arrested January 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Conviction, 26 June 2021
At liberty Azza Soliman
Released December 2016, arrested December 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Asset freeze lifted, November 2024
At liberty Mahfouda Bamba Lefkire
Released May 2020, arrested November 2019
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Physical assault, 17 March 2025
Magdy Abdel Hamid
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Asset freeze
At liberty Ameira Osman Hamid
Released February 2022, arrested August 2013
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Sultana Khaya
Released May 2022, arrested November 2020
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Tanya Darwish
Appeal lodged, June 2023
Criminalisation of solidarity