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 Ali Akram al-Bayati
Released February 2022, arrested February 2022
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Departure into exile, 2022
At liberty Azza Soliman
Released December 2016, arrested December 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Asset freeze lifted, November 2024
Magdy Abdel Hamid
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Asset freeze
At liberty Negad El Borai
Context, 20 March 2024
Asset freeze
At liberty Hossameldin Ali
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Saif Ayedi
Released October 2022, arrested October 2020
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Case dropped, 21 October 2022