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 Amal Fathy
Released December 2018, arrested May 2018
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Final judgment, 11 January 2022
At liberty Alaa Abdel Fattah
Released September 2025, arrested May 2006
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 26 December 2025
At liberty Waad Bahjat
Released November 2020, arrested November 2020
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 4 May 2021
At liberty Malcolm Bidali
Released May 2021, arrested May 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban lifted, 16 August 2021
At liberty Mansour Mohamed Atti Al-Maghrabi
Released April 2022, arrested June 2021
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Esraa Abdel Fattah
Released July 2021, arrested April 2008
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban lifted, 5 December 2021
At liberty Raif Badawi
Released March 2022, arrested March 2008
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban imposed, 11 March 2022
At liberty Meriem Bribri
Context, 28 September 2022
Judicial harassment
At liberty Ahmed Gamal Ziada
Released March 2019, arrested December 2013
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 20 September 2023
At liberty Slimane Bouhafs
Released September 2024, arrested July 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 30 March 2026
Mohad Gasmi
Released November 2024, arrested June 2020
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Hisham Ali Mohammad Ali
Context, 24 December 2025
Arbitrary detention