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 Ghassan Abdallah
Released May 2018, arrested May 2018
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Ill-treatment, 16 May 2022
At liberty Shatha Odeh Abu Fannouneh
Released June 2022, arrested July 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 18 August 2022
At liberty Abd Al Hamid Goura
Released June 2021, arrested June 2021
Arbitrary detention
Badr Baabou
Context, November 2021
Physical assault
At liberty Azza Soliman
Released December 2016, arrested December 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Asset freeze lifted, November 2024
Ibrahim Mrikli
Released May 2020, arrested 2019
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Hearing, 8 October 2021
Imprisoned (serving sentence) Ezzat Ghoneim
Held since September 2018
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 5 March 2023
Magdy Abdel Hamid
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Asset freeze
At liberty Hossameldin Ali
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Sultana Khaya
Released May 2022, arrested November 2020
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Hossam Bahgat
Released January 2025, arrested November 2015
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Call by others, 10 February 2026
At liberty Faleh Hammoudi
Released March 2022, arrested February 2022
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 29 September 2022