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
All records
Every entry is a case file. Open one to read the timeline and the cases, and what has and has not been checked. Where a photograph is missing, the file says so. When a case closes, the record stays.
Jalal Bouchaab
Held since September 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Hearing, 16 November 2021
At liberty Patrick George Zaki
Released July 2023, arrested February 2020
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban lifted, 23 July 2023
At liberty Sultana Khaya
Released May 2022, arrested November 2020
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Mohamed El-Baqer
Released July 2023, arrested September 2019
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Administrative or disciplinary hearing, 13 June 2026
Babouzeid Mohamad Said Labbihi
Other act, 5 January 2022
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Ameira Osman Hamid
Released February 2022, arrested August 2013
Arbitrary detention
Mohamed Eldai Musa
Context, 6 March 2022
Extrajudicial killing
At liberty Raif Badawi
Released March 2022, arrested March 2008
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban imposed, 11 March 2022
At liberty Faleh Hammoudi
Released March 2022, arrested February 2022
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 29 September 2022
At liberty Zaki Hannache
Released March 2022, arrested February 2022
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 19 December 2023
At liberty Ibrahim Ezz El-Din
Released April 2022, arrested June 2019
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Rasha Azab
Released October 2026, arrested April 2024
Arbitrary detention