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.
At liberty Haytham Mohamadeen
Released September 2022, arrested September 2013
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Meriem Bribri
Context, 28 September 2022
Judicial harassment
At liberty Saif Ayedi
Released October 2022, arrested October 2020
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Case dropped, 21 October 2022
At liberty Mohammed Fahd Al-Qahtani
Released January 2025, arrested March 2013
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Jamila Mojahid
Released May 2022, arrested May 2022
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 14 November 2024
At liberty Arroi Baraket
Conviction, 18 January 2023
Gender based violence
At liberty Jassim Al-Asadi
Released February 2023, arrested February 2023
Physical assault
At liberty Yasir Mirghani
Released April 2023, arrested May 2015
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Nizar Saghieh
Context, 12 May 2023
Denial of legal counsel
At liberty Tanya Darwish
Appeal lodged, June 2023
Criminalisation of solidarity
At liberty Yasser Al-Hamdani
Acquittal, 30 May 2023
Judicial harassment
Killed Khidir Sulieman Abdelmageed
Killing, 11 June 2023
Extrajudicial killing