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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.

Currently held Transnational repression Released In memoriam Journalists Lawyers

The Record

Filtered cases

Waad Bahjat

Sudan · Blogger / online writer

Released November 2020, arrested November 2020

Arbitrary detention

Latest: Context, 4 May 2021

SudanNon-final conviction

Hafiz Haron

Sudan · Journalist

Released August 2021, arrested May 2021

Arbitrary detention

Latest: Travel ban imposed, 22 April 2025

To report an error in a case file, or a risk arising from its publication, please write to [email protected].

Human rights defenders

Defenders on record, by country

Waad Bahjat

Hafiz Haron

Mohamed Eldai Musa

Ameira Osman Hamid

Khidir Sulieman Abdelmageed

Yasir Mirghani

Bahjaa Abdelaa Abdelaa

Ahmed Mohamed Abdella

El Sadeg Mohammed Ahmed Haroun

Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik

Khamis Arabab

Imtithal Abdelfadeel