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 Loujain al-Hathloul
Released February 2021, arrested December 2014
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 13 May 2024
At liberty Salah Hamouri
Favourable court order, 4 June 2026
Arbitrary detention
At liberty Alaa Abdel Fattah
Released September 2025, arrested May 2006
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Context, 26 December 2025
At liberty Esraa Abdel Fattah
Released July 2021, arrested April 2008
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban lifted, 5 December 2021
At liberty Samar Badawi
Released June 2021, arrested January 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Conviction, 26 June 2021
At liberty Malcolm Bidali
Released May 2021, arrested May 2021
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Travel ban lifted, 16 August 2021
At liberty Azza Soliman
Released December 2016, arrested December 2016
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Asset freeze lifted, November 2024
At liberty Maâti Monjib
Released July 2024, arrested 1995
Arbitrary detention
Latest: Hunger strike begins, 31 March 2026
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 Negad El Borai
Context, 20 March 2024
Asset freeze
At liberty Hossameldin Ali
Case dropped, 30 August 2021
Arbitrary detention