J.S. Tissainayagam
In August 2009, writer and journalist Tissainayagam was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labor under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for “causing communal disharmony” with reporting on… More
Yasir Elsir Ali
Human rights defender Ali was shot by a sniper while at a December 2018 protest in Khartoum. The bullet punctured his lung and is resting in his spinal cord.… More
Faraj Ahmad Birqdar
Syrian poet and activist Birqdar was arrested in March 1987 on suspicion of being a member of Syria’s Party for Communist Action. He was held without trial for 6… More
Aref Dalila
Academic economist Dalila was arrested in 2001 in relation to his participation in the movement to democratize the Syrian government. In 2002, Dalila was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment… More
Zana Al-Shahri
Female journalist and writer Al-Shahri was detained as part of a wave of arrests by Saudi authorities in November 2019. She was released in early December. More
Musab Fuad
Fuad was detained and his house raided as part of a wave of arrests in November 2019. He was released shortly after his detention following international press coverage and… More
Hatoon Al-Fassi
Al-Fassi is a historian of women’s history, author, columnist, and leading women’s rights activist. On June 27, 2018, Al-Fassi was detained as a part of a crackdown on women's… More
Marwan Almuraisy
Almuraisy was arrested and forcibly disappeared in June 2018. Though he was a prominent figure on social media, his disappearance puzzled observers because he was not involved in political… More
Naema Ahmed Ibrahim
Ibrahim, a poet, was arrested without charge in January 2018, and held incommunicado at the Central Police Station. In March, she was charged with “bringing the nation or the… More
Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan Abdirahman Abees
Adan, a poet in Somaliland, was arrested on January 12, 2019 after publicly reciting a poem the previous day in which he called on the Somaliland government to reform… More