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Since 2008 Eman al-Nafjan authors the blog Saudi Woman in which she discusses social and cultural issues with a focus on women in Saudi Arabia. Eman al-Nafjan is also a prominent figure in the campaign for the abolition of the driving ban on women and the male guardianship system. On multiple occasions since 2011, she drove a car through Riyadh and publicly denounced women’s rights violations in the country.

She was first arrested on October 26, 2013, while filming another woman driving. While in September 2017, it was announced that the ban on women driving would be lifted in June 2018, Saudi authorities warned Eman al-Nafjan and other activists to keep quiet. A prominent voice since the beginning of the campaign, she did not.

The wave of arrest on May 15, 2018, also targeted Eman al-Nafjan. Like her fellow women’s rights activists arrested ahead of the entry into force of the decree lifting the driving ban she has been accused of having “suspicious contact with foreign entities” and “financial support to enemies overseas”, although no formal charges have been filed against her yet.

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Aziza Al-Yousef is a Saudi retired professor of computer science from King Saud University where she practiced for 28 years. A prominent figure in Saudi Arabia, her long-standing commitment to the fight for women’s rights, workers’, civil and political rights in the country has been internationally praised.

In 2013, Aziza Al-Yousef launched a global awareness campaign following the rape of 5-year old girl by her father, a Saudi cleric. The same year, she was arrested after she and Eman al-Nafjan drove themselves in Riyadh defying the ban on women driving. An investigation was opened, but she was never formally charged. Instead, they were coerced to sign a pledge that they would not drive again. In 2016, she led a campaign to abolish the male guardianship system which requires Saudi women to obtain permission from their father, brother, son or closest male relative to attend university, travel or seek medical treatment. At the time, more than 14,700 people signed the petition. Following the campaign, she was targeted by various acts of harassment and summoned for interrogation by the Saudi authorities.

Most recently, she had tried to set up a refuge for battered women and girls who are not accepted back from government social care institutions by their families, but the authorities turned down her application. Pressure had mounted on Aziza al-Youssef since 2017, and she was increasingly called in for questioning. The authorities prevented her from commenting on the Royal Decree allowing women to drive – which she, together with other women’s rights activists, had brought about.

On May 15, 2018, Aziza Al-Yousef was arrested by Saudi authorities, along with other prominent women’s rights defenders, including Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan, Nouf Abdulaziz, Mayya Al-Zahrani, Aisha al-Mana, Madiha al-Ajroush, Hessah Al-Sheikh, Walaa Al-Shubbar, Mohammed al-Rabiah, Mohamed al-Bejadi, Abdulaziz Al-Mesha’al and Ibrahim al-Mudaimeegh. Saudi authorities have accused Aziza Al-Youssef of having “suspicious contact with foreign entities” and “financial support to enemies overseas”. Aziza Al-Yousef, as the other defenders arrested, has been detained incommunicado, without being granted her right to contact a lawyer or being permitted family visits.

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Loujain Al-Hathloul is a prominent Saudi women’s rights defender. She has been detained several times for defying the driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia and was arrested again in May 2018, along with several women’s rights defenders, on alleged charges of “suspicious contacts with foreign entities” and “financial support to enemies overseas”.

In December 2014, she was arrested while attempting to cross the border from the UAE to Saudi Arabia in her car. She was detained for defying the female driving ban in force in Saudi Arabia. Loujain Al-Hathloul holds an Emirati driving license, which according to the Gulf Cooperation Council regulations is recognised in all member states regardless of the holder’s gender. Yet she was detained for 73 days. Again, on June 4, 2017, she was arrested and detained at King Fahad International Airport in Dammam for four days. The reasons for her arrest were unclear and she waas denied access to her lawyer and contact with her family.

In the midst of a wave of arrest targeting women’s rights defenders on May 15, 2018, Saudi police forces raided Loujain’s home, arrested her in her bedroom and transferred her to Dahban prison in Jeddah. A week later, a smear campaign was launched to discredit several prominent detained women’s rights defenders, portraying them as “traitors”. Official statements accused Loujain Al-Hathoul, Aziza Al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan of forming a “cell”, posing a threat to state security because of their “contact with foreign entities with the aim of undermining the country’s stability and social fabric”. However, no official charges have been filed against her yet.

As of June 2018, women were granted the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Yet, Loujain Al-Hathoul, who fought on the frontlines of the struggle for women’s right to drive is still jailed and has been denied any contact with her family or lawyers since her arrest.

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Senator Leila de Lima is a Filipino lawyer, human rights defender, and politician. De Lima is currently incarcerated at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Manila’s Camp Crame on fabricated drug charges. She faces between 12 years to life in prison.
De Lima has sought to defend human rights throughout her career and has been a staunch critic of President Duterte’s approach to combatting drugs and crime in the Philippines. From May 2008 to June 30, 2010, she chaired the Philippine Commission on Human Rights. In 2009, as Chair of the Commission, she initiated a probe into Duterte’s involvement in the ‘Davao Death Squad’ during his time as mayor of Davao City.
In August 2016, as a Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, de Lima convened hearings on the hundreds of killings that had been carried out as part of President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.’ The hearings were effectively shut down after a group of Senators voted to replace de Lima as Chair of the Committee on September 19, 2016.
As a result of her criticism of the current administration’s approach to combatting drugs, de Lima has been the victim of personal attacks made against her by President Duterte and members of his administration. After she first filed a resolution in the Senate in July 2016 to probe the rampant killings of suspected criminals, President Duterte pledged to “destroy her in public.” He later claimed on several occasions that de Lima had used money from the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison, Metro Manila, to fund her 2016 senatorial bid.
On February 17, 2017, the Department of Justice filed three charges against de Lima under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 in relation to her alleged involvement in a drug trafficking ring inside the New Bilibid Prison while she was Department of Justice Secretary (from 2010 to 2015). On February 24, 2017, de Lima handed herself in to police, a day after a Manila court issued a warrant for her arrest. De Lima has been in pre-trial detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Manila’s Camp Crame since her arrest, as bail is not permitted under the charges.

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Naimah Abdullah Al-Matrod is a 43 years-old nurse and blogger from Sihat, near Qatif, in Saudi arabia. Qatif has a Shiite majority and since january 2011, is a major place for political, civil and economical protests. Naimah Abdullah Al-Matrod takes part in these peaceful assemblies since the beginning. She also has worked at documenting rights violations and posted online articles and videos in which she condemned human rights violations committed by authorities during popular protests.

In February 2016, she was arrested for the first time at a check-point between Al-Damman and Sihat, and detained for two days. In April 2016, she was subject to a summon by the General Directorate of Investigations and has been in pre-trial detention.

During her first trial session on April 10, 2017, she was sentenced to a six-year prison term followed by a six-year travel ban by the Criminal Court on November 10, 2017. The trial was held in camera and she has been denied the right to a lawyer during her interrogations.

She was charged with: participating in a number of anti-state demonstrations and rallies, being linked to a media cell, and violating public order by creating two social networking accounts on Twitter and Facebook to demand the release of some detainees and democratic reforms.

Naimah Abdullah Al-Matrod is the first woman to be trialed and sentenced for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations.  It has been reported that her health had significantly deteriorated in detention.

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Razan Zaitouneh is a human rights lawyer, who headed the Violations Documentation Centre (VDC) in Duma. In 2011, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the Anna Politkovskaya Award of of Reach All Women (RAW) in War. In 2013, Razan Zaitouneh was granted the International Women of Courage Award. Razan Zaitouneh has been one of the most prominent and effective lawyers defending political prisoners in Syria since 2001. She has played a key role in efforts to defend the universality of human rights and support independent groups and activists in Syria. Along with a number of other activists, she established the VDC and co-founded the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which co-ordinate the work of local committees in various cities and towns across Syria. She also established the Local Development and Small Projects Support Office, which assists non-governmental organizations in besieged Eastern Ghouta.

On December 9, 2013, she was abducted together with her husband Wael Hamada, and human rights colleagues Samira Khalil and Nazem Hamad, by a group of armed men who raided the offices of the VDC.

Just prior to her abduction, Zaitouneh, in a video interview with FIDH, said, “Nothing, not even our 100,000 deaths or harsh siege, or betrayal of the international community can ever defeat the will of people who have a dream and faith in the future.”

Since their arrest, there have been no information regarding their whereabouts, detention conditions, health and well-being. They are presumed to be held by a religious armed group controlling the area.

Among others, the Saudi Arabia, Qatari and Turkish Governments and services are considered to have potential strong influence on the armed non-state  group detaining Razan and her colleagues. Urge them to act for their release.

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Founder of the human rights organisation “Vozduh” (Air), Azimjan Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment on trumped-up charges in 2010 after mass disturbances in southern Kyrgyzstan. Prior to his arrest, he had been documenting police brutality and prison conditions. During the June 2010 ethnic clashes, he was documenting violence in the southern city of Bazar Korgon.

Mr. Askarov also worked with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on monitoring human rights in places of detention in southern Kyrgyzstan. Azimjan Askarov is a highly respected defender who worked to prevent torture, and won several human rights prizes for his work.

The international community at the highest level has been raising this case with the Kyrgyz authorities and asking them to release Azimjan Askarov. In a decision made public on April 21, 2016, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (CCPR) ruled that Azimjan Askarov had been tortured, subject to inhuman conditions while in pre-trial detention and that his trial had not respected minimum international fair trial standards. The UN CCPR urged Kyrgyzstan to release immediately Azimjan Askarov. Several international institutions and intergovernmental bodies called for the implementation of the CCPR decision.

On July 12, the Supreme court ordered a fresh appeal hearing before the Chuy Regional Court in Bishkek but maintained the life sentence. Mr. Askarov remains in arbitrary detention.

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Ms. Nargess Mohammadi is the Spokesperson and Vice-President of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), a member organisation of FIDH. She is also a member of the Women’s Citizenry Association and of the now illegal, the Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty (LEGAAM) campaign.

In February 2012, she was sentenced to 6 years in prison for several arbitrary “crimes” including “assembly and collusion against the national security,” and for being a member of the DHRC. She was released on bail on July 31, 2012, for medical reasons. On May 5, 2015, she was arrested by intelligence ministry officials in order to serve the remainder of the six-year prison sentence. On May 18, 2016, she was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment on several charges by the Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Iran for the same offences. She appealed the new sentence.

She is detained in Evin Prison. From June 27 to July 16, 2016, she launched a hunger strike as the authorities refused to allow her to call her children and husband who are presently living in Paris. She ended her hunger strike after she was allowed to a 30 minute call.

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Alaa Abdel Fattah is a blogger and a civil and political rights activist. He has worked with the Arab Digital Expression youth camps, and provided support to pro-democracy activists on ICT issues and is member of the “No to Military Trials for Civilians”.

Since November 28, 2013, he has already spent 2,5 years in detention for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and demonstration. Two different sets of charges were brought against him in relation to protests held in November 2013 and May 2012. On January 5, 2014, he was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year in prison in a first case. And on February 23, 2015, the Criminal Court sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment in the second case.

While he is serving his prison sentences, he is now facing charges for “insulting the judiciary”. On June 29, 2016, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion recognising the arbitrary nature of his arrest and detention.

The case of Alaa Abdel Fattah is illustrative of the extensive scope of the repression campaign targeting human rights defenders for their legitimate activities under the current regime.

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Abdolfattah Soltani is one of the most well-known human rights lawyers in Iran. He co-founded the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), a member organisation of FIDH, along with 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. The DHRC was a prominent human rights organisation in Iran until its shut down in December 2008.

He has been arbitrarily detained since April 2011. Repeatedly imprisoned in Iran because of his activism and charged with “co-founding the anti-state DHRC”, “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security”, “spreading propaganda against the state” and “earning illegitimate assets” by receiving the Nuremberg human rights prize, Abdolfattah Soltani was sentenced by the Tehran Islamic Revolution Court to 18 years of imprisonment in internal exile in Borazjan, imposing a 20 year ban on his engagement in professional practice. The sentence was reduced to 13 years of imprisonment and 10 year ban.

Abdolfattah Soltani, remains detained at the Evin prison in Tehran. Since his arrest, he has developed heart and digestive problems and is not given the appropriate medical care.

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Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), FIDH member organisation in Bahrain, is one of the most famous human rights defenders in Bahrain, targeted by the authorities since the 1980’s for his human rights activities. Until February 2011, Al-Khawaja was the Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator with Front Line Defenders – the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. He was also a member of the International Advisory Network in the Business and Human Rights Resource Center chaired by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Arrested along with several key activists, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has been arbitrarily detained since April 2011 following a life sentence related to the suppression of pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising. He was originally sentenced on the basis of a number of spurious charges on June 22, 2011 by a military court created under temporary martial law. On January 7, 2013, the highest ordinary court in Bahrain upheld the life sentence imposed against him on trumped-up charges of “organising and managing a terrorist organisation”, and “attempt to overthrow the Government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organisation working for a foreign country”, amongst others.

Allegations of confessions extracted under torture were not investigated during the trial. Since the beginning of his detention, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja went on several hunger strikes in protest of his continued arbitrary detention and mistreatment while in prison.

His daughters Maryam and Zaynab have also faced judicial harassment and arbitrary detention for their human rights activities.

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Zafar Rakhimov is a former policeman who was conducting monitoring of violations of religious freedoms in Kashkadarya’s District since 2002.

Zafar Rakhimov was arrested in April 2007 along with his colleague, Yuldosh Rasulov, and has been arbitrarily detained since. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment on fabricated charges of “threatening the constitutional order” and “membership in a banned religious organisation”. In 2013, Rakhimov’s prison-term was extended for an undetermined period.

He is currently kept at the 64/25 Special Regime Colony, in the town of Karaulbazar, Bukhara region.

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Mr. Nabeel Rajab, co-founder and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), founding Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) and FIDH Deputy Secretary General has been one of the country’s most vocal human rights defenders, denouncing the torture against detainees at Jaw prison and exposing the killing of civilians in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition, among many other issues. He has been facing continuous judicial harassment for his peaceful and legitimate human rights work since his first arrest in June 2012 and has already served several prison terms.

Arbitrarily detained since June 13, 2016, today Nabeel Rajab is held in Jaw prison in a segregated wing with convicted ISIS terrorists, putting his safety at risk. Despite his deteriorating health conditions he was held in solitary confinement over repeated period of times since the beginning of his detention.

He is currently serving a seven years’ sentence following his conviction under several sets of charges:

- In the framework of the “Television interviews case”. On July 10, 2017, he was sentenced to two years in prison by the Manama’s Lower Criminal Court, on charges of “deliberately spreading false information and malicious rumours with the aim of discrediting the State”. This charge is related to three televised interviews made in 2015 and 2016 in which he exposed Bahrain’s poor human rights record. Manama’s Court of Cassation upheld his sentence on January 15, 2018.

- In the “Twitter case”. On February 21, 2018, Nabeel Najab was sentenced to five years in prison, on charges of “insulting a statutory body”, “disseminating false rumours in time of war” and “offending a foreign country [Saudi Arabia]”. Those charges are related to tweets he posted denouncing the torture of detainees in the Kingdom’s Jaw Prison and the human rights violations perpetrated by the Saudi-Arabia led coalition air strikes in Yemen. The criminal case, which began in April 2015, was postponed 20 times and on several occasions the Court violated criminal procedure law by announcing the holding of the trial with only a few days’ notice, and no explanation to Rajab’s lawyers. His lawyers reported they were therefore unable to prepare his defence or call their witnesses to testify in court.
On May 12, 2017, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) said it was “deeply concerned” by the arbitrary imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment of detained human rights defenders, including Nabeel Rajab.

On June 18, 2018, Nabeel Rajab became an honorary citizen of the city of Paris.

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Christopher Ngoyi Mutamba is the National President of « Synergy Congo Culture and Development » (SCCD), an organisation affiliated to the movement “Save the Congo”.

He has been arbitrarily detained since his arrest on January 21, 2015, after demonstrations related to attempts by the President to revise the electoral law. On February 11, 2015, he appeared before the prosecutor on charges of « arson », « looting » and «incitement to racial hatred ». His trial opened on March 4, 2015 but he has not been officially sentenced yet. The trial was suspended, pending a decision by the Cassation Court regarding the violation of the principle of publicity of the debates.

Since his detention, his health has severely deteriorated. He is suffering of anaemia and blood pressure. He was hospitalized during 23 days in February, 2016. The doctors never communicated his analysis results to the patient.

In November 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published a decision asking the authorities to release him, describing his detention as arbitrary.

On August 29, 2016, the Supreme Court of Justice of Kinshasa ordered the conditional release of Mr. Christopher Ngoyi Mutamba. The decision was implemented the same day.

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Mr. Ny Chakrya is the former Head of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association’s (ADHOC) human rights section and current National Election Committee (NEC) Deputy Secretary-General. Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony  are  four senior staff of ADHOC.

Since May 2, 2016, they have been arbitrarily detained under trumped-up bribery charges. If convicted, the five human rights defenders could face up to ten years in prison.

In addition, since July 2015, Ny Chakrya has been charged with public defamation, “acts of slanderous denunciation”, and “publication of commentaries to put pressure on jurisdiction”. If found guilty of all charges, he could face a prison term of up to one-and-a-half year. In July 2016, his trial has been adjourned.

Family members of the five have expressed concern over poor detention conditions. They complained of overcrowded cells, insufficient and poor quality food, and inadequate medical care. Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, and Yi Soksan are held in Prey Sar’s Correctional Center 1 (‘CC1’), while Lim Mony is detained in Prey Sar’s Correctional Center 2 (‘CC2’). Ny Chakrya is detained in Police Judiciaire prison. All three prisons are located in Phnom Penh.

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Ramazan Demir is a human rights lawyer and member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD). As a lawyer, he has been involved in politically sensitive cases for many years and has been actively advocating for the respect of fair trial rights and the protection of lawyers.

In the early morning of March 16, 2016, he was arrested together with 8 other ÖHD lawyers. They were all charged with “membership of an illegal organisation” reportedly for events that took place between 2011 and 2014. Ramazan Demir was later released together with the other 8 ÖHD members.

On April 6, 2016, he was rearrested with Ayse Acinikli, under the same terrorism-related accusations. On June 22, 2016, Ramazan Demir and Ayse Acinikli appeared before the 14th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul. Their lawyers argued that the detention of their clients had been ordered in contravention of Turkish Law and the evidence gathered against them such as phone-tapped conversations had been obtained in an illegal manner. In addition, as the criminal case file against Mr. Demir and Ms. Acinikli is confidential pursuant to Article 153.2 of the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code, their lawyers were still unable to access and challenge the charges levied against them, thereby seriously undermining the equality of arms principle.
Even the prosecutor declared that the pre-trial detention of Ramazan Demir and Ayse Acinikli had « lasted long enough », but the 14th Heavy Penal Court refused to release them.

On September 7, 2016, the court ordered their provisional release.

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Ayse Acinikli is a human rights lawyer and member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD).

In the early morning of March 16, 2016, she was arrested together with 8 other ÖHD lawyers. They were all charged with membership of an illegal organisation reportedly for events that took place between 2011 and 2014. Ayşe Acinikli was later released together with the other 8 ÖHD members.

On April 6, 2016, he was rearrested with Ayse Acinikli, under the same terrorism-related accusations. On June 22, 2016, Ramazan Demir and Ayse Acinikli appeared before the 14th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul. Their lawyers argued that the detention of their clients had been ordered in contravention of Turkish Law and the evidence gathered against them such as phone-tapped conversations had been obtained in an illegal manner. In addition, as the criminal case file against Mr. Demir and Ms. Acinikli is confidential pursuant to Article 153.2 of the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code, their lawyers were still unable to access and challenge the charges levied against them, thereby seriously undermining the equality of arms principle.
Even the prosecutor declared that the pre-trial detention of Ramazan Demir and Ayse Acinikli had « lasted long enough », but the 14th Heavy Penal Court refused to release them.

On September 7, 2016, the court ordered their provisional release.

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Khadija Ismayilova is a well-known independent reporter in Azerbaijan. Since 2010, she has published a series of articles relating to corruptions cases involving President Ilham Aliyev and his family. She investigated particularly on the president’s daughter relations within the banking sector and offshore companies.

On December 5, 2014, Ms. Khadija Ismayilova was sentenced to two months in preventive detention for “inciting” her ex-partner Tural Mustafayev “to commit suicide”.
On February 13, 2015, new charges of “large-scale embezzlement”, “illegal business”, “tax evasion” and “abusing official powers” were brought against Ms. Khadija Ismayilova. On September 1, 2015, she was sentenced to 7,5 years’ imprisonment.

On 25 May 2016, Khadija Ismayilova was released, following a decision of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to commute the remainder of her 7.5-year jail sentence to a three-year conditional sentence.

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The Angola15 are young activists arrested in June 2015 for discussing democratic reforms and peaceful protest: Henrique Luaty Beirão (a.k.a. Brigadeiro Mata-Frakuxz, a.k.a. Ikonoklasta), Manuel Nito Alves, Nuno Alvaro Dala, Nelson Dibango Mendes Dos Santos, Alfonso Jojo Matias (a.k.a. Mbanza Hamza), Sedrick de Carvalho, Fernando António Tómas (a.k.a. Nicola Radical), Hitler Chiconda (a.k.a. Samussuku), Italiano Arante Kivuvu, Benedito Dali (a.k.a. Dito Dali), Albano Bingobingo (a.k.a. Albano Liberdade), José Gomes Hata (a.k.a. Cheik Hata), Inocénio De Brito (a.k.a. Drux), Domingos da Cruz and Osvaldo Caholo.
Most of them are known pro-democracy activists, who have been organizing peaceful protests against the 35-year-regime of Angolan President Eduardo Dos Santos since 2011. These protests were often repressed by the authorities.

On September 16, 2015, they were charged with “preparatory acts to rebellion” and “plotting against the President and other institutions”, both of which constitute crimes against the security of the Angolan State. All were held in pre-trial detention until December 18, 2015, when they were finally placed under house arrest. Ms. Rosa Kusso Conde and Ms. Laurinda Manuel Gouveia, two regular attendees of the book club meetings, were also charged on similar accusations but were not detained.

On March 28, 2016, the Luanda Provincial Tribunal sentenced the 16 pro-democracy activists to jail terms ranging from two years and three months to eight years and six months for the alleged crimes of “preparatory acts of rebellion” and “association of criminals”, among other charges. The trial was marred with irregularities. Their lawyers decided to file an appeal. The 16 were sent to different prison facilities.
On June 29, 2016, the Supreme Court of Angola ordered their conditional release pending the outcome of the appeal trial. They are not allowed to leave the country and have to appear before the Luanda Provincial Court every month.

Disturbing allegations of ill-treatment of the activists during their detention and acts of intimidation against their families have been made. Some detainees have resorted to attempt suicide or to hunger strike in protest, triggering concerns about their health conditions.

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Rasul Jafarov is the founder and Chairman of the “Human Rights Club,” established in December 2010. He advocated for the rights of the most vulnerable. He notably monitored the trials of a number of journalists in Azerbaijan and participated in several initiatives such as “Art for Democracy” during the Eurovision song contest in Baku or “Sport for Rights” ahead of the European Games in Baku.

He was arbitrarily arrested and detained on August 2, 2014. On April 16, 2015, Rasul Jafarov was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on charges of tax evasion, abuse of power, illegal business activities, and embezzlement. International trial observers repeatedly noted that no evidence of Rasul Jafarov’s guilt was presented.

On March 17, 2016, Rasul Jafarov was included into the list of pardoned prisoners signed by the President Ilham Aliyev and released after having spent more than 1.5 years in arbitrary detention.

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Hilal Mammadov is an editor and human rights activist who spoke-out publicly in support of Talysh rights and was critical of what he considered a government that discriminates non-Turkic minority groups in Azerbaijan.

He was arrested on June 21, 2012, and arbitrarily detained. Charged with “high treason”, “incitement to national, racial or religious hostility”, “illegal manufacturing, purchase, storage, transportation, transfer or selling of narcotics and psychotropic substances” and “spying”, he was sentenced to five years in prison following an unfair trial.

In its November 2013 report, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention requested his immediate release.

On March 17, 2016, Hilal Mammadov was included into the list of pardoned prisoners signed by the President Ilham Aliyev and released after spending more than 3.5 years in arbitrary detention.

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Intigam Aliyev is a prominent human rights lawyer who heads the Legal Education Society, an Azerbaijani NGO created in 1998. He has submitted a large number of complaints against the Azeri authorities to the European Court of Human Rights.

Intigam Aliyev was arrested on August 8, 2014, and initially placed in pre-trial detention. Accused of “tax evasion”, “illegal enterprise”, “abuse of authority”, “embezzlement” and “forgery”, he was sentenced to seven and a half years of jail on April 22, 2015.

On March 28, 2016, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan commuted his jail term into 5-year suspended imprisonment. Intigam Aliyev was released on the same day.

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Amin Mekki Medani is an expert in international human rights law who advocated to bring justice to the victims of human rights abuses and is currently an Executive Board member of over six non-governmental human rights organisations. He was the Chairperson of the Sudan Human Rights Monitor, FIDH member organisation in Sudan.

On December 6, 2014, he was arrested from his home in Khartoum without a warrant and detained incommunicado until December 21, 2014. On February 23, 2015, he was tried on charges of “undermining the constitutional system” and “waging war against the state”.

He was released on April 9, 2015, after the Ministry of Justice decided to freeze the case.

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Leyla and Arif Yunus are respectively Director and Chief of the Department of conflictology of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD). Ms. Leyla Yunus has been fighting to support human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan. Together, they have been been working for a reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On July 2014, Ms. Yunus was jailed under charges of “high treason”, “large-scale fraud”, “forgery”, “tax evasion” and “illegal business”. Leyla Yunus was arbitrarily detained since July 30, 2014. Her husband Arif Yunusov was arrested on August 5, 2014. On August 13, 2015, Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunusov were sentenced to 8.5 and 7 years in prison respectively.
While in detention, they were humiliated by police officers, put in overcrowded cells, beaten several times and deprived of much needed medical treatment. They were both suffering from serious medical conditions and were not able to access adequate medical treatment.

On November 12, 2015, Arif Yunusov was released under house arrest on health grounds. On December 9, 2015, the court changed their sentences into suspended sentences of 5 years, on probation. Leyla Yunus was in turn released from detention.

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Juan Carlos Flores Solís has been advocating for the respect of human rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and environment. He is a member of the People’s Front in Defence of the Water and Earth of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala (FPDATMPT). He investigated human rights violations and provided legal and political assistance to the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

Arrested on April 7, 2014, Juan Carlos Flores was held at the Centre for Social Rehabilitation (Cereso) in Cholula, Puebla.

Juan Carlos Flores was released on January 23, 2015 after nine months of arbitrary detention. The Federal Justice Department ordered his release as no proof of the charges held against him (intimidation, robbery, civil disorder, looting and assault on hydraulic structures) were provided.

Nonetheless, a court in Tlaxcala rescinded the suspended sentences against Juan Carlos Flores Solis which is revalidating the arrest warrant against him. He can be arrested at any moment.

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Javier Ramírez is an Ecuadorian farmer and President of the community of Junín, in the area of Intag, where he has been leading the opposition against contested mining projects and promoting sustainable development alternatives.

Accused of sabotage, terrorism and rebellion, Javier Ramirez was arrested on April 10, 2014 and further held at the Ibarra Social Rehabilitation Centre.

Javier was released on February 10, 2015 after having spent 10 months in pre-trial detention. Nevertheless, charges of aggression or resisting arrest remained pending against him.

On July 15, 2015, the National Court of Quito reviewing Javier Ramirez’s appeal against the twelve months sentence (two additional months to the initial sentence against Javier Ramirez were requested for allegedly insulting ENAMI’s public servants) handed down in April 2015 by the Imbabura Court of Appeal, ruled in favour of Javier Ramirez.

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Yara Sallam is a lawyer and women’s rights defender. She works as a transitional justice researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. Prior to that, Yara worked as the Director of the Women Human Rights Defenders program at Nazra for Feminist Studies and as a legal assistant to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Gambia.

She was arrested on June 21, 2014 on charges of “breaching the protest law” under the “Anti-Protest Law”, “sabotaging public properties”, “possession of inflammable materials” and “taking part in showing off force with the objective of terrorising the public” for her alleged participation in a peaceful march on December 28, 2014. She was sentenced to 2 years of prison in appeal.

Yara’s case is the first anti-protest case since the election of new Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. Even though Yara was not arrested while protesting but rather in a side-street, she has been targeted and detained because of her human rights work, as she was interrogated about EIPR’s activities and management. Her case is symbolic of the Egyptian authorities increasing crackdown against human rights organizations and human rights defenders, based on the Law 107 on demonstrations and public rallies (the “Anti-Protest Law”) enacted in 2013.

On September 23, 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a presidential pardon in favour of 100 imprisoned youths, including Yara Sallam. She was released on the same day.

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Mahnaz Mohammadi is a film-maker and women’s rights activist. She wrote the script for and directed her first film, “Women Without Shadows”, in 2003. She is also a member of the “One Million Signatures Campaign”, which calls to end legalised discrimination against women.

She was arbitrarily jailed on June 7, 2014, charged with ”endangering national security” and “propaganda against the Iranian regime” and sentenced to five years in prison.

Since 2007, Mahnaz Mohammadi has been arrested four times. Iranian authorities have accused her of cooperation with foreign media including the BBC, and endorsing the CEDAW by signing a petition that called on Iran to ratify the Convention.

She was conditionally released in July 2014.

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Bahareh Hedayat is a women’s rights activist. She is a member of the “One Million Signatures Campaign” which calls to end legalised discrimination against women. From 2005 to 2007, she was the first secretary of the Women’s Commission of the Office for Strengthening Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), the largest student organisation in Iran. Hedayat Bahareh was awarded the Edelstam Human Rights prize (Sweden) in 2010.

On June 12, 2006, she was arrested for participating to a protest to celebrate International Women’s Day and on December 31st, 2009 Bahareh Hedayat was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for “spreading propaganda against the State” through interviews with foreign media, “disrupting public order” through participation in unlawful assemblies, “insulting the Leader and the President”, and “acting against national security”.

She was detained at Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward, in difficult conditions. She needs a regular medical treatment which was denied and is likely to cause irremediable damages such as infertility.

She was released on September 4, 2016 after serving 8 years in prison.

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Reza Shahabi Zakaria is the Treasurer of the workers union at the United Bus Company in Tehran.

He was arrested in 2010 and has been arbitrarily detained since in the Rajaishahr prison. In 2012, Reza Shahabi Zakaria was convicted under charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “conspiracy against the national security” to six years in prison. He was also banned from engaging in union activities for five years and condemned to a 70 million-rial fine (approximately 2,300 Euros).

Since the beginning of his detention, his health has severely deteriorated and the Iranian authorities have refused to provide him with the care he needs. On June 30,2014, his cell-mates took him to the prison clinic but clinic officials refused to offer him the needed care.

Reza Shahabi was released on March 13, 2018 after completing his sentence.

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Mohammad Seddiq Kaboudvand is a journalist, President and founder of the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan. He has particularly worked for the promotion and defence of the rights of the Kurdish minority in his country.

Mr. Kaboudvand has been serving a prison sentence totalling 10.5 years since July 1, 2007: 10 years for founding and administering the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan and six months for his work as a journalist and editor of the weekly Payam-e Mardom-e (Message of People of) Kurdistan. He was charged for “act against national security” through founding HROK, “widespread propaganda against the State”, “opposing Islamic penal laws” by publicising punishments such as stoning and executions and “advocating on behalf of political prisoners. On July 28, 2015, the Prosecutor of Tehran rejected outright the request of Evin prison’s governor who had recommended Mr. Kaboudvand’s “conditional release”.

Mohammad Seddiq Kaboudvand, is being held at the Evin prison where he has been tortured and is denied access to proper medical care. He has gone on hunger strike in June 2016 to protest against new charges for which he was later acquitted.

Mohammad Seddiq Kaboudvand was released from Evin Prison in Tehran on May 12, 2017 after serving a 10 year sentence.

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Do Thi Minh Hanh is a labour activist who assisted farmers in filling petitions with the government to demand the return of confiscated land. In 2005, she was detained by authorities for her political activities but was never formally charged.

In February 2010, she was arrested for helping workers organize a strike at a shoe factory in Tra Vinh Province. In October 2010, she was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of “disrupting security.” She has been tortured in detention and, as a result of the beatings, she is now deaf in one ear.

She was released on June 28, 2014.

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Ta Phong Tan is a former police officer and member of the Communist party, and the co-founder of the Free Journalist Club. On her blog, she is fighting for social justice, restitution of lands and against corruption.

On September 2011, she was arrested for posting criticism about the Vietnamese government on her blog. In July 2012, her mother burnt herself to death to protest against the arbitrary detention. Two month later, she was sentenced to 10 years of prison for “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.

On September 19, 2015, she was released but forced to exile. From the United States, she keeps fighting to defend the rights of other journalists and writers detained in Vietnam for using their right to freedom of expression.

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Ales Bialiatski is an active promoter of democracy. He is the president of the Human Rights Center Viasna, FIDH member organisation in Belarus, which was de-registered in 2003 after its observation of the 2001 presidential elections. Because of his human rights activities, he was arrested 20 times.

In the aftermath of the contested December 2010 presidential elections, Ales Bialiatski was arrested on trumped up charges of “concealment of profits on an especially large scale” after using foreign funds to finance his human rights activities. In November 2011, he was sentenced to four and a half years of strict regime detention in a penal colony. Viasna’s offices, which had been purchased in Ales Bialiatski’s name, were seized and Ales himself was ordered to pay compensation of approx. US$85,000.

During his detention, he has been subjected to numerous arbitrary disciplinary sanctions, facing isolation and psychological pressure. In November 2012, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be arbitrary under international law, and called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Ales Bialiatski was released on June 21, 2014. He was at last granted amnesty which had been refused for two consecutive years on the pretext of “multiple violations of the detention regime”.

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Ho Thi Bich Khuong is a farmer who used the internet to document land confiscation and campaign for land rights.

In April 2007, she was arrested in an Internet café in Nghe An Province and subsequently sentenced to two years in prison under Article 258 of the Criminal Code for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State.” She was re-arrested in January 2011 and has been arbitrarily detained since. Charged under Article 88 of the Criminal Code for “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” in December 2011, she was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of house arrest.

On January 15, 2016, she was released by the authorities after serving her sentence. Today she remains under strict police surveillance.

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Azam Formonov is a defender of farmers and land rights and more broadly of social and economic rights.

He was arrested by the police on April 29, 2006 and has been arbitrarily detained since. On June 15, 2006, he was charged with “ attempted blackmail “, tried without the presence of either his attorney of choice or a public defence attorney and sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for extortion. 15 days before his release from prison, Azam Formonov was transferred and new charges of “violation of prison rules” have been brought up against him. In May 2015, he was sentenced to an additional five years in prison.

Azam Formonov is being held under a strict security regime at the 64/71 Special Regime Colony, a Colony for religious prisoners and one of the worst prison in Uzbekistan. He has reportedly been tortured, beaten and humiliated.

On 3 October 2017, he was finally released.

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Gaybullo Jalilov has been an active defender of the right to freedom of religion particularly by documenting several violations of religious freedom and persecution of independent Muslims perpetrated by the Uzbek government.

He was arrested by the police on September 5, 2009 and held incommunicado for several days. He has been arbitrarily detained since. Charged with “infringement against the constitutional system of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “production or dissemination of materials constituting a threat to public security and public order” and “founding, leading, participating in religious extremists, separatists, fundamentalists and other forbidden organizations”, on January 18, 2010, he was sentenced to nine years in detention. On August 4, 2011, his sentence was extended by 2 years, 1 month and 5 days.

During the summer of 2010, Gaybullo Jalilov reportedly received a heavy blow to the ear with a baton from a colony warden after he refused to comply with an order to sing the hymn of the Republic of Uzbekistan with other prisoners. As a result, he is now deaf in both ears.

Gaybullo Jalilov has been released on march 15, 2018.

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Hani Zaitani is a researcher and human rights activist. He is a member of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

He was arrested on 16 February 2012, along with 15 other persons at SCM premises. In February 2013, Hani Zaitani was among five detainees who, along with SCM President, Mazen Darwish, were informed that they would be prosecuted before the Anti-Terrorism Court for “promoting terrorist acts” and faced up to 15 years in prison. Hani Zaitani and some of his colleagues were deemed “forcibly disappeared” and subjected to acts of torture over a period of approximately nine months. Then the trial hearings were postponed dozen of times.

In January 2014, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be arbitrary and called for his immediate release.
While the government announced his amnesty on June 9, 2014, he was not released until July 18, 2015 even if the charges were not dropped. He was finally acquitted on August 31, 2015.

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Hussain Ghrer is a blogger and was an active figure in numerous solidarity campaigns for Palestine, victims of honour crimes and against the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights.

On February 16, 2012, he was arrested along with 15 other persons at Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)’s premises. In February 2013, he was among five detainees who, along with SCM President, Mazen Darwish, were informed that they would be prosecuted before the Anti-Terrorism Court for “promoting terrorist acts” and faced up to 15 years in prison. Then the trial hearings were postponed dozen of times.

Hussain Ghrer and some of his colleagues were deemed “forcibly disappeared” and subjected to acts of torture over a period of approximately nine months. In January 2014, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be arbitrary and called for his immediate release.

Despite a presidential amnesty announced on June 9, 2014, including for the charges faced by Hussain Ghrer, he was only released on July 17, 2015 and finally acquitted on August 31, 2015.

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Mazen Darwish is a lawyer and journalist advocating free speech. In 2004, he founded the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), a human rights association that has been denied registration in Syria.

Arrested on 16 February 2012 along with 15 other persons, he spent three and a half years in detention. Mazen Darwish was deemed to have been “forcibly disappeared” and subjected to acts of torture for nine months following his arrest. He was prosecuted before the Anti-Terrorism Court for “promoting terrorist acts”, charges for which he were to face up to 15 years in prison. Whilst in jail, Mazen Darwish has been providing human rights courses, as well as reading and writing classes for his fellow inmates.

In January 2014, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Mazen Darwish’s detention to be arbitrary and called for his immediate release.

On 9 June 2014, the government announced an amnesty, including for the charges Mazen Darwish was facing. However, then, he was not released.
On February 26, 2015, Mazen Darwish was named “World Press Freedom Hero” by the International Press Institute in recognition of “his efforts to ensure that the truth of what was happening in his country after conflict erupted in 2011 was known beyond its borders, and in his willingness to continue speaking out in support of free media from prison, despite the obvious danger to him in doing so”.
He was finally released on August 10, 2015 under the political amnesty issued in June 2014. The verdict of unconditional amnesty was delivered on August 31, 2015.

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Mohammad Seifzadeh is a lawyer, former judge, human rights activist and a co-founder of DHRC. He has stood by many victims of human rights violations in Iran.

He was arrested in April 2011 during a visit to Urumiyeh on the Turkish border, for “attempting to leave the country”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran charged Mohammad Seifzadeh with “collusion and assembly with intent to disrupt internal security,” “propagation activities against the regime,” and “establishing the Centre for Human Rights Defenders” and sentenced him to 9 years of imprisonment and a 10 year ban on professional practice. A court of appeal reduced this prison sentence to two years. However, whilst serving this two-year sentence, Mohammad Seifzadeh was subject to the imposition of a new set of charges. In late September 2013, a Court of Appeal upheld a six-year prison sentence imposed on him by the Islamic Revolutionary Court on February 20, 2013 on allegations of “collusion to take action against the national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”.

After nearly five years in prison, Mohammad Seifzadeh was finally released on March 10, 2016.

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Muharrem Erbey worked as a human rights lawyer and advocate in South East Turkey. He was compiling reports on disappearances, torture and extra-judicial killings, and representing local individuals before courts. He was also a writer, editor and columnist.

On December 24, 2009, Muharrem Erbey was arrested by an anti-terrorism unit in Diyarbakır as part of a large-scale operation launched simultaneously in 11 provinces of Turkey. His arrest was based on his alleged membership to the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an organisation said to be the “urban branch” of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

After 1 570 days of pre-trial detention, Muharrem Erbey was released on April 12, 2014. He is the recipient of the “Freedom of Thought and Expression” award from PEN Norway Centre.

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Nasim Isakov monitored human rights abuses in Jizzakh city.

Arrested on October 27, 2005, Nasim Isakov was detained at the prison colony U/Ya 64/3 in Tavaskai. Charged with “extortion” and “hooliganism”, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. His prison-term was extended in 2013 for “violations of prison rules”.

As a result of torture and ill-treatment endured during his provisional detention in August 2006, Nasim Isakov suffers from constant headaches and has difficulty hearing.

He was released in 2015.

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Reşit Teymur has been working with the Human Rights Association (İHD), FIDH member organisation in Turkey, since 2009. He was particularly involved in the fight against impunity, notably through his participation in the opening of mass graves in Siirt, as well as a march to demand the excavation of the mass grave in Newala Qesaba (Kasaplar Deresi), where 200 corpses thought to be members of the advance guard of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are allegedly buried.

As part of a large-scale operation in November 2011, Reşit Teymur was arrested by an anti-terrorism unit on allegations of “making propaganda” and being a “member of a criminal organisation”. His arrest was based on his alleged membership to the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an organisation said to be the “urban branch” of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Resit Teymur was released pending a trial on June 27, 2014.

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Yuldosh Rasulov has worked to defend the rights of people persecuted for their religious beliefs and affiliations.

Originally arrested in May 2002 and sentenced to 7 years in prison, Yuldosh Rasulov was released after 7 months as a result of international pressure. Re-arrested in April 2007, he has been arbitrarily detained since. He was sentenced to 10 years of detention on fabricated charges of “threatening the constitutional order” and “membership in a banned religious organisation”.

He was kept at the 64/25 Special Regime Colony, in the town of Karaulbazar, Bukhara region, and finally released in march 2018.

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Mahienour El-Massry is a human rights lawyer, activist and a member of the Revolutionary Socialists movement. She is known for acting in favor of judicial independence and prisoners’ rights by organising peaceful protests, support activities and using social media.
On November 18, 2017, the Misdemeanor Montaza Court in Alexandria ordered the detention of Mahienour El-Massry pending trial, in relation to the protests against the Tiran and Sanafeer land agreement. She is currently detained at Qanater El Khayereya Women’s Prison in Cairo.
Already, in January 2014, she was sentenced to 2 years in jail for exercising her right to peacefully protest against police violence. Her sentence was reduced in appeal to six months.
Arrested again on May 11, 2015, the El Raml Misdemeanour Court of Appeal in Alexandria sentenced her on May 31, 2015 to one year and three months in jail with another lawyer and eight activists for “assaulting security forces”. This relates to an incident that occurred in March 2013, when they went to Raml police station to provide legal assistance to three activists.
From Qanater women’s prison, she started an hunger strike with six other detainees on July 28, 2016, to protest against the denial of family visits in prison. After serving the 15 month prison sentence, Mahienour El-Massry was released on August 13, 2016.
She has been arrested again in november 2017, and sentenced to 2 years of prison on december 30, 2017.

Mahienour El-Massry has been released on January 16, 2018.

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Pierre Claver Mbonimpa is the President of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Incarcerated Persons (APRODH).

Accused of “being a danger to internal and external state security” after he denounced the existence of military training centres for youth league from Burundi in eastern DRC, he was arrested on May 15, 2014.

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was granted provisional release on grounds of ill-health on September 29, 2014. He was briefly re-arrested on April 27, 2015 and released the next day following increased tension across the country as presidential elections approached. In 2015, he was leading the civil society campaign against a third mandate of current Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza.