#StandAsMyWitness
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Rights organisations call for release of Teresita Naul ahead of court case & global campaign launch
- Human rights organisations call for release of Teresita Naul ahead of court case 17 July
- Naul’s family concerned about her deteriorating health in prison
- #StandAsMyWitness campaign featuring Naul and calling for release of activists in prison launches on Nelson Mandela Day 18 July
CIVICUS, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), Karapatan and other human rights organisations in the Philippines call for the release of Teresita Naul, a human rights defender from the Philippines, ahead of her court case on 17 July, and the launch of a global campaign featuring Naul and other imprisoned human rights defenders.
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Risk of refoulement of asylum seeker in cooperation with Algerian authorities would mark a dangerous turning point for human rights for Tunisia
The undersigned organizations express their deep concern at the risk of refoulement of an Algerian asylum seeker - Zakaria Hannache - present in Tunisia since August 2022. Tunisian authorities must under no circumstances repeat the dangerous precedent set by the kidnapping and refoulement of Algerian refugee Slimane Bouhafs on 25 August, 2021, about which no investigation has been opened to date in Tunisia.
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Saudi rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul spends 1000th day in prison
Today, as Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul spends her 1000th day in prison, global civil society alliance CIVICUS and the Free Saudi Activists coalition call for her immediate and unconditional release.
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This Mandela Day lets redouble efforts to free imprisoned human rights defenders
By Benjamin Tonga and Mandeep Tiwana
On 18 July, people in South Africa and around the world will mark Nelson Mandela Day to commemorate the courage and sacrifice of one of the greatest political leaders and human rights defenders of our times. Nelson Mandela was unjustly imprisoned for over a quarter of a century until South Africa’s apartheid regime finally acknowledged the travesty of his incarceration and ordered his release. It took concerted global pressure and organising by concerned citizens and civil society groups to achieve this feat.
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Urgent Appeal on Critical Health of Egyptian Lawyer and Human Rights Defender Hoda Abdel-Moneim
The undersigned human rights organisations are deeply concerned over the severe deterioration in the health of lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdel-Moneim, 66 years old, who has been in pretrial detention since 1st of November 2018. Abdel-Moneim‘s life is imminently at risk.
According to her lawyer, Ms. Abdelmonem had two heart attacks on 23 and 30 August 2025, yet neither he nor her family were informed of her deteriorating health at the time, only learning of her condition during a subsequent visit on 6 September 2025.
In addition, Ms. Abdelmonem, who has been in detention since November 2018, suffers from cerebral arterial constriction, which left her bedridden for 12 consecutive days and completely unable to move. She also suffers from chronic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) accompanied by multiple pulmonary embolisms, requiring strict adherence to continuous treatment in order to stabilise her condition and prevent clot migration to the lungs — a potentially fatal risk. She further suffers from severe hypertension,acute inflammations in the joints and spine, and is in urgent need of knee replacement surgery. Her kidney functions have also deteriorated significantly, as her left kidney has completely ceased functioning, while her right kidney shows severe reflux. In addition, she previously suffered an angina attack while in detention, and her health continues to deteriorate due to systematic medical neglect.
On 9 September 2025, Hoda Abdel-Moneim’s family submitted a new official request to the relevant authorities for her release on medical grounds. This request was preceded by numerous other requests that went unanswered. The family further filed a complaint with the National Council for Human Rights on 13 August 2025, requesting urgent intervention to provide Abdel-Moneim with the necessary medical care and demanding her immediate release
The continuation of Abdel Monem's pre-trial detention lacks any legal basis. She has been “rotated” into two new cases — No. 800 of 2020 and No. 730 of 2020 — both carrying the same charges as Case No. 1552 of 2018 before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, in which a final and binding judgment was issued by an exceptional court. Re-imposing the same charges constitutes a blatant violation of the most basic guarantees of a fair trial.
Hoda Abdelmonem is not an individual ordeal, but rather part of a pattern of systematic violations committed by the Egyptian authorities against dissidents and human rights defenders. Prisoners in Egypt endure grave human rights abuses on a daily basis, without the slightest accountability for those responsible. These conditions have driven some detainees to attempt suicidedue to the harshness of their detention, the denial of essential medication, and the authorities’ failure to respond to medical emergencies.
The repeated “rotation” of Hoda Abdelmonem — for the third time, despite the expiry of her sentence in October 2023 — epitomizes the flagrant disregard for judicial rulings, and highlights the extent to which the fate of political prisoners and human rights defenders in Egypt is determined by the security apparatuses and their decisions, rather than by the courts. This pattern is also evident in other cases, such as that of human rights defender Ibrahim Metwally, who has been imprisoned since 2017 and is continuously “rotated” from one case to another.
Accordingly, we call on the Egyptian authorities to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdelmonem, given the critical risk to her life and the absence of any legal basis for her continued pre-trial detention.
- Ensure her urgent transfer to a specialized hospital outside prison to receive necessary and lifesaving medical care.
- Guarantee the right of all detainees to comprehensive healthcare in line with both Egyptian constitutional requirements and international human rights standards.
Signatories:
- Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
- CIVICUS
- EuroMed Rights Network
- The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
- Fair Square
- Refugee Platform
- Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)
- REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression
- The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
- Sinai Foundation for Human Rights
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- Lawyers for Lawyers
- the Arabic center for judiciary independence
- MENA Rights Group
- International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- Egyptwide for human rights
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- Digital Democracy Now
- Elnadim Center
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Urgent call to release Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja on his 60th Birthday &10th anniversary of his detention
To: United Nations Secretary General and diplomatic Missions
United Nations Special Rapporteurs/Targeted Governments (to be amended based on recipient)
Re: Urgent call to release Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja on his sixtieth Birthday and Tenth anniversary of his detention
Your Excellencies,
We the undersigned, representing civil society organisations from around the world, write to bring to your urgent attention the continued detention of human rights defender Abdul-Hadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja. As you may be aware, al-Khawaja, who is a dual Bahraini-Danish citizen, is currently serving a life sentence for his peaceful human rights activities. As he marks his 10th year in prison and commemorates his 60th birthday on 5 April 2021, we urge the United Nations through its Secretary General, governments around the world and representatives of the diplomatic community to urgently call on Bahraini authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.
Al-Khawaja’s active campaigning for human rights began when he was 16 years old. Spanning decades of activism, he is the co-founder of both the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) for which he was also President. Until early 2011, al-Khawaja worked as MENA Protection Coordinator for human rights group Frontline Defenders. He also previously took part in a fact-finding mission to Iraq in 2003 with Amnesty International and is a member of the International Advisory Network of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. He is a peaceful advocate of human rights and the recipient of several human rights awards, including the “World without Torture” Award which he received in October 2013 in recognition of his struggle for human rights.
He was arrested on 9 April 2011 for his role in organising peaceful protests to defend the realisation of human rights of Bahrainis and for political reform during the popular ‘Arab Spring’ movements which began in Bahrain in February 2011. He was violently detained by security forces as detailed in a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) published in November 2011 at the request of the King of Bahrain. He is serving a life prison sentence in Jau prison following unfair trials in courts that did not comply with Bahraini criminal law or international fair trial standards.
At its 63rd session in April/May 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that al-Khawaja’s arrest was arbitrary as it resulted from his exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
On 17 March 2021, GCHR in co-operation with its human rights partners Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (AHRDB), BCHR, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), released a reportdetailing some of the ill-treatment and torture al-Khawaja has faced during his arrest and subsequent arbitrary detention. This has included severe physical, psychological and sexual torture.
During his early detention, al-Khawaja suffered multiple fractures to his jaw and has undergone multiple surgeries but still suffers from chronic pain and requires additional intervention as he has not healed properly. His facial bone structure is permanently damaged. In January 2021, over 100 NGOs appealed to the Danish government to help free al-Khawaja so he could travel to Denmark for treatment.
In a January 2021 phone call, al-Khawaja listed four concerns including that prison authorities placed restrictions on his phone calls with the family (that have replaced their in-person visits) and confiscated hundreds of his books and other materials. He also stated that prison authorities arbitrarily deny him adequate healthcare and refuse to refer him to specialists for the urgent surgeries he requires. Denying a prisoner needed medical care violates the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.
Al-Khawaja continues to protest the arbitrary detention to which he is subjected. Since his arrest, he has undertaken six-hunger strikes, one lasting 110 days in 2012 to protest conditions in Jau Prison and his unjust imprisonment.
In March 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bahrain released 1,486 prisoners, 901 of whom received royal pardons on “humanitarian grounds.” However, al-Khawaja and other prominent human rights defenders - many of whom are older or suffer from underlying medical conditions - were not among those released.
On 11 March 2021, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in a plenary session to adopt an urgent resolution condemning human rights abuses in Bahrain, including the persecution of human rights defenders, lawyers and other civil society figures, while calling on Bahrain’s government to enact reforms. The resolution calls for the release of al-Khawaja and others “who have been detained and sentenced for merely exercising their right to freedom of expression.”
On al-Khawaja’s 60th birthday and the 10th anniversary of his arrest we appeal to you to personally hold talks with the government of Bahrain to immediately and unconditionally release him.
The undersigned,
- Activista Moviment
- African National Congress Youth League
- Amnesty International
- Association El Ghad pour les droits de l’homme
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
- Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
- Brothers Keeper NPO
- Bytes For All, Pakistan
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)
- CIVICUS
- Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE)
- Danish PEN
- FIDH, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Front Line Defenders
- Globe International Center, Mongolia
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
- Human Rights Sentinel
- IFEX
- International Media Support
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms
- Iraqi Journalism Rights Defence Association
- Kuza Livelihood Improvement Projects
- Maharat Foundation
- Media Institute of Southern Africa
- OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)
- Protection Adolescent Organization
- South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
- Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
- The Community Human Rights Defenders Network - ACPDH
- Universidade do Minho
- Vigilance for Démocracy and Civic state
- Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State
- منظمة الفيصل لمناهضة الاعتقال والتعذيب والإخفاء القسري (Al-Faisal Organization Against Detention, Torture and Enforced Disappearance)