The following cases are selected examples of unlawful and abusive prosecutions and detentions. DAWN case files include extensive factual information about the background of detainees and comprehensive details regarding their arrest, charges, trial (if any), hearings, witnesses (if any), evidence (if any), sentencing (if any), detention conditions, and family retaliation by the government.
Detainees represent a cross-section of society, including not only human rights activists, but also businesspeople, former government officials, and elite members of society.
We include information about the police, intelligence agents, prosecutors, judges, jailers, and other government officials involved in these prosecutions, where available. Our information is gathered primarily from direct communication with the detainee and his/her representatives or associates, but also relies on reports and articles prepared by other organizations and individuals that we deem reliable.
The information provided is intended to provide journalists, researchers, policy experts, and the general public with a comprehensive account of the detainee's experience in X country's justice system. We will update case files as new developments emerge.
(Washington, DC – October 2, 2025) – Seven years after the murder of the organization's founder, Jamal Khashoggi, on October...
Read moreDetails(Washington, DC, September 11, 2025) - In response to the September 11, 2025 sentencing of Nadine Menendez, wife of convicted...
Read moreDetailsSigned in September 2020, the UAE-Israel Abraham Accords commits to "continuing their efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive, realistic and...
Read moreDetails(Washington, D.C., October 9, 2025) — In the wake of the nascent ceasefire agreement in Gaza, United Nations member states...
Read moreDetailsWashington D.C., July 24, 2025) — Jordanian authorities should hold accountable the security officers responsible for the brutal beating of...
Read moreDetailsNo tyrant can implement tyranny against an entire country on his own. He needs enablers who will implement his oppressive practices, even if it means abusing their fellow citizens. These agents often work in the shadows, where they mask their complicity in the guise of professionals exercising their duties in offices, courtrooms, police stations, and interrogation rooms.
Some of these state agents go to great lengths to hide their identities even where domestic law requires disclosure, including by assuming fictitious identities. Sometimes this is justified in the name of protecting their security, but in many cases, they seek to conceal their abusive functions to avoid public shaming, particularly among colleagues or friends who believe them to be respectable officials.
