"Spreading The Echo" campaign 2025
On the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, WHRDIC is relaunching the “SPREADING THE ECHO” campaign for the third year. For 16 days, we will feature the profiles of 30 women human rights defenders imprisoned for their human rights work and activism. Our demand is to set all WHRDs free. #SpreadingTheEcho #freeWHRDs
This year's campaign is co-sponsored by our members and allies - International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in the SWANA region (WHRD MENA), FORUM-ASIA, Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights (CLADEM), Femena, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defensoras), Front Line Defenders, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Nobel Women's Initiative (NWI) - who provided information on the cases.
WHRDIC first launched the #SpreadingTheEcho campaign in 2023. Since then, several WHRDs featured in our campaigns have been released! Some reached out to WHRDIC to share their gratitude for standing with them in the collective fight for their freedom.
Below, we present the stories of these defenders and the injustices they continue to face.
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Sharifeh Mohammadi
Sharifeh Mohammadi was sentenced to death in 2024, a ruling that the Supreme Court upheld in August 2025.
Arrested in 2023, she was denied access to legal representation and subjected to torture and intimidation. During repeated interrogations, authorities pressured her to falsely confess to ties with a Kurdish political party. Despite the intense pressure and suffering, she refused to comply.
Sharifeh Mohammadi is a women’s and labor rights advocate based in Rasht, Gilan province, Iran. She has long been active in promoting women’s and workers’ rights, organizing events around international days dedicated to these causes.
She was also a member of the Coordination Committee to Aid the Formation of Labor Unions in Iran, an organization campaigning for workers’ rights. Although her case has been sent back for retrial, Sharifeh remains in detention, leaving her future uncertain.
#FreeSharifeh #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Milagro Amalia Ángela Sala
Milagro Amalia Ángela Sala was arrested in 2016 on alleged charges of fraud and criminal conspiracy. Activists believe she was jailed for leading anti-government protests. While imprisoned, her health has deteriorated, and she is currently under house arrest.
Milagro Sala is an indigenous woman, the leader of the Tupac Amaru neighborhood association, part of the Association of State Workers of Jujuy, and a leading figure in the Movimiento piquetero of Argentina. Tupac Amaru built housing and schools for children in poor neighborhoods in Jujuy, a province in northern Argentina.
Several human rights organizations denounced Argentina's government at the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations, alleging the illegal detention of Milagro Sala. Many demanded the improvement of Milagro’s detention conditions, with no results.
#FreeMilagro #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Huang Xueqin
Huang Xueqin has been sentenced to five years in prison, along with four years of deprivation of political rights and the confiscation of 100,000 yuan for allegedly inciting subversion of state power.
Huang Xueqin, also known as Sophia, is a journalist and #MeToo movement advocate who has played a significant role in bringing attention to issues of sexual harassment in China. As an independent journalist, she has been committed to reporting on social justice, supporting survivors of sexual assault, and raising awareness about human rights concerns.
Huang’s arrest on September 19, 2021, as she was preparing to leave for the United Kingdom to pursue further studies, highlights the challenges faced by journalists and activists in China. During a previous detention in 2019, Huang was forcibly disappeared for three months by Guangzhou authorities under RSDL.
#FreeXueqin #黄雪琴 #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Yolanda del Carmen González Escobar
On August 13, 2025, police officers illegally raided Yolanda del Carmen González Escobar’s home and took her into custody. After more than 100 days of enforced disappearance, without due process and without any judicial guarantees, on December 1, 2025, she got out of prison along with at least seven other political prisoners. But Yolanda is not free; in order to manipulate and confuse, the Nicaraguan regime replaced prison with alternative forms of detention that continue to violate the WHRDs' right to liberty and extend the repression and impact to their families and communities.
Yolanda del Carmen González Escobar is a defender of the right to truth and justice and a community leader who, during the 2018 protests, contributed to the organization and mobilization of her neighborhood, as well as to supporting the families of victims of repression. Before, she has been systematically persecuted through harassment, threats, police surveillance, raids, and arbitrary detentions, forced to remain at home and report to the police authorities as a control measure.
#FreeYolanda #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #SetThemFree #FullAndUnconditionnalFreedom
Ma. Salome Crisostomo Ujano (Sally)
On November 14, 2021, Sally was arrested by police officers and later imprisoned. She was tried for trumped up charges of rebellion, falsely accused of being a high ranking officer and/or member of a group involved in a series of ambushes against government troops. These encounters allegedly took place from November 19-25, 2005 in different places in Quezon Province.
Ma. Salome Crisostomo Ujano, or Sally, is a woman human rights defender. Sally has dedicated over three decades of her life to helping, healing, and defending survivors of abuse and victims of injustice. She has been a prominent voice and visibly active leader in advocating to end violence against women and children.
On May 16, 2024, after a long and protracted court process, the judge convicted Sally and sentenced her to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison. She was not granted bail pending the appeal process in a higher court, unmindful of its own finding that she was not a leader of the so-called rebellion.
Sally is now 67 years old, a senior citizen. She already suffered 39 years of stressful situations of NGO work and being detained twice. She has chronic ailments like hypertension, osteo-arthritis in the knees and spine, heart problem and gallbladder polyps. These health conditions require daily medications, check-ups of doctors, blood chemistry tests and medical procedures.
#FreeSally #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Marwa Arafa
Marwa Arafa has been arbitrarily detained since April 20, 2020, when her home was raided without a warrant or proper authorization. Marwa is an Egyptian woman human rights defender and translator who supported families of detainees. Her humanitarian efforts focused on aiding families of incarcerated individuals, providing seasonal supplies, study materials, and medication.
Marwa faces charges for allegedly joining a terrorist organization and funding crimes. Marwa's continued detention deprives her daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, of her mother's natural care, which is a double punishment for the child and the entire family.
Marwa Arafa appeared at the hearing on Saturday, 18 October 2025, in a state of severe exhaustion and with obvious difficulty breathing. She informed the judge that she had previously received an initial diagnosis of a pulmonary embolism, and that she is also experiencing heart problems and elevated blood pressure. She also mentioned that she has not been examined by specialized doctors/physicians.
#FreeMarwa #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Golrokh Iraee
Golrokh Iraee was violently arrested on 26 September 2022 during a raid of her house. She was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of "gathering and colluding against national security" and producing "propaganda against the state." Before that, she has already served a full sentence of 25 months with similar charges.
Golrokh Iraee is a long-standing Iranian human rights defender and writer who has faced repeated arrests and imprisonment due to her peaceful activism. She is widely recognized for her commitment to defending human rights, speaking out against injustice, and documenting state abuses in Iran. Golrokh, an anti-death penalty activist working on documentation of human rights violations, predominantly inside Iranian prisons, has been targeted by Iranian authorities for more than a decade because of her civic engagement and defense of fundamental freedoms.
#FreeGolrokh #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Marfa Rabkova
In 2023, the Supreme Court sentenced Marfa Rabkova to 14 years and 9 months in prison. She was found guilty of violating ten articles of the Criminal Code for allegedly organizing criminal groups between 2016 and 2020 and inciting mass riots. The hearing was held behind closed doors.
Marfa Rabkova is a WHRD and the coordinator of the Volunteer Service at the Human Rights Centre Viasna. Together with Viasna volunteers, she has monitored the peaceful assemblies that erupted across Belarus following the announcement of the 2020 presidential election results on August 9. She has also documented cases of torture and other ill-treatment against detained protesters.
“The Belarusian people deserve a decent standard of living, respect for themselves, and respect for the rights of every member of society — a state that will be working for the people and not against them,” Marfa said during her 2022 trial.
#FreeMarfa #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda
Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda was arbitrarily detained on August 10, 2024, amid the broader persecution of individuals linked to the Catholic Church and those demanding the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a leading figure in the institution who was then being held as a political prisoner.
After more than 15 months of enforced disappearance, without due process and without any judicial guarantees, on November 29, 2025, she got out of prison along with at least seven other political prisoners. But Lesbia is not free; in order to manipulate and confuse, the Nicaraguan regime replaced prison with alternative forms of detention that continue to violate the WHRDs' right to liberty and extend the repression and impact to their families and communities.
A longtime defender of women’s rights and of freedom of association and worship, Lesbia Gutiérrez was an active member of a women’s organization and served for more than 20 years as the administrator of Caritas Diocesana de Matagalpa, particularly in rural development programs.
On October 24, 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary measures in her favor, urging the State of Nicaragua to clarify her situation and whereabouts, to report whether she is in State custody, to provide details on the circumstances and conditions of her detention, to identify her place of detention, and to allow access to it. On February 20, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights requested the immediate release of Lesbia Gutiérrez.
#FreeLesbia #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #SetThemFree #FullAndUnconditionnalFreedom
Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali
On 14 August 2022, Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali was arrested by Houthi authorities. In December 2023, the Specialised Criminal Court of First Instance issued a discretionary death penalty against Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali on arbitrary charges evidently related to her work in defending human rights, including the rights of women and children. However, her case remains ongoing.
Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali is a Yemeni woman human rights defender and head of the Al-Habitat Organisation for Human Rights Development. In January 2024, media reports indicated that she might soon be put to death, but they were proven to be untrue, and she remains in prison.
#FreeFatima #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Chow Hang-tung
Since 2021, Chow Hang-tung was arrested and charged with “inciting subversion,” a charge often used against activists and dissidents in Hong Kong.
Chow Hang-tung is a human rights advocate and barrister based in Hong Kong. She has been actively involved in various civil society organisations and has advocated for democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights in the region. Chow’s activism includes participating in the annual Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong, which commemorates the pro-democracy movement in China and honours the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
She has been arrested multiple times for her participation in these events and for promoting awareness about the pro-democracy movement. Chow has been targeted by authorities for her involvement in the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organises the Tiananmen Vigil and advocates for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong and China.
#FreeHangTung #邹幸彤 #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro
In May 2025, Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro was arbitrarily detained in a process described by international organizations as political retaliation. Amnesty International declared her a “prisoner of conscience,” and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary measures to protect her life and integrity. The Salvadoran state has not complied with those measures.
To this day, the First Criminal Court of El Salvador confirmed her provisional detention and denied her substitute measures. The process continues in the instruction phase, and the defender is still deprived of liberty and held in total incommunicado.
Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro is a lawyer. She dedicated her career to strengthening public institutions from within. She worked at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Salvadoran Social Security Institute, and the Superintendency of Competition, leaving a mark of professionalization and accountability.
In 2021, Ruth took over as director of Cristosal's Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit, where she denounced irregularities in the use of public funds, corruption during the pandemic, espionage with Pegasus, and violations of due process under the state of emergency. Her leadership has transcended borders. She was included in the BBC 100 Women list (2024) and received the 2025 International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association for her defense of human rights.
Beyond her career as a lawyer, Ruth is known for her integrity, discipline, and human warmth. Those who know her highlight her firm character, her ability to listen, and her sensitivity to the suffering of victims. She has a deep conviction that decency is a form of resistance and that legal knowledge must always be put at the service of human dignity.
Her phrase, “Have some decency. One day this will end,” uttered at the time of her arbitrary detention in May 2025, has become a symbol of democratic resistance in El Salvador.
#FreeRuth #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #HaveDecency
Gulfisha Fatima
On 9 April 2020, Gulfisha Fatima was arrested for allegedly leading an anti–Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in northeast Delhi, where demonstrators opposed the law for discriminating against Muslims. Since then, Gulfisha has remained imprisoned in a pending conspiracy case, despite being granted bail in the initial matter.
Gulfisha is a student activist who participated in women-led protests in Seelampur against the CAA. On 11 April 2020, she was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for her alleged role in a conspiracy linked to the February 2020 communal riots in northeast Delhi. Although she was granted bail in May 2020 in the first case, her bail requests in the conspiracy case have been repeatedly rejected.
Gulfisha’s applications have faced extensive delays, with hearings adjourned more than 65 times since May 2022. On 2 September 2025, the Delhi High Court denied her bail once again, stating that conspiratorial violence under the guise of protests cannot be permitted. On 7 September 2025, Gulfisha approached the Supreme Court to challenge the order.
#FreeGulfisha #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Manahel Al-Otaibi
On January 9, 2024, fitness instructor Manahel Al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in prison following a secret hearing before the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC). At a hearing on 21 August 2025, the SCC overturned Al-Otaibi’s 11-year jail term but handed down a new five-year sentence (followed by a five-year travel ban). With time served, she will not be freed until 2027.
Manahel Al-Otaibi is a 30-year-old online influencer and fitness instructor, who was active online in documenting her daily lifestyle, and celebrated the new Vision 2030 plan and the reforms of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, including allowing women to dress as they please. She was also active in previous online campaigns calling for an end to the male guardianship system and the ban on women driving, using feminist hashtags.
Her charges included peacefully promoting women’s rights, wearing “indecent” clothing, and tweeting with feminist hashtags. Manahel has been held in solitary confinement, suffered physical abuse that resulted in a broken leg, and has been denied proper medical care.
Her two sisters, Maryam and Fawzia Al-Otaibi, were also targeted by the authorities using various forms of legal harassment, including travel bans, summons for interrogations, threats of imprisonment, and denial of obtaining permits for online work.
#FreeManahel #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez James
On December 13, 2023, Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez James was sentenced to 8 years in prison on fabricated charges of conspiracy to commit the crime of undermining national integrity and spreading false news. On February 1, 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights granted Nancy Elizabeth and her family provisional measures and ordered her immediate release, but she is still unjustly in prison.
Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez James is the president and legal representative of the indigenous party Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asalatakanka (Yatama, means “Sons of the Mother Earth” in Miskita language). Nancy Elizabeth has a long trajectory of defending women’s rights and the rights of Miskito people, so that she earned the recognition of “Woman Autonomy for her career in defending Misikitu women’s rights”. In 1991 she founded the Association of indigenous Misikita Women of the Caribbean Cost of Nicaragua.
#FreeNancy #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #SetThemFree
Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván
Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván has been imprisoned since 2020. October 18, 2025 marked five years since her unjust detention. During this period, the defender has faced 11 criminal proceedings for fabricated crimes in different states of Mexico. In two of them, she has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison. She is currently facing other criminal cases at the federal level.
Kenia Hernández is an Amuzga indigenous woman, feminist and mother of two. She is a lawyer and human rights defender. She has been active in various social movements advocating for women land and indigenous peoples' rights.
At the time of her arrest, the defender was the primary caregiver for her two minor children, who were left in the care of her mother, who died on September 7 of this year, without the prison authorities granting her permission to attend the funeral. In prison, she has continued her work as a defender, going on two hunger strikes in protest against the inhumane conditions of detention and the judicial harassment she faces.
#FreeKenia #LibertadParaKeniaYA #FreedomForKeniaNOW #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy
In 2024, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of “calls for mass civil unrest” based on publications produced by the media outlets she leads. While in pre-trial detention, she faced harassment and physical assault. According to her lawyer, she sustained bruises on her arms and face, including on the left side of her jaw.
Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy is a woman human rights defender and journalist who serves as the director of Temirov Live and Ayt Ayt Dese. Temirov Live is a YouTube-based media outlet established in 2020 by Bolot Temirov, a prominent Kyrgyzstani human rights defender and journalist, and is known for investigating and exposing corruption by state and non-state actors in Kyrgyzstan. Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy is the partner of Bolot Temirov, who was unlawfully deported from Kyrgyzstan and stripped of his Kyrgyzstani citizenship in November 2022. Following his deportation, she became the public face and leader of Temirov Live.
The Court also ruled that the legal custody and place of residence of the couple’s 12-year-old son must be determined by Kyrgyzstani state social services.
#FreeMakhabat #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #боштондук
Amanda Echanis
In August 2020, Amanda Echanis’ father was brutally killed, and a few months later, she was arbitrarily arrested with her month-old child. Amanda was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Amanda has rejected the allegation and has accused the Philippines authorities of planting evidence.
Amanda Echanis, a young poet and playwright, began her activism in high school, inspired by her parents, who were survivors of martial law and political prisoners. She grew up alongside her jailed parents. After graduating from university, Amanda worked with the Urban Poor Resource Center of the Philippines and later with Amihan, a women’s peasant federation, as an organizer in Cagayan Valley.
Amanda is detained at Cagayan Jail, facing arbitrary charges. The court hearings have been repeatedly postponed. Despite being imprisoned, she continued her work as a writer, with her poems and essays published by friends and colleagues.
#FreeAmanda #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Evelyn Susana Guillén Zepeda
Evelyn Susana Guillén Zepeda was sentenced to eight years in prison for a fabricated crime. In the context of Nicaragua, it is particularly difficult to obtain reliable information about Evelyn's situation.
Based on information published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Evelyn has had three hearings, two of which were conducted via video call. In the first two hearings, she was being prosecuted for her participation in protests and Facebook posts opposing the government. However, in the last hearing, the authorities changed the entire factual narrative to sentence her to eight years in prison for a fabricated crime related to drug trafficking.
On November 29, 2025, she got out of prison along with at least seven other political prisoners. But Evelyn is not free; in order to manipulate and confuse, the Nicaraguan regime replaced prison with alternative forms of detention that continue to violate the WHRDs' right to liberty and extend the repression and impact to their families and communities.
Evelyn Guillén is a digital activist and cyber activist. She carried out her work particularly in the context of the social protests in Nicaragua in 2018.
#FreeEvelyn #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #SetThemFree #FullAndUnconditionnalFreedom
Fariba Kamalabadi
Fariba Kamalabadi was arrested in 2022, and sentenced to 10 years in prison following a one-hour trial on charges of “forming and leading groups to act against national security.” In August 2023, the Tehran Court of Appeal upheld her sentence.
Fariba Kamalabadi is a former leader of the Baha'i community in Iran. She faced repeated arrests and imprisonment due to her leadership role in a religious minority that has long been persecuted in Iran.
Fariba Kamalabadi had previously served a 10-year sentence after being arrested in 2008 as part of a crackdown on Baha'i leaders. Fariba will have served 20 years in total by the end of her current sentence. In June 2025, reports indicated that Kamalabadi was transferred from Evin Prison to an overcrowded cell in Qarchak Prison after an Israeli airstrike on Evin. “I wish I had been killed by the missiles that hit Evin prison, rather than be transferred here to Qarchak and be forced to live like this. We are being buried alive”, Fariba said, describing her condition.
#FreeFariba #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Hoda Abdelmoneim
Since 2018, Hoda Abdelmoneim has been detained, denied visits from family and lawyers. Hoda Abdelmoneim (66) has been a lawyer and human rights defender since 1983. She received the 2020 Human Rights Award from the Council of Associations of Lawyers and Judicial Bodies in Europe and served on Egypt's National Council for Human Rights.
Hoda suffered from worsening health issues due to lack of medical care. According to her lawyer, Hoda had two heart attacks on 23 and 30 August 2025.
The continuation of Hoda’s pre-trial detention lacks any legal basis. She has been “rotated” into two new cases both carrying the same charges (joining a terrorist group and terrorism financing) as the first one back in 2018. Re-imposing the same charges constitutes a blatant violation of the most basic guarantees of a fair trial. 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
#FreeHoda #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Myo Myo Aye
Myo Myo Aye was arrested on 25 July 2025 at her home, under distressing circumstances. Authorities forced her son to kneel and pointed guns at his head in front of her and her husband, demanding she hand over her digital devices.
After raiding her room, the authorities took her away in handcuffs along with her belongings, money, and household registration document. Shortly after the arrest, ten men in plain clothes, accompanied by the local ward administrator, searched the STUM office. Since her arrest, her location remains unknown, and the junta has not released any official statement or reason for her detention. Myo Myo Aye suffers from diabetes and needs regular medication.
Myo Myo Aye is a labour rights defender and leader of STUM, an organisation founded by female workers to promote women workers’ rights and stronger labour protections in Myanmar. Following the 2021 coup, Myo Myo Aye and STUM faced growing harassment from authorities and businesses. Previously, Myo Myo Aye was arrested in the STUM office on 15 April 2021 for joining anti-coup protests and was sentenced to six months in prison, including 45 days in solitary confinement. Following her arrest, the STUM was banned.
Her daughter, Chue Thwel, was arrested on 28 July 2025 after posting about her mother, and her whereabouts are currently unknown.
#FreeMyoMyoAye #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Amani Al-Zain
Amani Al-Zain was arbitrarily arrested on 17 May 2020 by the Presidency of State Security on direct orders from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. She was detained following the resurfacing of a video chat from 15 October 2019 with Egyptian activist Wael Ghonim in which she referred to the crown prince as “Abu Munshar” (“father of the saw”) in reference to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The video spread widely on social media, and pro-regime users launched a Twitter campaign under the hashtag calling for her arrest. She has been held in an undisclosed location with no access to legal representation, family or any form of due process. Her detention continued into its fifth and sixth year as of October 2025 with no public trial nor communication afforded.
Amani Al-Zain is a Saudi internet activist from Jeddah who used her Twitter account to express dissent and support for arrested human rights defenders and internet activists.
#FreeAmani #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Ini Benjamine Esther Doli
On the night of 31 August to 1 September 2025, around 1:30 a.m., Maître Ini Benjamine Esther Doli was abducted from her home in Ouagadougou by armed men identifying themselves as members of the national gendarmerie. Days later an investigation had been opened against her based on her Facebook posts. She faces charges of “treason”, “insulting the Head of State”, and “attempting to demoralise the armed forces”.
Her abduction and arbitrary detention were carried out in violation of national and regional legal safeguards. Being kidnapped outside any legal procedure deprived her of all judicial protection and exposed her to a high risk of torture and ill-treatment.
Maître Ini Benjamine Esther Doli is a Burkinabe lawyer and former magistrate. She previously served as Deputy Prosecutor of the Faso at the High Court of Bobo-Dioulasso and as Government Commissioner at the Administrative Court of Ouagadougou, appointed in May 2019. Since July 2024, she has been officially registered with the Bar Association of Burkina Faso. Throughout her career and on social media, she has been an outspoken defender of justice, freedom of expression, and human rights. Through her public statements, particularly on Facebook, she regularly denounced abductions, arbitrary detentions, intimidation of citizens, and attacks against defenders of justice and human rights.
#FreeIni #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Zhang Zhan
On September 19, 2025, Zhang Zhan was found guilty of provoking disturbances and sentenced to four years in prison. She was accused of posting a large amount of “false information that seriously damaged the image of the country” on Twitter and YouTube. Before this sentence, she had already been convicted in 2020 and sentenced to another four years in prison.
Zhang Zhan is a lawyer whose licence was suspended because she actively spoke out about politics and the human rights situation in China. She travelled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, in early February 2020. From there, she reported numerous stories, including the detentions of other independent reporters and the harassment of families of victims seeking accountability, using her WeChat, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.
Because of her activism, Zhang was allegedly repeatedly threatened by the authorities. In 2019, she spoke out about the protests held in Hong Kong, expressing her support for the protesters by posting comments, writing articles, and holding up placards. In September 2019, she was summoned by the Shanghai police and later criminally detained and arrested on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” She was released by the police on November 26, 2019, but was detained again in 2020.
#FreeZhan #张展 #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Mahrang Baloch and Beebow Baloch
On 22 March 2025, Dr. Mahrang Baloch and Beebow Baloch, along with several other defenders, were arrested during a peaceful sit-in in Quetta protesting police violence. Their detention was repeatedly extended throughout June, July, and August, with the Anti-Terrorism Court remanding them multiple times. On 26 September 2025, both leaders were transferred to judicial custody.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch and Beebow Baloch are women human rights defenders from Balochistan. They are leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a human rights movement established to address abuses against the Baloch people, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. They have long faced harassment and reprisals from Pakistani authorities for their human rights work, and their families have also been subjected to intimidation.
In December 2023, they led the Baloch Long March after a young man was framed and killed in Turbat by Balochistan’s Counter Terrorism Department. The march was met with violence and legal action against protesters. Later, on 18 May 2024, Dr. Mahrang Baloch was charged with sedition and other offences for organizing a human rights conference in Quetta.
#FreeMahrang #FreeBeebow #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Nasim Gholami Simiyari
Nasim Gholami Simiyari was arrested in 2023. After five months in detention, she was formally charged with “assembly and collusion,” “propaganda against the regime,” and baghi (armed rebellion), and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Nasim is an Iranian architecture graduate and women’s rights activist. She is among those detained during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement protests. Known for her civic engagement and commitment to gender equality, she has faced severe judicial reprisals, including imprisonment, flogging, and exile.
#FreeNasim #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
Fabiola del Carmen Tercero Castro
On July 13, 2024, Fabiola del Carmen Tercero Castro was arrested. After 16 months of being disappeared and in the face of growing international pressure on the case, on November 11, 2025, she was presented to the pro-government media with the narrative that she had never been missing. This is considered by human rights organizations to be a response to the demand for proof of life of the defender, but to date there is no further information on her legal situation or confirmation of her release.
Fabiola del Carmen is a feminist journalist who has worked for digital platforms and collaborated with feminist organizations. In 2017, she founded “El Rincón de Fabi”, a platform to promote reading in the digital age. From this space, she promoted reading and access to books.
As a feminist activist, she is also prominent in the fight against gender-based violence and femicide, as well as in the defense of sexual and reproductive rights.
#FreeFabiola #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho #SetThemFree
Nourah bint Saeed Al-Qahtani
In August 2022, Nourah bint Saeed Al-Qahtani was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court to 45 years in prison. The Court also ordered that her phone and SIM card be confiscated, and that both of her Twitter accounts be shut down. She was retried in September 2024 and subsequently re-sentenced to 35 years in prison followed by a 35-year travel ban, on the basis of the Anti-Cybercrime Law and the Anti-Terrorism Law.
Her conviction was based on allegations of using Twitter accounts to criticise government policies and to call for the release of prisoners of conscience. She was also charged with possession of a banned book.
Nourah Al-Qahtani regularly shared her views on social media on Saudi political affairs. She was active on Twitter (now X) through two anonymous accounts, through which she advocated for human rights in Saudi Arabia, called for the release of political detainees and criticised human rights abuses committed by the Saudi authorities.
#FreeNourah #FreeWHRDs #SpreadingTheEcho
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We stay in solidarity with WHRDs and feminist movements worldwide. Our voices will be heard. Set all WHRDs FREE! #SpreadingTheEcho #freeWHRDs
