Search

Raif Badawi was imprisoned for his religious freedom advoacy, expression about religion, and for criticizing religious authorities.

In June 2012, authorities arrested Badawi, a…

Mohammad bin Hassan al-Habib is imprisoned for his religious expression, leadership role, and religious freedom advocacy.

In July 2016, authorities detained al-Habib, a Shi'a cleric, as he…

Ashraf Fayadh was imprisoned for apostasy.

In August 2013, authorities arrested Fayadh, a Palestinian poet and artist living in Saudi Arabia, following an altercation with a man in …

Ahmad al-Shamri is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.

In 2014, authorities arrested al-Shamri, accused him of using social media to insult or renounce Islam, and charged him…

Leah Sharibu is in EPC captivity for refusing to renounce her faith.

On February 19, 2018, the Islamic State - West Africa Province (…

Stan Swamy was detained and died in state custody for his civil society work helping religious communities.

On October 8, 2020, the National Investigation Agency arrested Swamy, a Jesuit…

Hassan Farhan al-Maliki is detained for his religious expression and religious freedom advocacy.

In September 2017, authorities arrested al-Maliki, an…

Ali al-Nimr was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

In July 2012, authorities detained Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-…

Dawood al-Marhoun was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

On May 21, 2012, authorities arrested al-Marhoun, who was 17 years old at the time…

Abdullah al-Zaher was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

In March 2012, authorities detained al-Zaher, 15 years old at the time, for…

Aisha al-Muhajiri is detained for her religious activity.

In February 2021, police raided al-Muhajiri's home in Mecca and detained her for preaching and giving Qur'an lessons at her home.…

Mohammed al-Rabiah is imprisoned for his activism against state imposed religious systems.

On May 15, 2018, authorities arrested al-Rabiah amid a statewide crackdown on women's rights…

Salman al-Ouda is detained for his religious activity and leadership role.

In September 2017, police arrested al-Ouda, a sheikh and Islamic scholar, from his home amid a state-wide wave…

Waleed abu al-Khair is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.

In April 2014, authorities arrested al-Khair for legally defending religious prisoners of conscience, including Raif…

Ali Aboluhom is imprisoned for his religious expression.

In August 2021, authorities arrested Aboluhom for allegedly expressing ideas about atheism online. Prosecutors charged him with…

Khurram Parvez is detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

In November 2021, authorities arrested Parvez, a Muslim human rights advocate in Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.…

Murtaja Qureiris was imprisoned for his religious identity and for protesting religious discrimination.

On September 20, 2014, authorities arrested Qureiris, who was 13 years old at the…

Ali al-Omari is detained for his religious activity and leadership role.

In September 2017, authorities arrested al-Omari, an Islamic scholar, talk-show personality, and chairman of TV…

Israa al-Ghomgham is imprisoned for her religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In December 2015, Saudi authorities arrested al-Ghomgham, a well-known Shi'a activist, along with…

Mousa al-Hashim is imprisoned for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In December 2015, Saudi authorities arrested al-Hashim along with his wife, a well-known Shi'a…

Siddique Kappan was detained on for his religious identity and for reporting on religious freedom conditions. 

On October 5, 2020, authorities arrested…

Umar Khalid is detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

In September 2020, authorities arrested Khalid, a student activist, for leading peaceful protests opposing the religiously…

Khalid Saifi is detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

In February 2020, authorities arrested Saifi, founder of the United Against Hate organization, for leading peaceful protests…

Meeran Haider was detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

On April 1, 2020, authorities arrested Haider, a Muslim student activist, after accusing him of inciting communal violence…

Sharjeel Imam is detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

In January 2020, authorities arrested Imam, a Muslim student activist, for participating in peaceful protests opposing the…

Gulfisha Fatima was detained for her religious freedom advocacy.

On April 9, 2020, authorities arrested Fatima, a Muslim student activist, under first information…

Natasha Narwal was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On May 23, 2020, authorities arrested Narwal, a Hindu student activist, after accusing…

Devangana Kalita was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On May 23, 2020, authorities arrested Kalita, a Hindu student activist, after accusing…

Asif Iqbal Tanha was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On May 17, 2020, authorities arrested Tanha, a Muslim student activist, for rioting and attempted murder under…

Shifa ur-Rehman was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On April 26, 2020, authorities arrested ur-Rehman, a Muslim and president of Jamia…

Ishrat Jehan was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On February 26, 2020, authorities arrested Jehan, a former councilor, after accusing her…

Umar Gautam is detained for his religious activity.

In June 2021, authorities arrested Gautam, a Muslim convert, Islamic scholar, and founder of the Islamic Da’…

Qazi Jahangir Qasmi is detained for his religious activity. 

In June 2021, authorities arrested Qasmi, an Islamic cleric and employee at the Islamic Da’wah…

Kaleem Siddiqui was detained in relation to his religious belief and activity.

On September 21, 2021, authorities arrested Siddiqui, an Islamic scholar and…

Safoora Zargar was detained for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On April 10, 2020, authorities arrested Zargar, a Muslim student activist and roughly three months pregnant at…

Abdullah Gautam is detained for his religious activity.

In November 2021, authorities arrested Gautam after accusing him of being involved in the alleged forced conversion efforts of his…

Jam Singh was detained in relation to his religious belief and activity.

On December 26/27, 2021, authorities arrested Singh, who is a pastor, and two others after they were accused of…

Ansingh Ninama was detained in relation to their religious belief and activity.

On December 26/27, 2021, authorities arrested Ninama, who is a pastor, and two others after they were…

Mangu Mehtab Bhuriya was detained in relation to their religious activity. 

On December 26/27, 2021, authorities arrested Bhuriya and two others after they were accused of trying to…

Nandha Nathaniel was detained in relation to his religious belief and activity.

In October 2021, authorities arrested Nathaniel, who is a pastor, and his wife, Savita Singh, after they…

Savita Singh was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

In October 2021, authorities arrested Singh and her husband, Nandha Nathaniel, after they were accused of…

Ramesh Vasuniya was detained in relation to his religious activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Vasuniya, a pastor, and five others, including his wife, after they were…

Kumtu Vasuniya was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Vasuniya and five others, including her husband, after they were…

Saju Ben is detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to forcibly…

Sama Ben was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to…

Ranga Ben was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Ben and five others after they were accused of trying to…

Adya was detained in relation to her religious belief and activity.

On December 5, 2021, authorities arrested Adya and five others after they were accused of trying to forcibly…

Kishor Ram was detained for reporting on religious freedom conditions.

On February 24, 2022, authorities arrested Ram, who is a member of the Dalit community and a journalist known for…

Fahad Shah was detained for reporting on religious freedom conditions. 

On February 4, 2022, authorities arrested Shah, journalist and editor of the news website The Kashmir Walla,…

Hidme Markam was detained for her advocacy work to protect religious sites.

On March 9, 2021, authorities arrested Markam, an Adivasi Indigenous activist known for criticizing state…

Mohammed Issam al-Faraj is imprisoned for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

On June 29, 2017, authorities in Medina arrested al-Faraj for protesting the state's…

Ali Hassan al-Faraj is detained for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2017, authorities in Medina arrested al-Faraj for protesting against the state's treatment…

Ahmed Abdul Wahid is detained for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2017, authorities in Medina arrested al-Faraj for protesting against the state's treatment of…

Ali Mohammed Al Bati is detained for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2017, authorities in Medina arrested Al Bati for protesting against the state's treatment…

Mohammed Hussein Al Nimr is detained for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2017, authorities in Medina arrested Al Bati for protesting against the state's…

Jalal Labbad was imprisoned and executed for his religious identity and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On February 23, 2017, authorities arrested Labbad from his family’s home…

Shoma Sen was detained for her human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On June 6, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested several…

Surendra Gadling is detained for religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested Gadling, a human rights lawyer known for defending…

Mahesh Raut was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On June 6, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested…

Sudhir Dhawale was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On June 6, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested…

Rona Wilson was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On June 6, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested…

Gautam Navlakha was under house arrest for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On August 28, 2018, police in…

Vernon Gonsalves was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On August 28, 2018, police in Maharashtra…

Arun Ferreira was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On August 28, 2018, police in Maharashtra arrested…

Anand Teltumbde was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On April 14, 2020, Teltumbde, a scholar and…

Hany Babu was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On July 28, 2020, the National Investigation Agency…

Sagar Tatyarao Gorakhe was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On September 7, 2020, the National…

Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor was detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

On September 7, 2020, the National…

Jyoti Jagtap is detained for her religious freedom advocacy.

In September 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Squad in Pune arrested Jagtap, a human rights activist, for…

Ahmed al-Matrood is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.

On an unspecified date, Saudi authorities arrested al-Matrood for protesting in Al-Qatif governorate against the state's…

Khaled al-Ghanim is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.

On an unspecified date, Saudi authorities arrested al-Ghanim for protesting in Al-Qatif governorate against the state's…

Ali al-Ouwaisher is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.

On an unspecified date, Saudi authorities arrested al-Ouwaisher for protesting in Al-Qatif governorate against the state's…

Mujtaba al-Muzain is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.

On an unspecified date, Saudi authorities arrested al-Muzain for protesting in Al-Qatif governorate against the state's…

Lina Alsharif was detained in relation to religious freedom advocacy.

In May 2021, officials from the Saudi Presidency of State Security raided Alsharif’s home in Riyadh, arrested her, and…

Sulaiman al-Dowaish was forcibly disappeared for his religious expression.

In April 2016, al-Dowaish, a religious scholar, was forcibly disappeared after posting tweets summarizing a…

Aimidoula Waili was detained for his ethnoreligious identity.

In November 2020, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested Waili, a Uyghur Muslim and religious scholar, following an extradition…

Nuermaimaiti Ruze was detained for his ethnoreligious identity.

In November 2020, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested Ruze, a Uyghur Muslim, following an extradition request from the Chinese…

Buheliqiemu Abula was detained for her ethnoreligious identity.

In March 2022, Saudi Arabian authorities detained Abula, a Uyghur Muslim, and threatened her with deportation to China.

…

Ali Badahdah is imprisoned in relation to his religious activity and leadership.

On September 12, 2017, armed soldiers arrested Badahdah, an imam and professor of hadith at King Abdul Aziz…

Asmaa al-Subaie is detained for her women’s rights activism critical of state-imposed religious systems.

In June 2021, authorities affiliated with the Presidency of State Security arrested…

Omar Abdullah al-Saadoun is detained for her religious freedom advocacy.

In July 2021, authorities arrested Omar Abdullah al-Saadoun, a cleric and legal advisor, after he wrote an article…

Omar al-Muqbil is imprisoned for his religious expression and religious freedom advocacy.

In September 2019, authorities arrested al-Muqbil, a cleric, for a sermon criticizing concerts…

Abdullah Basfar is imprisoned for his religious activity and leadership.

In August 2020, authorities arrested Basfar, an imam, professor, well-known Qur’an reciter, and former Secretary-…

Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan is imprisoned for his religious expression. 

In March 2018, security agents from the Presidency of State Security arrested Al-Sadhan for operating two anonymous…

Rupesh Singh is detained for his religious freedom advocacy.

In July 2022, police in Ramgarh district arrested Singh, a freelance journalist known for reporting on human rights abuses…

Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba was imprisoned for criticizing state violence against religious and marginalized communities. 

On May 9, 2014, plain clothed police officers in Delhi arrested…

Mohammed Zubair was detained for his expression about religion and in relation to his reporting on religious freedom conditions.

On June 27, 2022, Delhi police arrested Zubair, co-founder…

Teesta Setalvad was detained for her human rights work supporting minority religious communities. 

On June 25, 2022, an antiterrorism squad in Mumbai arrested Setalvad, a human rights…

Salma al-Shehab was imprisoned for her women's rights activism opposing state-imposed religious systems as well as her religious identity.

On January 15, 2021, authorities arrested al-…

Jagtar Singh Johal is detained for his religious belief and religious freedom advocacy.

In November 2017, over a dozen plainclothes officers arrested Jagtar Johal, a Sikh activist and…

Saleh Al Talib is imprisoned for his religious expression leadership.

In August 2018, authorities arrested Talib, an imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, following a sermon he gave criticizing…

Youssef al-Manasif is imprisoned and sentenced to death for his religious identity and religious freedom advocacy.

In April 2017, authorities arrested al-Manasif for participating in…

Abdullah al-Derazi was imprisoned and executed for his religious identity and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On August 27, 2014, Tarut Island Police arrested al-Derazi in…

Atikur Rahman was detained in relation to his religious identity, social work for religious communities, and for protesting religious freedom conditions.

On October 5, 2020, authorities…

Javed Mohammed is detained for his religious expression and religious freedom advocacy.

In June 2022, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested Mohammed, a well-known Muslim activist, after accusing…

Abdul Majeed Al-Arkani is imprisoned for his religious activity and expression.

In 2020, authorities arrested Al-Arkani, an imam, for being friendly with a prominent Turkish figure, Yasin…

Khaled Al-Rashed is imprisoned for his religious expression and association.

In March 2006, Saudi authorities arrested Al-Rashed, a cleric, for his membership in the Movement of Reformers…

Abdul Rashid Dawoodi is detained for his religious activity and leadership role.

In September 2022, police in Jammu and Kashmir arrested Dawoodi, a Sufi cleric and founder of the Tehreek-e-…

Irfan Mehraj is detained for religious freedom advocacy.

In March 2023, National Investigation Agency authorities arrested Mehraj, a human rights activist and journalist known for his…

Manahel al-Otaibi is imprisoned for her religious freedom advocacy.

In November 2022, Saudi authorities arrested al-Otaibi, an online fitness influencer, for opposing religiously grounded…