Sulieman Mujuni Baitani – Zanzibar National Coordinator | Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC). Sulieman Mujuni Baitani is a committed human rights defender whose portfolio includes writing, political engagement, and civil society work. He has dedicated himself to amplifying marginalized voices and strengthening civic space in Zanzibar.

Iman Ahmed Abdikarin was born in Italy on 12 May 1997 and returned to Mogadishu, Somalia in 1999. However, the situation in Mogadishu at the time was dire due to the chaos and violence that had plagued the country since the collapse of its central government in 1991. The civil war, which began with the ousting of President Siad Barre, created a power vacuum and intense clan-based warfare. The country was divided into various fiefdoms controlled by warlords, with no effective central authority to govern.

For four years, Peter Michael Madeleka built a career as a corporate lawyer, deeply engrossed in the intricacies of corporate legal work. Human rights law was far from his focus—until a life-altering event in 2019 changed everything. In 2019, Peter was unjustly arrested and charged with money laundering, leading to nearly two years of incarceration with his wife, Jamila Ilomo. Peter was wrongfully convicted due to a coerced plea bargain with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Elizabeth Chyrum, also known as Elsa Chyrum, is an Eritrean human rights activist based in the United Kingdom (UK). For the past 26 years, she has been instrumental in raising awareness about the human rights abuses faced by Eritreans, including arbitrary detention, torture, and forced conscription, both within Eritrea and among Eritrean refugees and migrants.

Apollo Mukasa’s journey into activism is deeply rooted in his commitment to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). As the Executive Director of Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD), Apollo is a driving force behind initiatives aimed at combating discrimination among PWDs. UNAPD was established in 1998 as a platform for voicing concerns of persons with physical disabilities to realise a barrier free environment where they can enjoy their rights to the fullest.

As a child, Leon wanted to be a magistrate – whom he saw as agents of justice. Born in 1983 in Burundi’s Southern province, he came of age at a time of great social and political upheaval in the East African country. In 1993 when Leon was barely 10, Burundi was besieged by a civil war that would last for the next 12 years until 2005, characterized by indiscriminate violence and gross human rights abuses in which over 300,000 people are estimated to have died.

In August 2011, Aida crossed into Uganda, pregnant, and barely able to communicate in another language other than Arabic. The transition was a difficult one, she says: “It was my first-time outside Sudan, and yet I did not know any other language. The first months were very difficult.” In 2012, still struggling to find her footing in Kampala, Aida was introduced to DefendDefenders, where she was introduced to the organisation’s resource center, and assured, it (the center) would be at her disposal whenever she needed to use it.

For most of her life, Pamela Angwech’s existence has always been a defiant and simultaneous act of survival and resistance. In 1976 when she was born, the anti-Amin movement was gathering pace, and her family was one of the earliest victims of the then dictatorship’s reprisals in Northern Uganda. Her father, a passionate educationist in Kitgum district was one of the most vocal critics of the dictatorship’s human rights excesses, which made him an obvious target of the state’s marauding vigilantes.