Yara Bader

She leads the independent Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (CMFE),[1] founded in Damascus in 2004, along with her husband, prominent lawyer and free speech advocate Mazen Darwish.

[6] She has been particularly vocal on activists’ arrests and the violations of human rights committed by the Bashar al-Assad regime.

[7] In February 2012, she was among 14 CMFE staff members, also including director Mazen Darwish and prominent activist Razan Ghazzawi, who were arrested during a raid on their offices by the Syrian Air Force Intelligence services.

"[9] Her husband, Mazen Darwish, was released later, in August 2015, along with colleagues Hussein Gharir and Hani al-Zitani.

[10][11] In 2015, Bader was honoured as a recipient of Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.