Paris-Geneva,
September 13, 2023 – Abdulhadi
Al-Khawaja has been arbitrarily imprisoned for 12 years in Bahrain
for his legitimate and
peaceful human
rights work. His daughter, Maryam Al-Khawaja, who has been living in
exile for several years, has announced that she will be going back to
the country, despite threats of imprisonment, to visit her father and
get him released soon, as his health condition is seriously
deteriorating. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Gulf Centre
for Human Rights call on the authorities in Bahrain to guarantee her
safety and integrity during her visit, and to immediately and
unconditionally release Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.
The
Observatory, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Gulf
Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) stand in solidarity with Maryam
Al-Khawaja,
former
GCHR co-Director and member and former President of BCHR, who is
bravely going back to Bahrain in hope to get her father, Abdulhadi
Al-Khawaja,
released from Jau prison, after 12 years of arbitrary detention.
Maryam Al-Khawaja has been advocating for democracy in Bahrain for
years, as well as campaigning for her father’s release alongside
the rest of her family, and creating the #FreeAlKhawaja
campaign on social media to attract more attention to the case. She
is facing a great risk of arrest upon her arrival in Bahrain as she
has been sentenced, in
absentia,
to one year of imprisonment under trumped up charges in 2014
by the High Criminal Court. Since then, four cases were brought up
against her, adding up to a potential life-sentence.
Abdulhadi
Al-Khawaja, is the co-Founder of both GCHR and BCHR, and former
President of BCHR, both member leagues of FIDH, as well as the former
MENA Protection Coordinator for Front Line Defenders. He was
sentenced to life imprisonment on June
22, 2011
for politically motivated charges. Since then, he has been subjected
to ill-treatment
and torture,
which include physical, psychological torture, gravely deteriorating
his health. Alongside 800 other prisoners, Mr. Al-Khawaja started
another hunger-strike on August 6, 2023 to protest his arbitrary
detention and the deplorable detention conditions in Jau prison, thus
further worsening his health. He
stated that prison authorities arbitrarily deny him adequate
healthcare and refuse to refer him to specialists for the urgent
surgeries he requires, in total violation of internationally
recognised
standards for the treatment of prisoners. The UN Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights expressed
concern
over his and the other prisoners’ well being. On September 11,
2023, the prisoners suspended the hunger strike after 36 days,
following commitments made by the Bahraini authorities to improve
prison conditions. However, on September 13, 2023, after being
refused yet another hospital appointment by the prison
administration, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja resumed his hunger strike.
The
Observatory, BCHR and GCHR recall that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was
sentenced to life imprisonment, alongside other activists, making
them the Bahrain
13.
He was arrested on April 9, 2011 for his role in organising peaceful
protests to defend human rights and democracy in Bahrain and for
engaging in a political reform during the popular ‘Arab Spring’
movements, which began in Bahrain in February, 2011. He was violently
detained by security forces as detailed in a report
by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) published in
November 2011 at the request of the King of Bahrain. He was charged
with “organising and managing a terrorist organisation”, “attempt
to overthrow the Government by force and in liaison with a terrorist
organisation working for a foreign country” and the “collection
of money for a terrorist group”, together with 20 other political
and human rights activists by the National Security Court of Bahrain.
The whole trial went against the internationally recognised principle
of a fair trial, clearly illustrating that this is a politically
motivated case created to silence the voice of human rights
defenders.
The
Observatory, BCHR and GCHR urge the Bahraini authorities to ensure
the safety and the freedom of Maryam Al-Khawaja during her stay in
Bahrain, and to allow her to visit her father in prison.
The
signatory organisations further urge
the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja as well as all human rights defenders
arbitrarily detained in the country, and ensure they are able to
carry out their vital human rights work in a safe environment.
The
signatory organisations further call on the Bahraini authorities to
take urgent actions to ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja receives
adequate and timely medical attention and care, in order to prevent
any further health complications.
The
Observatory, BCHR and GCHR also remind the Danish government that
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini and Danish citizen and calls on
them, but also on the United States of America government, as
Bahraini officials are about to visit the country, to use their
influence to put pressure on the Bahraini government for the
unconditional release of Mr. Al-Khawaja and ensuring
of seriously improved prison conditions in the meantime.
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