DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The daughter of a long-term human rights activist detained in Bahrain went on Thursday to demand his release while hundreds of Bahraini and other prisoners go on a massive hunger strike. He said he plans to return to the island. Although she could be imprisoned as well.
Maryam Al Khawaja’s trip has drawn renewed attention to the plight of her ailing 62-year-old father, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, a dual citizen of Denmark and Bahraini, is being held in what a United Nations panel calls a prison after being convicted of terrorism charges that have been criticized internationally. Since then, his “arbitrary” imprisonment has continued.
It is also Month-long hunger strike in Bahrain This comes just before Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s planned visit to the United States. It was one of the longest protests in the decade since Bahrain violently cracked down on Arab Spring protests in 2011 with help from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“I’m afraid of what it potentially means for me to go back to Bahrain. I’m afraid,” Al Khawaja told The Associated Press in an interview before the announcement. “But if it means potentially saving my father’s life, or if it means I get to see him, then I would do anything to help political prisoners in Bahraini and bring attention to their plight.” I’m willing to put fear aside and do whatever it takes to achieve that, if it means doing so.”
Bahrain’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Maryam al-Khawaja’s planned visit. The company previously sought to minimize the impact of the hunger strike in a statement to The Associated Press.
The government said on August 29: “The situation is being handled professionally and constructively to ensure the health and well-being of the detainee in question, while upholding the rule of law and order.”
The statement also cited a US State Department report that described “inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment by the government,” but added that “abuse of any kind is not tolerated in Bahrain.” did.
The hunger strike began on August 7 at the Joe Rehabilitation and Reform Center, which houses many prisoners labeled by human rights activists as dissidents opposed to the rule of the al-Khalifa family.
It quickly escalated into a protest now involving more than 800 prisoners, according to a list compiled by advocacy group Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Bahrain’s government claimed on Thursday that only 112 people were taking part.
The Associated Press could not independently confirm that number, but activists released audio messages and other details confirming hundreds of people attended. Smaller street protests have also occurred in recent weeks.
Prisoners’ demands include the right to worship, an end to the 23-hour daily lockdown and arbitrary isolation by guards, access to family members, and adequate medical care.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been refusing to eat since August 9, his daughter said. Ten years ago, he went on a 110-day hunger strike to protest his detention, which ultimately led to him being force-fed by authorities. His daughter said he had been subjected to “severe physical, mental and sexual torture” during his years in prison, and that his health problems put him at risk.
“He is currently on hunger strike because he has been denied proper treatment for several months, including seeing a cardiologist, due to his heart problems,” said Maryam Al-Khawaja.
Maryam Al Khawaja said she plans to travel to Bahrain next week around the same time as the crown prince’s visit to Washington. The plan includes having other human rights defenders accompany her to ensure her safety. But she still faces a variety of charges on the island, including what she said is an unspecified terrorism charge that could carry a life sentence.
“I know that my return carries very high consequences and high risks,” Al Khawaja said. “I reached a point where I could no longer sit and wait for the phone call to let me know that my father had died in prison. …If there was a chance I could save my father’s life, I would risk my own and my own physical safety.” I got to the point where I was willing to risk it.”
Her father, like other diplomats, knew of her plans, she said. Like her father, Al Khawaja also has Danish citizenship.
The Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center is located in the southern tip of Bahrain. Bahrain is an island in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia with a population of about 1.5 million people and about the same size as New York City. Concerns about medical care in prisons had previously been raised by activists.
The Department of State’s recent human rights report on Bahrain noted that families of prisoners reported a tuberculosis outbreak in the prison in June 2022. The government denied there was an outbreak, but months later opened a 24-hour clinic at the prison, the State Department said.
Bahrain, home of the Middle East-based U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, faces a decade of protests in the wake of Arab Spring protests in which the island’s Shiite majority and others demand greater political freedoms. We are in the midst of a crackdown on the sect. It has imprisoned Shiite activists, deported others, stripped hundreds of people of their citizenship, and shut down an influential independent newspaper.
On the other hand, Bahrain diplomatically recognized Israel and Hosted Pope Francis last November. Western countries have tried in the past to raise pressing human rights issues in closed-door meetings in the Middle East, particularly in Bahrain.
Western governments are “prioritizing their own security and economic relations with the Bahrain government…over prioritizing human rights and democratic values in general,” al-Khawaja said, calling the move short-sighted. “I think history has taught us that governments ruled by erratic dictators are not reliable allies when it comes to economic and security alliances.”