Abdulhadi al-Khawaja

Al-Khawaja is a member of the Advisory Board of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies and also an expert adviser for and member of the coordinating committee of The Arab Group for Monitoring Media Performance monitoring the media in Bahrain and six other Arab countries. Al-Khawaja was part of Amnesty International’s fact-finding mission in Iraq, and has been a researcher and project consultant for Amnesty International and other international organizations. His human rights campaigning activities have been acknowledged by the International Conference of Human Rights Defenders in Dublin, and he was named by the Arab Program for Human Rights Defenders as its Regional Activist of 2005.

These trials and convictions represent yet further evidence of the extent to which the rights to freedom of speech and assembly are now being denied in Bahrain. These 15 activists appear to have been sentenced to jail terms for doing no more than exercising their legitimate right to demonstrate against the government. If this is correct and they have been convicted solely because of their peaceful anti-government activities, they are prisoners of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally. The manner in which these trials were conducted – with civilian defendants brought before a secretive military court from which international observers have been barred is highly alarming. It is indicative of the diminishing space for human rights in Bahrain right now.

For the first time in Bahrain, al-Khawaja started an open-ended hunger strike starting on 8 February 2012 until "freedom or death" protesting continuing detentions. As of 15 March, he had lost more than 14 kg, had problems talking and "could not stand up, even to perform his prayers," his daughter Maryam said. He was taken to hospital several times where doctors failed to administer him an IV line due to his veins' weak conditions, his family said. According to his wife, al-Khawaja spent most of his time lying down, needed hot water to keep his body's normal temperature, and became exhausted after 10–15 minutes of exposure to sunlight. As his health conditions kept declining, al-Khawaja refused medical examinations and threatened to stop drinking water. His deteriorating condition was confirmed by Danish diplomats who have made several visits to the prison he's held in. "Abdulhadi thinks there is no legal reason to keep him in jail," said his lawyer, al-Jishi, who also filed a last chance appeal. "He won't stop until they release him, or he will die inside," he added.

On 30 March 2012, the organization officially designated Alkhawaja a prisoner of conscience and demanded his immediate release.

Amid his hunger strike, the Danish foreign minister met with Bahrain's foreign minister in March 2012 and called for al-Khawaja's immediate release. Front Line Defenders launched a campaign demanding his immediate release. Sahrawi organisations including human rights defender Aminatou Haidar expressed their solidarity and support. More than fifty human rights organization appealed to King of Bahrain to release al-Khawaja. On 9 April, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called for Bahrain to consider transferring al-Khawaja to Denmark for medical treatment, but Bahrain's Supreme Judicial Council refused on the grounds that the transfer would be a violation of Bahraini law. On 10 April, al-Khawaja's lawyer Mohammed al-Jeshi expressed his fears that Alkhawaja had died, as authorities were no longer allowing his family or legal counsel to see him.

On 1 May 2012, Al-Khawaja told BBC correspondent Frank Gardner that he would continue the hunger strike. He said that the medical treatment which he was undergoing was good except the Bahraini officials trying to force-feed him, an accusation the government instantly denied.

Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja (Arabic: عبد الهادي عبد الله حبيل الخواجة ‎) is a Bahraini political activist. On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment following the suppression of an Iranian-backed rising against the Bahraini government. al-Khawaja has previously gone on a series of hunger strikes while serving his life sentence, in protest of the political conditions in Bahrain.

On 9 April 2011, al-Khawaja was arrested and tried as part of a campaign of repression by the Bahraini authorities following pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising. Front Line Defenders expressed fear for his life following allegations of torture and sexual assault in detention. Al-Khawaja was sentenced on 22 June 2011, along with eight other activists, to life imprisonment. On 8 February 2012, he started an open-ended hunger strike until "freedom or death", protesting continuing detentions in Bahrain. The strike lasted for 110 days, and resulted in his being force-fed by authorities.

Until February 2011, al-Khawaja was the Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator with Front Line Defenders – the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. He is also a member of the International Advisory Network in the Business and Human Rights Resource Center chaired by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Since 10 March 2011, messages have been circulated via SMS and social networking sites calling for al-Khawaja, Mohammed Al-Maskati and Naji Fateel to be killed because of their involvement in explicitly peaceful protests calling for democratic and human rights reforms in Bahrain.

In the early days of the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2011, al-Khawaja led peaceful pro-democracy protests across the country and organised peaceful awareness-raising and human rights education activities for protesters.

In the period following attacks by Bahraini troops on protesters on 14 February 2011, the government allowed the protesters to continue a "festival-like" event at the Pearl Roundabout where a variety of groups came and shared their views. The Crown Prince promised to start a dialogue with the opposition following a visit to Bahrain by Robert Gates, Defense Secretary of the United States, to discuss the situation.

After protesters entered the Financial Harbour, an area filled with financial exchanges and banks on 13 March 2011, the government began a violent crackdown in retaliation. A few days later, prominent opposition leader Hasan Mushaima and six other opposition activists were arrested.

On 9 April 2011, al-Khawaja was arrested. His daughter reported how up to 20 armed and masked policemen broke into their apartment in the middle of the night and attacked her father. They dragged him downstairs by the neck, leaving a trail of blood from injuries inflicted by five officers who refused to stop beating him despite his claims that he was unable to breathe. He was taken away unconscious. Al-Khawaja's two sons-in-law were detained as well. Mohammed Al-Maskati, President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYHRS), who had been monitoring human rights violations during the protests and was present in the house, was severely beaten during the raid but not arrested. Ll-Khawaja's daughter, Zainab, was assaulted when she attempted to intervene. The women present in the house were locked in a room and prevented from leaving. The family were not told where al-Khawaja had been taken or what he was accused of.

Al-Khawaja has been detained since 9 April 2011 and has reportedly been subjected to physical and sexual torture. He required a 4-hour operation in a military hospital following injuries to his head. Nabeel Rajab, current president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights reported that al-Khawaja’s jawbones had been smashed and he had four fractures in his face; he was due to undergo a mandibular bone graft (using bone from his skull).

At a hearing on 16 May 2011, the judges refused to listen to his complaints of an attempted rape and again refused to order an investigation into torture. According to representatives of al-Khawaja's family who were able to speak with him briefly, he was only able to resist the attempt by four men to rape him by banging his already damaged head against a concrete floor. He's referred to as "Case No. 8." in the BICI report.

On 20 April 2011, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was allowed to make a one-minute phone call to his wife. He informed her that he was supposed to appear before the Military Court at 8.00 am on 21 April. Before this call, al-Khawaja’s daughter had received a call from the military asking her to bring clothes for him. When his lawyers presented themselves before the Military Court, they were advised that the hearing was not going to take place that day. They were given no further information and were not allowed access to their client.

Eventually on 8 May 2011, al-Khawaja was put on trial by a military court with 20 other Bahrainis on charges of "organizing 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”. The group, which included other noted Bahraini human rights campaigners including Hasan Mushaima and Abduljalil Alsingace, clerics and members of political opposition groups, were tried under emergency legislation introduced following the protest demonstrations in February and March. With the exception of one Sunni, Ibrahim Sharif, all were members of Bahrain's majority Shia community.

On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Zainab al-Khawaja, who attended the trial, "tweeted" that after the sentence was read, her father raised his fist and shouted “We shall continue on the path of peaceful resistance!”, before being bustled out of the court room. Al-Khawaja's appeal is due to be heard on 11 September, when it will take place before an ordinary criminal court, rather than a military court.

On 9 February 2010, al-Khawaja was removed from a Turkish Airlines flight at Bahrain International Airport as he was about to leave for Istanbul to attend a human rights conference. Following a subsequent alleged altercation with an airport official he was arrested and charged with "insulting" the official. Front Line believes that al-Khawaja has been targeted solely as a result of his legitimate work in the defence of human rights.

On 6 January 2009, al-Khawaja was invited to make a speech during Ashura, the annual gathering commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the third historic Imam of Shia. During his speech, al-Khawaja referred openly to significant human rights violations in Bahrain including sectarian discrimination, corruption, plunder of public funds and land, arbitrary arrests, regular use of torture, unjust trials, denial of the rights of assembly and expression and the prosecution of human rights defenders and called for peaceful resistance to abuses by the ruling regime and civil disobedience.

On 2 February 2007, al-Khawaja was arrested again by the Bahraini authorities along with the Secretary General of the Bahraini Haq Movement pro-democracy organisation Hassan Mushaima and a third activist, Shaker Abdul-Hussein. Al-Khawaja was charged with offences including "promoting change to the political system through illegitimate means" and "an intention to change the governing system of the country, circulating false information, insulting the king and inciting hatred against the regime". The arrests were followed by public disturbances. Several hundred supporters who tried to hold a march in Jidhafs, on the outskirts of Manama, to demand the activists' release clashed with authorities. the Haq Movement spokesman Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace reported that Special Forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators, who originated from several villages west of the capital. The demonstrators dispersed but later regrouped.

On 19 September 2007, al-Khawaja was the principal target of a defamation campaign by the Bahraini Authorities aimed at discrediting the BCHR. He was accused of being connected with acts of violence in Bahrain during the 1980s and 1990s, of sympathizing with Iran and of coordinating with neo-conservatives in the United States. (The Bahraini authorities have a history of defaming activists who report on or publicly criticize high-ranking officials and official policies, particularly when western media and international human rights organizations are involved. Allegations are published in the national public media to which activists are refused access to defend themselves.)

On 15 July 2005, police sought to prevent a peaceful demonstration by the Committee for the Unemployed against the government's management of the unemployment situation and the state budget for 2005–2006. The authorities had reportedly been informed about the demonstration a week earlier. While protesters were still assembling, the security forces charged and violently dispersed the demonstration. A total of 32 people said to have required hospital treatment, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Nabeel Rajab and labor rights activist Abbas al-`Umran.

On 25 September 2004 the BCHR was closed down and al-Khawaja was arrested a day after publicly criticizing the Prime Minister and the Bahraini regime for corruption and human rights abuses, using language which "the authorities easily construed as incitement of hatred". Throughout the two months that he spent in prison while on trial, his supporters held widespread protests, both inside Bahrain and abroad. On the morning of 21 November, the court sentenced al-Khawaja to one year in prison, but later in the day it was announced that he had been given a Royal Pardon by the King and was released. The BCHR is still banned by the government, but has remained very active.

Since his return al-Khawaja has been subjected to detention, unfair trial, and physical assaults as a result of his human rights activities. Well-documented physical assaults against him in March 2002 and June/July/September 2005 were not investigated despite pledges by UN bodies and international NGO’s.

After 12 years in exile, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja returned to Bahrain in 1999 following wide ranging political reforms by the Bahraini government that allowed independent human rights groups to operate in Bahrain. Al-Khawaja became one of the main founders and director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), which was officially registered in June 2002.

During the period 1992–2001 BHRO gained respect for persistent, professional, and non-partisan activities at international level which contributed to the political changes that took place in Bahrain when the new ruler came to power in 1999. Al-Khawaja became head of the BHRO, prior to returning to Bahrain in 2001 following a general amnesty.

In 1991, al-Khawaja was granted political asylum in Denmark. Following his resignation from the CDPPB in 1992, he and other Bahrainis living in exile in the Scandinavian countries and the UK founded the Bahrain Human Rights Organization (BHRO), based in Denmark.

In 1981, the Bahraini government staged a crackdown on opponents, claiming to have uncovered a coup attempt by the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. Hundreds of civilians, mostly students, including minors, were detained and tortured. Seventy-three detainees were tried by the State Security Court (now abolished) on charges of membership of an illegal organization and attempting to use violence and given sentences of 7–25 years imprisonment.

After finishing high school in Bahrain in 1977, al-Khawaja traveled to the UK to continue his further education. In 1979, he took part in student activities in London in reaction to demonstrations and arrests in Bahrain. Many students abroad, including al-Khawaja, were denied renewal of their passports and asked to return home. In the summer of 1980, after fellow students had been detained and interrogated under torture for their activities in London and his family’s house had been ransacked and searched, al-Khawaja, fearing detention if he went back to Bahrain, decided to remain abroad.

On 28 May, al-Khawaja announced through his lawyer that he would end his hunger strike that evening, on the strike's 110th day.