Abdulhadi Al Khawaja
Encyclopedia
Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail Alkhawaja (Arabic:عبدالهادي عبدالله حبيل الخواجة) is one of the most prominent Bahraini
human rights activist, former President and co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights
(BCHR), a nonprofit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain
. He has held a number of positions and played various roles in regional and international human rights organizations.
Until February 2011 Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was the Middle East and North Africa region Human Rights Activists Defender for Frontline
. 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.
Alkhawaja 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. Alkhawaja was part of Amnesty international’s fact finding mission in Iraq. He 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.
In 2011 Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was arrested and tried as part of a campaign of repression by the Bahraini authorities following pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising
. Fears for his life were expressed following allegations of torture and sexual assault in detention. Alkhawaja was eventually sentenced on June 22, 2011, along with eight other activists, to life imprisonment.
. Hundreds of civilians, mostly students, including minors, were detained and tortured. Seventy-three (73) detainees were tried by the notorious 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.
Until 1989, Alkhawaja was a member of the Islamic Front and consequently an active member of the Committee to Defend Political Prisoners in Bahrain (CDPPB). During the 1980s and 1990s the Islamic Front was one of four main opposition groups operating in exile. (After 2002, the group operated in Bahrain as a registered political group under a new name, The Islamic Action Society
(AMAL). Some members of the Islamic Front have been appointed to high ranking positions in Bahrain.) CDPPB was active in Damascus, London, Paris, and Geneva, working mainly on cases of arbitrary detention, torture, unfair trial, deprivation of nationality and coercive deportation, including the case of the 73 political prisoners.
In 1991, Alkhawaja was granted political asylum in Denmark. Following his resignation from the CDPPB and the Islamic Front 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.
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. Alkhawaja became head of the BHRO, prior to returning to Bahrain in 2001 following a general amnesty.
Alkhawaja was also one of the founders of the Bahrain Unemployment Committee, described as sharing a "similar confrontational strategy" with the Center. Many of the Committee's members are involved in the Centre or the Haq Movement
, including Abdul Wahhab Hussain.
Since his return Alkhawaja 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.
and labor rights activist Abbas al-`Umran.
pro-democracy organisation Hassan Mushaima and a third activist, Shaker Abdul-Hussein. Alkhawaja 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.
Police blocked roads around the area. Black smoke could be seen rising from the area. Witnesses said the demonstrators set tires and garbage containers on fire.
The Al-Wefaq Society, the largest grouping in the Bahraini Parliament with 17 out of 40 seats, called for an immediate session of the National Assembly, claiming that the arrests threatened the credibility of the reform process. Al-Wefaq chief Sheikh Ali Salman
criticized the arrests in his Friday sermon and attacked the authorities for their use of indiscriminate force. After being held and interrogated for 7 hours Alkhawaja, Hassan Mushaima and Shaker Abdul-Hussein were released on bail. Mushaima and Alkhawaja said that they believed that their release on bail was a result of the protests and of the strong reaction from opposition groups including the Al-Wefaq society, the country's largest Shia opposition group. During a joint press confrence with Alkhawaja, Mushaima said that Al-Wefaq's response had surprised the authorities and affirmed opposition solidarity.
, the annual gathering commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the third historic Imam of Shia. During his speech, Alkhawaja 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 21 January, the office of the Attorney General ordered Alkhawaja's prosecution against under articles 29(2), 160, 165, and 168(1) of the Penal Code. He was charged with 'propaganda to overthrow or change the political system by force', 'publicly instigating hatred and disrespect against the ruling regime', and 'willfully broadcasting false and malicious news, statements or rumours and spread provocative propaganda related to the internal affairs of the country that could disturb public security and cause damage to the public interest'. On 9 February, he was not allowed to leave Bahrain for a visit to Iraq on behalf of Front Line.
On 19 September 2007, Alkhawaja 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 9 February 2010, Alkhawaja 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 Alkhawaja has been targeted solely as a result of his legitimate work in the defence of human rights.
Since 10 March 2011, messages have been circulated via SMS and social networking sites calling for Alkhawaja, 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
.
Revolutions of 2011, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja 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 February 14, the Bahraini authorities 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 a dialogue. 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 March 13, the government began a violent crackdown in retaliation. A few days later Hasan Mushaima
and six other opposition activists were arrested.
, current president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
reported that Alkhawaja’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 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 Alkhawaja'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.
Eventually on 8 May, Alkhawaja 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 al-Singace, 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 19 June, Abdulhadi wrote a letter (in Arabic) from prison about his health situation. ( read translated letter)
On 22 June 2011, Alkhawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment
. Zainab Alkhawaja, 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. Alkhawaja'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.
The UK Foreign Office, noting that Ibrahim Sharif
was a prominent moderate opposition politician who had been a constructive participant in Bahraini politics, expressed concern at the trial of civilians under martial law by tribunals chaired by a military judge, as well as reports of abuse in detention, lack of access to legal counsel and coerced confessions.
Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme director, Malcolm Smart, described the trials as patently unfair, emphasising inadequate investigation of claims of torture and the use of false confessions as evidence. Summing up the situation
situation he said that
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
human rights activist, former President and co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, which was founded by a number of Bahraini activist in June 2002...
(BCHR), a nonprofit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain
Human rights in Bahrain
Bahrain's record on human rights has been described by Human Rights Watch as "dismal", and having "deteriorated sharply in the latter half of 2010"....
. He has held a number of positions and played various roles in regional and international human rights organizations.
Until February 2011 Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was the Middle East and North Africa region Human Rights Activists Defender for Frontline
Front Line (NGO)
Front Line or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2001 to protect human rights defenders at risk, i.e...
. He is also a member of the International Advisory Network in the Business and Human Rights Resource Center chaired by Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Alkhawaja 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. Alkhawaja was part of Amnesty international’s fact finding mission in Iraq. He 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.
In 2011 Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was arrested and tried as part of a campaign of repression by the Bahraini authorities following pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising
2011 Bahraini uprising
The 2011 Bahraini uprising, sometimes called the February 14 Revolution is a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil resistance, in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain...
. Fears for his life were expressed following allegations of torture and sexual assault in detention. Alkhawaja was eventually sentenced on June 22, 2011, along with eight other activists, to life imprisonment.
Early life
After finishing high school in Bahrain in 1977, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja 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 Alkhawaja, 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, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, fearing detention if he went back to Bahrain, decided to remain abroad.Civil and human rights activism in exile
In 1981 the Bahrain authorities staged a crackdown on government opponents, claiming to have uncovered a coup attempt by the Islamic Front for the Liberation of BahrainIslamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain was a Shia resistance group active from the 1970s to the 1990s, that advocated democracy in Bahrain and the overthrow of the ruling Sunni Al Khalifa family. It was responsible for the failed 1981 coup attempt inspired by the Iranian revolution two...
. Hundreds of civilians, mostly students, including minors, were detained and tortured. Seventy-three (73) detainees were tried by the notorious 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.
Until 1989, Alkhawaja was a member of the Islamic Front and consequently an active member of the Committee to Defend Political Prisoners in Bahrain (CDPPB). During the 1980s and 1990s the Islamic Front was one of four main opposition groups operating in exile. (After 2002, the group operated in Bahrain as a registered political group under a new name, The Islamic Action Society
Islamic Action Society
The Islamic Action Society is one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appeals to Shīʻa followers of the Najaf-based Āyatu l-Lāh, Hādī al-Mudarrisī, who are known as "the Shirāzī faction"....
(AMAL). Some members of the Islamic Front have been appointed to high ranking positions in Bahrain.) CDPPB was active in Damascus, London, Paris, and Geneva, working mainly on cases of arbitrary detention, torture, unfair trial, deprivation of nationality and coercive deportation, including the case of the 73 political prisoners.
In 1991, Alkhawaja was granted political asylum in Denmark. Following his resignation from the CDPPB and the Islamic Front 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.
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. Alkhawaja became head of the BHRO, prior to returning to Bahrain in 2001 following a general amnesty.
Return to Bahrain
After 12 years in exile, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja returned to Bahrain in 1999 following wide ranging political reforms by the Bahraini government that allowed independent human rights groups to operate in Bahrain. Alkhawaja became one of the main founders and director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), which was officially registered in June 2002.Alkhawaja was also one of the founders of the Bahrain Unemployment Committee, described as sharing a "similar confrontational strategy" with the Center. Many of the Committee's members are involved in the Centre or the Haq Movement
Haq Movement
The Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy is an opposition political organization in Bahrain founded in 2005 with Hasan Mushaima as its Secretary general...
, including Abdul Wahhab Hussain.
Since his return Alkhawaja 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.
First arrest
On 25 September 2004 the BCHR was closed down and Alkhawaja 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 November 21, the court sentenced Alkhawaja 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.Unemployment protest crackdown
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 Alkhawaja, Nabeel RajabNabeel Rajab
Nabeel Rajab was one of the founders of the first migrant workers protection committee in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Migrant Workers Protection Group ....
and labor rights activist Abbas al-`Umran.
Second arrest
On February 2, 2007, Alkhawaja was arrested again by the Bahraini authorities along with the Secretary General of the Bahraini Haq MovementHaq Movement
The Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy is an opposition political organization in Bahrain founded in 2005 with Hasan Mushaima as its Secretary general...
pro-democracy organisation Hassan Mushaima and a third activist, Shaker Abdul-Hussein. Alkhawaja 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.
Police blocked roads around the area. Black smoke could be seen rising from the area. Witnesses said the demonstrators set tires and garbage containers on fire.
The Al-Wefaq Society, the largest grouping in the Bahraini Parliament with 17 out of 40 seats, called for an immediate session of the National Assembly, claiming that the arrests threatened the credibility of the reform process. Al-Wefaq chief Sheikh Ali Salman
Ali Salman
Ali Salman is the president of the Al-Wefaq political society in Bahrain. He is a Twelver Shi'a cleric educated in Qom. In January 1995 the Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to Dubai for leading a popular campaign demanding the reinstatement of the constitution and the restoration of...
criticized the arrests in his Friday sermon and attacked the authorities for their use of indiscriminate force. After being held and interrogated for 7 hours Alkhawaja, Hassan Mushaima and Shaker Abdul-Hussein were released on bail. Mushaima and Alkhawaja said that they believed that their release on bail was a result of the protests and of the strong reaction from opposition groups including the Al-Wefaq society, the country's largest Shia opposition group. During a joint press confrence with Alkhawaja, Mushaima said that Al-Wefaq's response had surprised the authorities and affirmed opposition solidarity.
Ashura speech
On 6 January 2009, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja was invited to make a speech during AshuraDay of Ashura
The Day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram.It is commemorated by Shia Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10...
, the annual gathering commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the third historic Imam of Shia. During his speech, Alkhawaja 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
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
.
On 21 January, the office of the Attorney General ordered Alkhawaja's prosecution against under articles 29(2), 160, 165, and 168(1) of the Penal Code. He was charged with 'propaganda to overthrow or change the political system by force', 'publicly instigating hatred and disrespect against the ruling regime', and 'willfully broadcasting false and malicious news, statements or rumours and spread provocative propaganda related to the internal affairs of the country that could disturb public security and cause damage to the public interest'. On 9 February, he was not allowed to leave Bahrain for a visit to Iraq on behalf of Front Line.
Threats and harassment
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja has been the subject of ongoing harassment including physical attacks and smear campaigns in the media.On 19 September 2007, Alkhawaja 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 9 February 2010, Alkhawaja 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
Front line
A front line is the farthest-most forward position of an armed force's personnel and equipment - generally in respect of maritime or land forces. Forward Line of Own Troops , or Forward Edge of Battle Area are technical terms used by all branches of the armed services...
believes that Alkhawaja has been targeted solely as a result of his legitimate work in the defence of human rights.
Since 10 March 2011, messages have been circulated via SMS and social networking sites calling for Alkhawaja, Mohammed Al-Maskati and Naji Fateel
Naji Fateel
Naji Ali Hassan Fateel is a Bahraini human rights activist and member of the Board of Directors of the Bahraini human rights NGO Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights . Since 2007 he has been imprisoned, tortured and in the recent 2011 Bahraini uprising the target of death threats...
to be killed because of their involvement in explicitly peaceful protests calling for democratic and human rights reforms in Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
.
Involvement in the 2011 Bahraini uprising
In the early days of the Arab SpringArab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
Revolutions of 2011, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja 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 February 14, the Bahraini authorities allowed the protesters to continue a "festival-like" event at the Pearl Roundabout
Pearl Roundabout
Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout was a roundabout located near the financial district of Manama, Bahrain...
where a variety of groups came and shared their views. The Crown Prince promised a dialogue. Following a visit to Bahrain by Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
, 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 March 13, the government began a violent crackdown in retaliation. A few days later Hasan Mushaima
Hasan Mushaima
Hasan Mushaima is an opposition leader in Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Haq Movement, an important opposition party in Bahrain. He is campaigning for more democratic rights in Bahrain...
and six other opposition activists were arrested.
Arrest
On 9 April Alkhawaja 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. Alkhawaja'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. Alkhawaja's daughter, Zainab Al-Khawaja, 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 Alkhawaja had been taken or what he was accused of.Torture
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja has been held in detention in Bahrain since 9 April 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 RajabNabeel Rajab
Nabeel Rajab was one of the founders of the first migrant workers protection committee in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Migrant Workers Protection Group ....
, current president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, which was founded by a number of Bahraini activist in June 2002...
reported that Alkhawaja’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 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 Alkhawaja'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.
Trial and imprisonment
On April 20, 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 April 21. Before this call, Alkhawaja’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, Alkhawaja 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
Hasan Mushaima
Hasan Mushaima is an opposition leader in Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Haq Movement, an important opposition party in Bahrain. He is campaigning for more democratic rights in Bahrain...
and Abduljalil al-Singace, 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
Ibrahim Sharif
Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed is a Sunni Arab opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular liberal National Democratic Action Society . He succeeded former General Secretary Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, who fell into a coma in April 2007 and died in 2011...
, all were members of Bahrain's majority Shia community.
On 19 June, Abdulhadi wrote a letter (in Arabic) from prison about his health situation. ( read translated letter)
On 22 June 2011, Alkhawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Zainab Alkhawaja, 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. Alkhawaja'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.
International Response
The trials and sentences have been criticised by governments and human rights organisations as unfair and politically-motivated. The spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that there were serious concerns that the due process rights of the defendants, many of them well-known human rights defenders, had not been respected and the trials appeared to bear the marks of political persecution. The Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) called for an immediate cessation of trials of civilians in the Court of National Safety and the immediate release of all peaceful demonstrators arrested in the context of the February protest movement. The OHCHR had received "worrying" reports about the way up to 1,000 people reportedly remaining in detention were being treated and called on the Government to conduct an urgent independent investigation into allegations that four individuals had died in detention due to injuries resulting from severe torture.The UK Foreign Office, noting that Ibrahim Sharif
Ibrahim Sharif
Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed is a Sunni Arab opposition political activist in Bahrain, currently serving as the General Secretary of the secular liberal National Democratic Action Society . He succeeded former General Secretary Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi, who fell into a coma in April 2007 and died in 2011...
was a prominent moderate opposition politician who had been a constructive participant in Bahraini politics, expressed concern at the trial of civilians under martial law by tribunals chaired by a military judge, as well as reports of abuse in detention, lack of access to legal counsel and coerced confessions.
Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme director, Malcolm Smart, described the trials as patently unfair, emphasising inadequate investigation of claims of torture and the use of false confessions as evidence. Summing up the situation
situation he said that
See also
- Bahrain Centre for Human RightsBahrain Centre for Human RightsThe Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, which was founded by a number of Bahraini activist in June 2002...
- 2011 Bahraini uprising2011 Bahraini uprisingThe 2011 Bahraini uprising, sometimes called the February 14 Revolution is a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil resistance, in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain...
- 1990s Uprising in Bahrain1990s Uprising in BahrainThe 1990s Uprising in Bahrain or 1990s Intifada was an uprising in Bahrain between 1994 and 2000 in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces...
- Torture in BahrainTorture in BahrainTorture in Bahrain refers to the violation of Bahrain’s obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international treaties and disregard for the prohibition of torture enshrined in Bahraini...
- Islamic Action SocietyIslamic Action SocietyThe Islamic Action Society is one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appeals to Shīʻa followers of the Najaf-based Āyatu l-Lāh, Hādī al-Mudarrisī, who are known as "the Shirāzī faction"....
- Nabeel RajabNabeel RajabNabeel Rajab was one of the founders of the first migrant workers protection committee in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Migrant Workers Protection Group ....