An encounter with a human rights defender

My encounter with a human rights defender
By Caroline Sanden – 6 November, 2013

The Rafto price 2013 is awarded to Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR). Sunday 3. November Maryam al-Khawaja, acting President for BCHR, accepted the prize on behalf of BCHR at the National Stage in Bergen. On the occasion of the Rafto Prize award ceremony I got the opportunity to interview the young human rights activist.

It’s Friday afternoon, and I’m waiting outside an assembly room inside the Radisson Blue Hotel Norway. The tension in the air suggests that it is an important person waiting behind the closed door. I’m a bit nervous, something my fingernails will know.

The door opens, and I get the green light to enter. I am greeted by a warm smile, and we shake hands. Maryam has a clear voice, which fills the room. She has a way of talking that captures the listeners attention immediately.

Bahrain in the future

The mission of BCHR is to encourage and support individuals and groups to be proactive in the protection of their own and others’ rights, and to struggle to promote democracy and human rights in accordance with international norms. They will document and report on human rights violations in Bahrain, and use this documentation for advocacy to influence international policies according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

How will this award affect your organization (BCHR)? This is doubtfully the first time she has heard this question, and the answer comes quickly and concisely without hesitation.

– First of all it brings much-needed media attention to the situation in Bahrain, which doesn’t even exist, or exist in a very low level. It also gives us a platform to speak from.

Do you think Bahrain will make any progress with fundamental human rights in the close future?

– I think that as long as the local culture of impunity in Bahrain continues, and the international situation of impunity of the Bahraini government continues, then no. If we were able to get international accountability for the Bahraini government, and consequences and reactions, then yes.

Banned from her country

Maryam has been active in participating in protests and volunteering for human rights organizations since she was a young teenager. Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, is former president and co-founder for BCHR. He was banned from Bahrain in the mid-1980s, and they got political asylum in Denmark, where they lived until 2001 when they were allowed re-entry into Bahrain. She is currently in exile in Denmark, where she has been since the Bahraini uprising in 2011. …more