…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end
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Bahrain Political Prisoners in Hunger Strike

by Courtesy

Bahrain: UPDATE – Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and 13 other prisoners start hunger strike
Front Line Defenders – 29 January, 2012

On 29 January 2012 human rights defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and 13 other prisoners, including prisoners of conscience and human rights defender Abduljalil Al Singace, started an open-ended hunger strike to protest against the arbitrary arrest and detention of peaceful protesters and continued human rights violations in Bahrain.

The striking prisoners are held in Jaw Prison and are serving prison sentences, some of which are life sentences, handed down after grossly unfair trials. To express solidarity with Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and the other prisoners on hunger strike the President of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights Mohammed Al Maskati and its board members started a hunger strike on 30 January 2012.

Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, former Front Line Defenders Protection Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was arrested in April 2011. His case was considered by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) which detailed the types of torture and ill-treatment he was subjected to while held incommunicado.

The BICI forensic team established among other things that Abdulhadi AlKhawaja was “thrown on the ground, rolled down stairs, kicked and beaten with sticks. His hands were cuffed behind his back and he was blindfolded. His son-in-law was also arrested. Immediately after the arrest, the detainee received a hard blow to the side of his face, which broke his jaw and knocked him to the ground”.

Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, an internationally renowned human rights defender, remains in prison despite an unfair trial in the National Safety Court, torture and the clear insistence by the BICI report that all convictions by the National Safety Court be fully reviewed.

Front Line Defenders calls on the authorities in Bahrain to immediately release Abdulhadi AlKhawaja and drop all charges brought against him; bring to justice those involved in his torture and ill-treatment; and implement without delay all the recommendations made by the BICI. …more