Hunger strikes and political prisoners in Bahrain and the West Bank

Hunger strikes and political prisoners in Bahrain and the West Bank
by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy – 18 April, 2012 – National Catholic Reporter

Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is beginning the 10th week of a hunger strike at a military prison hospital in Bahrain. Family members and his lawyer fear he could be close to death.

Al-Khawaja, 52, was arrested and tortured last spring amid a government crackdown against a popular uprising calling for reform of Bahrain’s Sunni-led monarchy. In June, a military court convicted him of “organizing and managing a terrorist organization” and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He launched his hunger strike — the fourth since his detention — to demand his release and the release of all Bahraini political prisoners of conscience.

Al-Khawaja is a highly regarded human rights leader, and news of his deteriorating health has intensified the international campaign for his release. From 2002 to 2008, he co-founded and served as the first president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, and most recently worked as the Middle East and North Africa project’s coordinator for Front Line Defenders. The Irish-based human rights organization has created a video to publicize his case:

Last week, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt urged Bahrain to release the jailed activist, who has dual citizenship, saying he was in “very critical” condition. The prime minister’s appeal came after a judicial panel refused Denmark’s request for custody.

On Monday, two protesters draped a banner from the roof of the Bahraini Embassy in London that bore an image of al-Khawaja and imprisoned Bahraini Shi’ite opposition leader Hussan Mushaima. “Over 60 days on hunger strike,” the banner read in reference to al-Khawaja. Amnesty International just issued an action alert and petition on his behalf and Wednesday, Germany’s top human rights official, Markus Loening, called on Bahrain to release al-Khawaja and the “few hundred protestors” still imprisoned more than a year after the Arab Spring demonstrations.

All this publicity comes days before Bahrain is scheduled to host the Grand Prix. The royal family is reportedly divided on whether to release the jailed human rights activist. They publicly insist his situation is not grave because he is receiving fluid through IVs, but photos of the emaciated al-Khawaja widely circulated online don’t support that description. …more