U.S. Senators Call for Release of Freedom Now Client Abdulhadi al-Khawaja

For Immediate Release: U.S. Senators Call for Release of Freedom Now Client Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
20 April, 2012 – Freedom Now

Today, four members of the United States Senate, including Senators Richard Durbin (D-Il), Robert Casey (D-PE), Marco Rubio (R-Fl), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) requested Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to release longtime human rights advocate Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. In the letter, attached, the Senators declared:

We write to urge your government to release Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja on urgent humanitarian grounds. . ..Mr. al-Khawaja’s continued imprisonment has placed his life in jeopardy and threatens to further inflame tensions in Bahrain. We recognize that your government has made progress on some of the recommendations of the BICI report, and we encourage additional efforts to advance an inclusive political dialogue that will address issues raised by peaceful protestors and will put Bahrain on a path of long-term stability.

Freedom Now Executive Director Maran Turner stated: “Freedom Now echoes the urgent call by these Senators, who join thousands of voices all over the world, on the Bahrain government to release Mr. al-Khawaja, and to make meaningful progress in the reform process. The Bahrain government holds Mr. al-Khawaja’s life in its hands, and is doing so with no basis in law. If Mr. al-Khawaja is not released soon, he will surely die. The Government of Bahrain must demonstrate compassion and respect for international law and immediately release Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.”

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a prominent human rights defender imprisoned in Bahrain for his outspoken advocacy in the pro-reform protests in Bahrain. He is more than 70 days into a hunger strike, which he began on February 8 to protest his imprisonment and the inhumane treatment to which he was subjected by Bahraini authorities. Arrested April 9, 2011, he was charged with alleged state security crimes, and on June 22, was sentenced to life in prison. Mr. al-Khawaja was denied justice on appeal. However, at the end of last year an independent commission of inquiry (BICI) called for civilian retrials for those who had been convicted by military tribunals. A new verdict in Mr. al-Khawaja’s case is expected on Monday, April 23. …more