Detained Bahraini activist al-Khawaja starts new hunger strike
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Bahraini activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja begins a new hunger strike to protest his long-term imprisonment, ahead of the Manama Dialogue security summit.
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Maryam al-Khawaja, left, holds a picture of her father, the imprisoned activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, outside the embassy of Bahrain in London, September 15, 2023. (AP)
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a leading Bahraini human rights activist imprisoned since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, has launched a new open-ended hunger strike to protest his continued detention and draw international attention to his case, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Al-Khawaja, 64, who also holds Danish citizenship, began his strike at the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center in Bahrain. His supporters warned that his deteriorating health poses a serious risk to his life, with doctors saying he is already 10 kilograms underweight and suffers from a heart condition.
Dr. Damian McCormack, a physician who has advised the Danish government, cautioned that al-Khawaja’s medical condition leaves him at “high risk of death in a hunger strike of any duration.”
Danish and European pressure
The hunger strike appears aimed at increasing pressure on Denmark and the European Union to intervene for his release. Danish authorities have repeatedly raised the issue with Bahraini officials, who continue to insist that al-Khawaja’s imprisonment is lawful and that he is subject to Bahraini jurisdiction.
The move also comes days before Bahrain hosts the annual Manama Dialogue, a major regional security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which draws world and defense leaders to the Gulf kingdom.
Read more: Bahrain detains activist opposing US-led Red Sea coalition
Arbitrary detention and international criticism
Al-Khawaja, a co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been imprisoned since 2011 after a military tribunal sentenced him to life on what international rights groups and UN experts have denounced as politically motivated “terrorism” charges.
Despite repeated appeals from human rights organizations and the United Nations describing his detention as arbitrary, Bahraini authorities continue to claim that prisoners in the kingdom receive “fair trials before an independent judiciary” and are “guaranteed their full rights,” including medical care.
Al-Khawaja previously undertook a 110-day hunger strike in 2012, protesting prison conditions and calling for democratic reforms.
Background on Bahrain’s crackdown
Al-Khawaja’s activism dates back to the 1990s, when he campaigned for democratic reforms after returning from exile in Europe. Following the 2011 mass protests against the country's monarchy, the government violently suppressed demonstrations and imprisoned opposition figures.
The island nation, home to around 1.5 million people, also hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and is considered a major non-NATO ally of Washington. In 2020, Bahrain normalized ties with "Israel" under the US-brokered normalization accords, which remain deeply unpopular amongst Bahrainis.
Read more: Political prisoners walk free as Bahrain pardons 457 prisoners
