Bahraini activist Zainab Al-Khawaja has been arrested today while protesting on Budaiya street, according to local reports. Shortly before being arrested, Al-Khawaja, who tweets from the account @angryarabiya, tweeted a message saying, “Sitting in a roundabout on budaiya street, shouting down down Hamad. Until now riot police don’t seem to know what to so.” Her sister, Maryam Al-Khawaja, who also works for the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights confirmed her arrest to Index. More updates to come.
Update 16/12/11: Zainab Al-Khawaja is to be detained for seven days. According to her lawyer, when arrested, Zainab was sprayed in the eyes with something making her unable to see for approximately one hour. Whilst at the police station, Zainab was beaten on her head, arms and legs. While she could not see, she recognised the voice of the policewoman who beat her, but the prosecutor refused to write it down. Zainab was then accused of hitting the policewoman, and refused to sign a statement. Zainab’s lawyer attempted to show the prosecutor the video of her arrest, but he refused to watch it. Zainab is currently waiting to establish what will happen to her.
Bahraini authorities this week released opposition activist Zainab Al-Khawaja, who had been imprisoned with her infant son since March. She had been convicted of insulting the Bahraini king after she ripped up a picture of him.
Al-Khawaja may now be out of prison — though she could be re-arrested at any time — but her father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, is one of over 3,500 prisoners of conscience who remain in Bahrain’s jails. According to research by World Prison Brief, Bahrain has the highest number of prisoners per capita in the Middle East, with 301 people in jail per 100,000 people of its 1.3 million population (followed by Israel at 256).
Arbitrary detention is the imprisonment of a person without proper evidence that they committed a crime or a case in which there has been no proper due process. Last year, the Liberties and Human Rights Department (LHRD) of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society recorded a total of 1,765 arrests by security services for reasons related to the opposition political movement, including the arrests of 120 children and five women.
The total number of arbitrary arrests last year was up on 2014 (1,765) but down on 2013 (2,192), 2012 (2,221) and 2011 (2,929).
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a UN body consisting of five experts, has repeatedly concluded that Bahrain has violated several international standards of a fair trial. In September of last year, the group found the detention of the secretary general of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Sheikh Ali Al-Salman — this month sentenced to nine years imprisonment — to be arbitrary and “falls under category II and III of the Working Group’s categories of arbitrary detention”.
The five categories of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, according to the UN group are: when it is clearly impossible to invoke any legal basis justifying the deprivation of liberty (I); when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms (II); when the total or partial non-observance of the international norms (III); when asylum seekers, immigrants or refugees are subjected to prolonged administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial review or remedy (VI); and when the deprivation of liberty constitutes a violation of international laws for reasons of discrimination (V).
In 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the imprisonment of Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2016 judge Nabeel Rajab (since pardoned) to be arbitrary, and, along with Index, called for his release.
Last year’s arbitrary arrests of prisoners of conscience in Bahrain included Mohammed Mahdi Alekri, a member of Al-Wefaq’s advisory board who was arrested on 4 January 2015 by security forces during a demonstration against the arrest of Al-Salman.
Also among those arrested was Sayed Sa’eed Isa, a member of The Martyrs Associate and father to Sayed Hashim Saeed, the 15-year-old boy killed during the security crackdown on demonstrations in Sitra late 2011.
The Bahraini authorities have continued to use arbitrary detention to silence political opponents and opposition supporters.
Bahraini human rights activist Zainab Al-Khawaja has been sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting the king”.
The verdict was handed down by a Manama court on Thursday, and also included a fine of 3,000 Bahraini Dinar (£5,000). She was on trial for tearing up a photo of King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa at an October court date where she faced charges connected to previous rights campaigning. This comes only days after she gave birth to her second child.
The Al-Khawaja family have been heavily involved in Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement, and have been continuously targeted by authorities in the constitutional monarchy.
Al-Khawaja’s father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has been serving a life sentence since 2011 for the role he played in the country’s ongoing protest movement which started that year. Her sister Maryam Al-Khawaja boycotted the recent court hearing which saw her sentenced to one year in prison on what is widely acknowledged to be trumped up charges.
Ali Mushaima gives press conference in front of the Bahrain Embassy in London. (Credit: Gillian Trudeau)
At a press conference outside the Bahraini Embassy in London on 13 September, Bahraini human right activist Ali Mushaima vowed to continue fighting for his 70-year-old father Hassan Mushaima, who was imprisoned in 2011 as part of a crackdown on political activists in the country.
Mushaima said: “After 44 days many friends have argued for me to end my hunger strike. I even received a message from Nabeel Rajab in prison. But what affected me the most was my father telling me how scared he was that there I was hospitalised. I will not end my hunger strike but I will start a liquid diet that will include soups. My body needs to recover but if my father’s basic rights are not met, which is full medical care, family visits and access to books, I’m ready to resume my full hunger strike not because it’s easy and not because it is life-threatening, but because I will never stop fighting for my dad and for our cause.”
Human rights activist Zainab Al Khawaja, who has joined Mushaima’s demonstration after travelling from Denmark, was thanked for her solidarity. Khawaja’s activism has seen her arrested twice in Bahrain, once while pregnant and once with her infant son. Like Hassan Mushaima, Al Khawaja’s father, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, faces possible life imprisonment.
Outside the Bahraini Embassy, Mushaima also expressed his gratitude towards MPs such as Caroline Lucas and Ian Blackford for raising his father’s case and shedding light on the suffering of political prisoners in Bahrain. His strike has garnered global recognition, going as far as being mentioned by the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The British Government’s decision to support “false” statements made by the Bahraini Government was highlighted by Mushaima. He believes the UK has been part of the problem rather than the solution, alleging Britain has spent millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to train Bahrain police violence and to teach them how to whitewash their crimes. Last month Mushaima asked for the Queen’s assistance, citing her friendship with the king of Bahrain as one of the many ways she could help influence the case.
Andrew Smith, who works for Campaign Against Arms Trade, was on hand to show his support. He said: “We want to express our support for Ali’s demands and solidarity with the stands that he has taken. This hunger strike should never have had to happen. The Bahraini regime should never be treating prisoners the way that they have treated Ali’s father. The UK Government should not be arming and supporting such a brutal, oppressive regime which has carried out atrocities against its people for years and has treated Ali’s father, and many other prisoners, absolutely appallingly.”
Background:
In response to Mushaima’s hunger strike, Hassan Mushaima received a cancer scan and has been given access to vital medication that was previously unavailable to him, but several issues remain:
In January 2018, Hassan Mushaima was told by a doctor at the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital that he urgently needs to see a diabetes specialist. He has not been granted access to a consultation yet by the authorities.
In October 2017, Hassan Mushaima’s books, personal notes, and writing materials were confiscated for no reason. They may have been destroyed.
Hassan Mushaima continues to be denied his right to family visitation without being subjected to humiliating measures, including being shackled. He last saw his family 18 months ago, in February 2017.
Bahraini human rights activists Zainab al-Khawaja and Ali Mushaima outside of the Bahrain Embassy in London. (Credit: Gillian Trudeau)
