Abdulhadi AlkhawajaBahrain
Mr. Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, 50, is a prominent human rights defender who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on June 22, 2011 for financing and participating in terrorism to overthrow the government, as well as spying for a foreign country. He is the founder and president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Mr. Alkhawaja has been a well known human rights defender for more than twenty years. Until recently, Mr. Alkhawaja worked as a regional coordinator for the international organization Front Line Defenders. Because of his tireless advocacy for peaceful reform in Bahrain, Mr. Alkhawaja has faced a long history of arrests and assaults.
Just before his current detention, Mr. Alkhawaja had publicly criticized the regime’s brutal response to the recent anti-government protests in Bahrain. He demanded that charges of torture and corruption be brought against members of the royal family.
Early on April 9, 2011, fifteen masked men stormed into Mr. Alkhawaja’s daughter’s apartment, breaking down the door with a sledgehammer. The masked men did not produce identification or an arrest warrant. The men beat Mr. Alkhawaja until he lost consciousness and dragged him down the stairs by his neck. He was taken into custody along with his two sons-in-law. Authorities held him incommunicado for some weeks, in which time they tortured him physically and mentally.
On May 8, 2011, Mr. Alkhawaja’s trial began before the National Safety Court – a military tribunal. He was prosecuted along with a diverse set of twenty other individuals. As the trial progressed, it was clear that the government did not respect Mr. Alkhawaja’s internationally-protected rights to a fair trial. Despite the lack of evidence against him, Mr. Alkhawaja was charged and convicted with financing and participating in terrorism to overthrow the government, as well as spying for a foreign country. On June 22, 2011, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mr. Alkhawaja has been subjected to deplorable treatment during his detention. Because of the beatings he endured from security agents, he suffered four fractures to his face, requiring a four hour surgery to repair his jaw. Security forces are also subjecting Mr. Alkhawaja to other forms of inhumane treatment, such as attempted sexual assault and psychological torture. After his conviction and sentencing, Mr. Alkhawaja told the court that the Bahraini people would continue their opposition to the country’s authoritarian regime. For his defiance, Mr. Alkhawaja was beaten by court officers and dragged from the room.
Freedom Now represents Mr. Alkhawaja as his pro bono international legal counsel.
- Selected documents from Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's case
- Letter to King of BahrainFebruary 16, 2012
Submitted by Freedom Now calling for Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's release from prison
- Press Release: Freedom Now files Petition to United Nations on behalf of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja September 19, 2011
On September 19, 2011, Freedom Now filed an urgent action petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.