For Immediate Release: Courageous Human Rights Defender Maryam Al-Khawaja Arrested in Bahrain
[center]BAHRAIN CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
GULF CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS[/center]
For Immediate Release / Bahrain: Courageous Human Rights Defender Maryam Al-Khawaja Arrested in Bahrain; Could Face Lengthy Prison Sentence
2014-08-31
[center] 
[/center]
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) express grave concern over the arrest and detention of courageous human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja upon her arrival to Bahrain, on fabricated charges.
Maryam Al-Khawaja, the co-director of the GCHR who is a Danish-Bahraini citizen, travelled to Bahrain on 29 August 2014 in an attempt to visit her father, leading human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is currently on a hunger strike in the infamous Jaw prison; his life is in grave danger.
Upon Maryam Al-Khawaja’s arrival in Bahrain, at around 1AM local time in Manama, the authorities apprehended her just outside of the airplane. She was disconnected from communications with her family and lawyer for about 13 hours and no official provided them with any information about her wellbeing. She finally called her mother to inform her that she was being transferred to the public prosecution.
She was interrogated on charges of “assault and battery against on-duty public employees during their performance of official duty.”1 The public prosecution alleges that she has attacked a lieutenant and another policewoman and injured them when they asked her to hand over her mobile phone. Her lawyer said that the public prosecution denied Al-Khawaja the right to meet with her lawyer before the interrogation and that the lawyer himself was also denied the right to talk to her about her legal rights during interrogation. He has filed a legal complaint to the public prosecution for preventing him from talking to his client before the interrogation. The public prosecution statement confirm that Al-Khawaja was under arrest from the time of arrival and has called her “a female suspect” but didn’t mention the charges related to the initial arrest. The public prosecution has order her detention for seven days pending investigation on the above-mentioned charge.
She was subsequently moved to the Isa Town women prison and placed with two convicted criminals. Her family has not been able to visit her yet, as the authorities are complicating the visit procedure for her. However, she was able to call them.
The officials who held Al-Khawaja at the airport claimed that she is not a citizen of Bahrain, and that she is not allowed in the country. She has never been presented with any documents to this effect, and the authorities refused to provide her with any supporting evidence that she is no longer a Bahraini citizen. She has traveled using her Danish passport and she is holding a valid Bahraini issued smart card. It is unclear whether the charges brought against her treat her as a Bahraini citizen, or a Danish one.
Upon her arrival, Al-Khawaja stated that she would not voluntarily leave Bahrain, and that she would begin a hunger strike in protest, with her only demand that she be allowed into the country. She refrained from any food, juice, or supplements, but reportedly ended her hunger strike today out of concern for her father, whose health is very fragile. (For more information kindly see: http://bahrainrights.org/en/node/7024 and http://gc4hr.org/news/view/722 .)
There is an extremely high degree of urgency for this case and serious concern over the safety and wellbeing of Ms. Al-Khawaja in detention, particularly considering the history of abuse to which the family has been subjected. Ms Al-Khawaja’s father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, had 36 screws and 18 metal plates put in his face because of the torture and physical violence to which he was subjected following his arrest in 2011 for taking part in peaceful demonstrations calling for reform. Ms. Al-Khawaja’s uncle is also in prison in Bahrain and her sister Zainab has been subjected to repeated arrest, long-term detention, harassment, and physical abuse, including facing ongoing charges in relation to calling for her father’s freedom.
It should be noted that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike for freedom for the past week, since 24 August. The last news of him as of 30 August is that his blood sugar dropped to two and his blood pressure reached 90/55. He took water with glucose and his blood sugar increased to 3.1.
The GCHR and the BCHR are calling for urgent action to demand the immediate release of both Maryam Al-Khawaja and her imprisoned father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and to drop all charges against her. They call on the international community, including diplomatic representatives in Bahrain, to press the authorities to free them and ensure they are not abused.
Please refer all questions to:
Mr. Nabeel Rajab
President of BCHR and Director of GCHR
Tel: +447518464113 (this week)
E-mail: nabeel.rajab7@gmail.com
www.bahrainrights.org
www.gc4hr.org
-------------------------------------------------
1. http://bna.bh/portal/en/news/630731
[hr]
Press release online here: http://gc4hr.org/news/view/724
= new reply since forum marked as read
FREEDOM HOUSE
PRESS RELEASE
Bahrain Widens Repression by Detaining Maryam al-Khawaja
?
Washington
August 31, 2014
In response to Bahrain’s arrest August 30 of Maryam al-Khawaja, a noted Bahraini human rights activist and daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who remains jailed for life on unjust political charges, Freedom House issued the following statement:
"Bahrain’s arrest of Maryam al-Khawaja and the continued repression of the country’s Shi'a majority show the government’s intolerance of peaceful political protests and efforts to bring about greater political openness,” said Robert Herman, vice president of regional programs at Freedom House. “Al-Khawaja faces up to seven years imprisonment for the 'crime' of trying to visit her father in prison. The United States and other allies of Bahrain should press the government to reverse its actions against those campaigning for respect of basic freedoms.”
Freedom House awarded Abdulhadi al-Khawaja – co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights – and his daughters Maryam and Zainab – the 2012 Freedom Award.
Video: Maryam Al-Khawaja Accepts the Freedom Award
Bahrain is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2014, Freedom of the Press 2014, and Freedom on the Net 2013.
Read more:
http://freedomhouse.org/article/bahrain-widens-repression-detaining-maryam-al-khawaja
Human Rights Watch
Dispatches: Time to Stand up for Bahrain's Dissidents
September 1, 2014
Nicholas McGeehan
Many Bahraini activists have borne the brunt of their government’s unjust laws, unfair convictions and unlawful tactics, but few have resisted with such steely resolve as the activists in the al-Khawaja family.
[center]
Maryam Al-Khawaja @ Andy Carvin, 2011[/center]
Maryam al-Khawaja’s August 30 arrest on charges of assaulting a police officer at Manama airport –allegedly when officers attempted to take her mobile phone – will not have surprised her. Already in August 2013, staff at Copenhagen airport prevented her from boarding a flight on her way to Bahrain, so she was aware that the authorities didn’t want her in the country.
Maryam only took the decision to fly to Bahrain this week upon hearing that her father, who began a hunger strike on August 24, was in danger of slipping into a coma. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a high-profile dissident who is serving a life sentence after a grossly unfair conviction.
Since Abdulhadi’s imprisonment in 2011, Maryam and her sister Zainab have been among the most energetic and eloquent critics of a Bahraini government that brooks no criticism of its repressive conduct. Zainab al-Khawaja was released from jail in February 2014, after serving one year for taking part in illegal gatherings and insulting the police.
Bahrain’s western allies bear significant responsibility for the worsening situation in Bahrain and for the calamitous circumstances facing activists in the country, including Zainab, Maryam and Abdulhadi. Had the UK, the US or the EU exerted real pressure for Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s release and the release of other high-profile dissidents whose only “crime” has been to call for political reform in the country, Abdulhadi might not be on hunger strike, and his daughter might not be in Isa Town prison awaiting a hearing to decide her fate.
Instead, Bahrain’s allies have opted for a disastrous policy of appeasement and acquiescence, and they have remained largely silent in the face of human rights violations that they would loudly denounce were they taking place in a less strategically important country.
As a result, Maryam al-Khawaja is facing imprisonment, and her father’s life is at risk. It is long past time for Bahrain’s allies to show an ounce of the courage the al-Khawajas have shown and stand up for them and the rights they defend.
Human Rights Watch
Link to story: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/01/dispatches-time-stand-bahrain-s-dissidents
