Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Human Rights Watch praised the courage of Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja and her perseverance after she announced last week that she will return to Bahrain to demand the release of her father, prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and other activists who are unjustly imprisoned in Bahrain.

In the daily brief the organization published on its website under "Bahrain, Brutality, and Biden" title, HRW stressed that Maryam is "risking her own freedom by heading to Bahrain herself, where she faces arrest, abuse, and long-term imprisonment."

"At incredible risk to her own life, Maryam Al-Khawaja has decided to go to Bahrain to draw attention to her father's plight and the plight of so many other peaceful defenders of fundamental freedoms," HRW said.

At the same time, Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa is heading to Washington this week. The official visit, in the words of The Washington Post, is "designed to demonstrate US staying power in the Persian Gulf." Bahrain, the paper highlights, is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which it notes, "gives Washington leverage" in the case of al-Khawaja and others.

It stressed "If Maryam al-Khawaja can have the courage to risk her life for democracy and human rights in Bahrain, the least the Biden Administration can do is show the political strength to use its leverage to call on its allied government to free its political prisoners."

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, is co-founder of the Gulf Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He is a dual Bahraini-Danish citizen. He was arrested in 2011 for his role in pro-democracy protests in Bahrain and is serving a life sentence following a ludicrously unfair trial. Though he may be the most prominent of Bahrain's political prisoners, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is far from being the only one behind bars in Bahrain for exercising the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

In his 12 years of imprisonment, Al-Khawaja has been subjected to severe psychological, physical, and sexual torture. Bahraini authorities have repeatedly denied him essential health care, despite his life-threatening cardiac problems. He has been on hunger strike since August 9 to demand access to specialist medical care.

More than 400 inmates in the country's largest prison initiated a hunger strike on August 7 to protest their conditions and denial of health care. The movement has been growing: as of August 30, more than 800 people were on hunger strike.

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