Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Maryam Al-Khawaja and other human rights organizations, including the Bahrain Institute for Democracy and Human Rights and Front Line Defenders, renewed their calls to immediately release Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and provide appropriate treatment for him.

Maryam said yesterday via "X" platform that her father was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance again this morning due to heart palpitations, noting that he has spent 13 years in prison serving a life sentence for being a human rights defender. She stressed that "Enough is enough" and added #FreeAlKhawaja to her post.

She attached a video to her post in which she said that her father "suffered heart palpitations and took the proper medication. Despite that, the heart palpitations continued for over 20 minutes and they had to take him via an ambulance to the military hospital, which is the same hospital he was previously tortured in."

"He is not stable, but of course as someone who was subjected to sever torture and given what we know about the Bahraini government, we don't trust that they are taking his best interest into consideration and of course my father should not be imprisoned to begin with," she stated.

Al-Khawaja stressed the "need to push for my father to be released and to receive the proper medical treatment and total rehabilitation he needs to get better."

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy renewed calls for Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja's immediate and unconditional release.    

Meanwhile, Front Line Defenders said via its account on "X" platform that "further denial of medical care has compounded years of neglect while human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has faced unjust imprisonment and even torture. Time to end this. The Bahraini authorities must free Al-Khawaja once and for all."

Amnesty confirmed that "Bahrain denied Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja proper healthcare for most of 2023, canceling medical appointments or making him wait for hours inside an unventilated truck partition to attend," noting that "With proper care, he might have avoided medical emergencies, including this one."

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor had already expressed alarm at the rapidly deteriorating health of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja as well as his ill treatment while in prison.

She acknowledged that the motivation for his detention is rooted in his work in defence of human rights, namely the exercise of his rights to freedom of opinion and expression, to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and to take part in the conduct of public affairs.

Furthermore, Lawlor expressed concerns that in addition to his deteriorating health, Al-Khawaja's wellbeing is being negatively impacted by routine psychological pressure applied by the prison authorities. She noted that Al-Khawaja is being further targeted in this way in order to push him towards a breaking point.

Arabic Version