Bahrain activist Al-Khawaja to end hunger strike
28 May 2012
Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is to end his 110-day hunger strike on Monday evening, his lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says.
His daughter Maryam AlKhawaja said that Alkhawaja confirmed that he will be stopping his hunger strike while continuing to boycott the court sessions which he believes are not just nor fair. Alkhawaja confirmed that the main goal of his hungerstrike had not been achieved (freedom) but the overall purpose of helping activists shed light on the ongoing human rights violations happening in Bahrain. Alkhawaja said he has been forcefed since the 23rd of April and due to continuous requests from friends and colleagues he decided to end his hungerstrike. The forcefeeding was/is considered torture according to international standards. Alkhawaja said he will comply with program to return to normal eating conditions and he thanks his family and all those who supported him.
Urgent appeal: Abdulhadi Alkhawaja may be on his deathbed (100 day on hunger strike)
18 May 2012
Human rights defender Abdel Hadi Khawaja, on hunger strike for more than three months, is well but still continues his fast to protest a life sentence, his lawyer said on Thursday.
"Abdel Hadi can walk. He is conscious and moves around normally," the lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told AFP after meeting with his client for the first time in more than 45 days.
"He is pursuing his hunger strike and subsides on liquids for his survival," said Jishi.
He said he met Khawaja at Jaw prison, south of Manama.
Khawaja was taken to Jaw on Tuesday weeks after being kept in a military hospital for observation.
"His health has slightly improved because he was force fed," the lawyer said of Khawaja.
13 May 2012
The wife of AlKhawaja said his condition appears better, but he is still only taking water and juice in his protest against government crackdowns in Bahrain.
Khadija al-Musawi says she visited her husband, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, for about two hours Sunday.
08 May 2012
Alkhawaja's wife said that the activist did not call on Saturday because "he couldn't speak and was weak".
He could not go to court, where he is facing allegations of "setting up terror groups to topple the regime and change the constitution", because he could not stand still.
"The doctor asked him yesterday to take some IV and ensure liquid so he will be able to go to court but he refused," Khadija Almousawi tweeted. "He will continue his hunger strike. I know that he is getting weaker and weaker but I know also that his spirit is very high and he has strength of a nation in his weak, skinny body. He asked me to be strong. He asked me to be happy. I am strong for the sake of my family and I am happy for him to be able to continue his struggle for freedom."
Read more: ibtimes.co.uk
07 May 2012
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja hasn't called his family since Friday when he announced he was stopping IV.
04 May 2012
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja informed his wife that he will only be taking water in protest of ongoing violations. Since his force feeding he had accepted to take IV only when necessary.
02 May 2012
The BBC's Frank Gardner had five minutes to meet with Bahraini hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
"He is walking and exercising but is still visibly thin, having lost around 25% of his body weight.
We had the strong impression that this is a man who wants to make a stand but does not want to actually die (suicide is haram, forbidden, in Islam)."
Full BBC report: bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17933393
BBC photo.
29 April 2012
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja finally had a family visit today. He had been drugged, tied to the bed, forcibly fed with a nasoenteric tube. Alkhawaja said he considered the force feeding and the solitary confinement as torture and will hold the doctor, hospital and Ministry of Interior responsible. Abdulhadi Alkhawaja told his family the doctor's name is dr Ebrahim Zuwayed, and that he is continuing his hunger strike.
Khadija al-Musawi says she saw Abdulhadi al-Khawaja for about an hour in a prison hospital Sunday. Other relatives also visited.
Al-Musawi says her husband is weak but in good spirits.
25 April 2012
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, on 77th day of hunger strike, did not call his wife today as he usually does. Both the Ministry of Interior and the Bahrain Defense Force hospital refused to give his wife any information when she called to inquire about him. His family fear the worst. His lawyer was not allowed to have any contact with him in last 3 weeks despite repeated requests. The Danish Ambassador hasn't been allowed 2 see Alkhawaja lately nor talk to him.
His daughter Zainab who was arrested two days ago is to be held for 7 days by order of the public prosecution.
22 April 2012
The wife of detained human rights defender Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, on Day 74 of his hunger strike, has said "The Danish ambassador visited AlKhawaja to convince him with taking IV saline but he refused." AlKhawaja's lawyer still unable to get a visit to see him.
20 April 2012
Human Rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, now on 72nd day of hunger strike, stopped drinking water along with all fluids and IV on Thursday. He asked to see his lawyer to write his will, but both lawyer and Danish ambassador have been attempting to see him all day, but denied access. His wife said that his voice sounded weaker than any time before.
He said, if they won't allow the lawyer to see him, he has three things he would like everyone to know: 1st: he is completely convinced in what he is doing, and that he has chosen this path and would choose it again if time goes back. 2nd: he asks that nobody attempts to go on a similar strike till death. and 3rd he said: "If I die, in the next 24 hrs, I ask the people to continue on path of peaceful resistance, ... I don't want anybody to be hurt in my name."
18 April 2012
Abdulhadi AlKhawaja called his family today and informed them that he had only water. His blood pressure & sugar dropped as he is on day 70 of hungerstrike.
The wife of Alkhawaja accused Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband's plight ahead of Sunday's controversial grand prix in the troubled country. she said the 81-year-old F1 boss had missed a chance to do something to help the pro-democracy movement and her husband Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. "I am not angry with the government...it's their future at stake. What makes me angry is people like Ecclestone who decides to come to Bahrain because he thinks everyone is happy," said al-Mousawi, one of whose daughters was at a large protest in Manama later in the evening.
"I can assure you that I am not happy. My family is not happy."
17 April 2012
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja called his wife today, informed her that starting dawn tomorrow he will stop accepting IV and any fluids other than water.
15 April 2012
The family of detained human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, was finally allowed to see him in a military hospital on Day 67 of his hunger strike. Zainab Alkhawaja, also a prominent activist, describes the visit:
We were allowed a 1 hour visit to see my father today.
We were escorted by police and soldiers into a small hospital room, where we were searched thoroughly several times. My father was brought to us, or a skeleton version of my father. I didn't think he could look worse than the picture we saw, but he did. He's so skinny I was surprised he could sit up to speak to us. I can't use the word skinny, or thin. My father looks like someone who is in the final days of a long fight with a terminal illness. But as usual, he was the happiest person in the room, greeted us with a big smile. "Why do u all look so sad?" he asked.
My father's eyes were not normal, not focused. One eye looked lower than the other, he told me it's because of low blood sugar. I held my fathers hand, and they were ice cold. "Do you feel cold baba?" [I asked] He said, "Yes, always cold, but that's normal at this stage."...
He said, "I'm taking some juice & water, as this is my agreement with the Danish ambassador who tells me there's hope. I told the doctors here that this is the exception, if nothing changes in 2-3 days, I will go back to refusing liquids."
My father has spoken to doctors & told them in the chance he goes into a coma, he does not want an IV....Mum said, "Docs who saw you say you are in imminent danger of death." Dad smiled & said, "Whatever happens is in the interest of the people."
12 April 2012
Prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja called his family, and said that his health deteriorated last night and he was informed by doctors that he might go into a coma. He was given IV, which has kept him conscious but weak. His family and lawyer are still not allowed to visit him. His wife said he was allowed just a brief call in exchange that he will drink little water.
Listen to Zainab Al-Khawaja interview on CBC
10 April 2012
Bahraini authorities continued to turn down repeated requests to contact AlKhawaja by his family and lawyer. The last time lawyer Mohamed AlJishi contacted Khawaja was on Saturday, a day after he was moved from the Interior Ministry hospital into a military hospital in Manama.
Denmark's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Christian König Feldt, visited on Tuesday night the hunger strikers Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in Bahrain. visit lasted 20 minutes, and the ambassador has asked for another visit on Wednesday. "It is clear that he is very weak after the long hunger strike. But I can not say anything more about his health, because it's something we tell the family, and we've secrecy action," said Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, a Danish Foreign Ministry official. Al-Khawajas wife, Khadija Almousawi said that the ambassador told her that her husband is conscious, and that he still has "his sharp intelligence intact."
Danish PM Statement
"Denmark demands that Danish-Bahraini citizen and human rights activist Khawaja be freed," said Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at a press conference.
"According to our information, Khawaja's condition is very critical," she added.
A Danish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Khawaja was alive on Monday according to "credible independent sources" who saw him that day.
Danish ambassador to Bahrain Christian Koenigsfeldt was not allowed to see the prisoner on Sunday or Monday, as he has done daily, the spokesperson told AFP.
09 April 2012
The Times: JAILED hunger-striking dissident Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was feared to have died, his lawyer said last night, after Bahraini authorities turned down repeated requests to contact him.
Lawyer Mohammed al-Jeshi said nobody had been allowed to see Mr Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for 60 days, since Saturday, the day after the 50-year-old was transferred from the interior ministry hospital into a military hospital in Manama. "Authorities have been refusing since yesterday (Sunday) all requests, made by myself and by his family, to visit or contact al-Khawaja," Mr Jeshi said.
"We fear that he might have passed away as there is no excuse for them to prevent us from visiting or contacting him."
Mr Jeshi said that no information was available on the health of Mr Khawaja, who has shed 25 per cent of his body weight.
Video: Bahraini hunger striker's daughter speaks out
However, government spokesman Abdulaziz bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family, earlier said Mr Khawaja's condition was stable, he was being monitored by three doctors and receiving water and nutrients.
Yesterday, Bahrain reportedly rejected a Danish request that Mr Khawaja, who holds Danish nationality, be flown to that country.
Danish papers quoted the head of the foreign ministry's consular service, Ole Engberg Mikkelsen, as saying "a reply will come through diplomatic channels and not via a news agency or Twitter".
Mr Mikkelsen said he did not know when Manama would send its official reply.
"Unfortunately, there is not much time. It is a case where the clock is ticking," he said.
"We are continuing our efforts to convince Bahrain that it is in everyone's interest that he be extradited."
Front Line Defenders, a Dublin-based NGO, warned that Mr Khawaja could now die in jail, while Bahrain's largest opposition movement, al-Wefaq, condemned that decision, saying it amounted to having "signed his death" sentence.
Mr Khawaja's plight has become a rallying point for the latest demonstrations. His daughter Maryam, who was in Cairo, said: "My sister visited him and said he was so weak he could barely breathe. He says if he dies, he will die with dignity."
08 April 2012
The family members of AlKhawaja are still not allowed to see him since he was hospitalized on Apr 3, 2012. They also have received no calls from him today. They received a call to go to visit him in the military hospital, but when they got there they were told to go back and that there are no orders to allow them to see him.
Doctor of AlKhawaja who is now on his 60th day of hunger strike said hospital IV drip "won't be enough to keep him alive".
Bahrain said today it will not hand over Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja to Denmark as requested. The Supreme Judiciary Council announced today that the provisions of Criminal Procedures Law stipulating the handing over of accused and convicted persons to foreign countries does not pertain to the case of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and thus he will not be transferred to Denmark.
Bahraini authorities also charged Al-Khawaja's daughter with assaulting a public employee after she tried to visit her father. Zainab al-Khawaja was charged and released Saturday after her arrest Thursday outside ministry of interior where her father was receiving care. She was arrested again Saturday at the military hospital and detained for around 6 hours then relased without allowing her to see her father.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Bahrain to show support for the hunger striker Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja: collection of videos and Photos
07 April 2012 23:00
Abdulhadi AlKhawaja called his family. According to his daughter Zainab AlKhawaja (who was released this afternoon after getting arrested on Thursday night) he can hardly speak, and he can hardly breath. He took very long pauses between every word, as he told his wife about the mistreatment he is receiving from the military hospital staff and the guards. He said that when they treated him badly he said to them "I will not accept this. I lived free and proud outside your prison and I live free and proud inside." He told them if they didn't improve their treatment and allow him to talk to his family he will stop drinking water as well. He also said he will not stop his hungerstrike and he has told the guards "if I die, I die with dignity."
According to his lawyer, Mohamed AlJishi, AlKhawaja has asked to be transferred to another hospital because of the mistreatment he is receiving at the military hospital.
07 April 2012 18:00
The wife of Abdulhadi AlKhawaja said today that she has received news that Abdulhadi is being mistreated by the nurses and the guards at the military hospital. Despite his critical stage his family was not permitted to visit him or to receive phone calls from him.
06 April 2012
Human Rights defender Al-Khawaja has been transferred to the Military Hospital after further health deterioration.
05 April 2012
This is an urgent appeal to save the life of prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. His wife was told that his pulse is so weak he may go into cardiac arrest at any minute. Time is short and Abdulhadi Alkhawaja may die at any time. His lawyer Mohammed AlJishi released this picture today which he took in the hospital yesterday:
Zainab AlKhawaja is protesting since around 10:30pm (Bahrain time) in front of Ministry of Interior (MOI) building to demand the release of her father HRD AbdulHadi Alkhawaja. Police surrounded her and tried to make her move away. They shot tear gas on the other activists who were there, and detained representative of FIDH for half an hour for interrogation. The road leading to that gate of the ministry was closed.
My Father is Dying, by Maryam AlKhawaja
Read Zainab Alkhawaja’s poem about her father, “The Sultan Digs my Fathers Grave”
04 April 2012
Latest updates from the lawyer of Alkhawaja, Mohamed AlJishi:
"I was able to visit the human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja this evening at the hospital of the ministry of interior where he was transferred since yesterday. He told me that his health has further deteriorated last night to the level that he was completely unable to move. At this stage the doctors gave Al-Khawaja IV as he was not able to move. While I was there, blood sugar and blood pressure checks were done for Al-Khawaja and it was very low. The doctor told me that it's not possible for a human to survive more than this period even with the aid of IV and it doesn't substitute real food."
03 April 2012
Prominent human rights defender Abdulhadi Alkhawaja who is on his 55th day of hunger strike is entering a critical phase where his life is at stake. He had two doctors accompanying him at all times last night, and today he is being moved to the fort prison due to lack of the necessary medical equipment in the central Jaw prison. This is due to fears that he may go into a coma at any time, as his blood sugar and blood pressure have both further dropped. Alkhawaja and the other 13 prominent leaders had their case taken to the Court of Cassation yesterday, where lawyers requested that they be released pending court decision