• Urgent Action

URGENT ACTION: BAHRAINI PRISONER STILL ON FASTING PROTEST (Bahrain 100.22)

November 1, 2023

Bahraini-Danish human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja reinstated his fasting protest on September 21, 2023, after prison authorities reneged on their promises including to transport him and other prisoners to appointments without handcuffs and in regular vehicles. His health remains critical due to his cardiac condition which has led to three emergency visits to hospital. He began his fast on August 9 to protest his continued denial of access to medical care and in solidarity with hundreds of prisoners in Jaw Prison.  

take action

  • Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  • Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 100.22. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Crown Prince and Prime Minister

Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa 

Court of the Crown Prince

P.O Box 29091, Riffa – Bahrain

Email (via contact form): http://www.crownprince.bh/en/contact

Twitter: @bahrainCPnews @BahrainPMO

Embassy of Bahrain in the United States

Ambassador Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Al Khalifa

3502 International Dr NW, Washington, DC 20008

Phone: (202) 342-1111

Email:  [email protected]

Twitter: @bahdiplomatic

Salutation: His Excellency

Sample letter

Your Highness, 

Bahraini-Danish human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, 62, has been arbitrarily imprisoned since 2011 for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression during the 2011 popular uprising in Bahrain. He began a fasting protest on August 9, joining hundreds of prisoners in their mass hunger strike, but his fasting has exacerbated his cardiac condition.

On September 20, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja signed a document suspending his fasting protest after two prison officers promised Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja that all the prisoners held in the building housing him and the other opposition leaders, would no longer be transported to their appointments handcuffed and on board an armored bus and that he will soon have an appointment with a cardiologist and other specialists. The next day, one of his co-prisoners was due for a hospital appointment. When he arrived at the prison transport gate, the guards said that they knew nothing about the promises made to the prisoners. As a result, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja resumed his protest for the third time because prison authorities reneged on their promises. 

We call upon your Highness to ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is immediately and unconditionally released. In the meantime,, we urge you to ensure that the promises made to him and other prisoners of timely access to adequate health care and in regular transportation are met, and that he is protected from further torture and other ill-treatment. 

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: