Case History: Maryam Al-Khawaja
On 1 December 2014, human rights defender Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja was sentenced to one year in prison for allegedly “assaulting police officers”. In astatement published on 30 November 2014, Maryam Al-Khawaja announced that she would boycott her court hearing, as she expected to be sentenced on “trumped up charges of assaulting two policewomen at Bahrain International Airport”.
Maryam Al-Khawaja is a prominent human rights defender in Bahrain and is Co-Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.
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- 2 December 2014 : Update: Maryam Al-Khawaja sentenced to one year in prison following her boycott of court hearing
- 19 September 2014 : Bahrain – Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja released pending trial
- 9 September 2014 : MEPs call for the immediate release of Maryam Al-Khawaja, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and all those wrongfully imprisoned in Bahrain
- 2 September 2014 : Human rights defender Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja detained upon arrival to Bahrain
- 31 August 2014 : Update: Detention Extended for Maryam Al-Khawaja
- 9 August 2013 : Maryam Al-Khawaja prevented from travelling to Bahrain ahead of protests scheduled for 14 August
On 1 December 2014, human rights defender Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja was sentenced to one year in prison for allegedly “assaulting police officers”. In astatement published on 30 November 2014, Maryam Al-Khawaja announced that she would boycott her court hearing, as she expected to be sentenced on “trumped up charges of assaulting two policewomen at Bahrain International Airport”.
Maryam Al-Khawaja is a prominent human rights defender in Bahrain and is Co-Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights. She is the sister of human rights defender Ms Zainab Al-Khawaja and daughter of Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.
Maryam Al-Khawaja was initially detained upon arrival at Bahrain International Airport on 30 August 2014. She was travelling to visit her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in detention. He has been on hunger strike since 24 August 2014.
On 16 September 2014, the Public Prosecution announced the charge and extended the human rights defender's pre-trial detention. On 18 September 2014, the public prosecution ordered the release of Maryam Al-Khawaja pending trial on 1 October 2014 for allegedly “assaulting police officers”.
On 18 September 2014, the public prosecution ordered the release of human rights defender Ms Maryam Al-Khawajapending trial on 1 October 2014 for allegedly “assaulting a police officer”.
Maryam Al-Khawaja is a prominent human rights defender in Bahrain and Co-Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights. She is the sister of human rights defender MsZainab Al-Khawaja and daughter of MrAbdulhadi Al-Khawaja.
Initially, Maryam Al-Khawaja was detained upon arrival at Bahrain International Airport on 30 August 2014. She was travelling to visit Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in detention, who has been on hunger strike since 24 August 2014. Maryam Al-Khawaja visited her father on 15 September 2014 after a short hunger strike that lasted for three days.
A group of MEPs has called for the release of Bahraini human rights defender, Maryam al-Khawaja, who is currently in detention in Manama on trumped-up charges.
On Saturday, 30 August, Maryam Al-Khawaja, daughter of imprisoned human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and a prominent HRD in her own right, was detained at Bahrain's airport upon her arrival to visit her father in hospital, where he was taken after beginning a hunger strike earlier in the week.
Following the denial of entry on the grounds that she does not have Bahraini citizenship (despite her presenting her Bahraini ID card upon arrival), Maryam was detained and ultimately taken to prison for 7 days of so-called 'investigation'. Her lawyer, Mohammed Al-Jishi has been denied access, but has indicated that charges against her include 'insulting the king.'
The full statement by the group of MEPs is below:
We, Members of the European Parliament, call for the immediate release of prominent Bahraini/Danish human rights defender Maryam al-Khawaja, who was detained upon her arrival in Manama on the 30th of August. Maryam took the decision to fly to Bahrain upon hearing that her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who began a hunger strike on August 24, was in danger of slipping into a coma.
Maryam is now being held in remand at Isa Town prison, charged with allegedly assaulting a policewoman at the airport. She was told that she was also facing charges for leading a campaign called Wanted for Justice in Bahrain (which named government officials responsible for torture) and for insulting the King. According to her lawyer, Maryam's Bahraini citizenship has now been stripped.
We consider that these charges are politically motivated and urge the Bahraini authorities to release Maryam unconditionally, along with all other prisoners of conscience - political activists, journalists, bloggers, doctors and paramedics, human rights defenders and peaceful protesters.
We urge the HR/VP and Members States to condemn the on-going violations of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in Bahrain and publicly press for their release, including at the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council, and stress the European Parliament's calls for imposing targeted restrictive measures (visa bans and asset freezes) against those individuals responsible for, and involved in, the human rights abuses (as documented by the BICI report).
Signed by:
- Ana GOMES (S&D)
- Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D)
- Elena VALENCIANO MARTÍNEZ-OROZCO (S&D)
- Jens ROHDE (ALDE)
- Jeppe KOFOD (S&D)
- Josef WEIDENHOLZER (S&D)
- Margrete AUKEN (Greens/EFA)
- Marietje SCHAAKE (ALDE)
- Morten Helveg PETERSEN (ALDE)
- Ole CHRISTENSEN (S&D)
- Rina Ronja KARI (GUE/NGL)
- Tunne KELAM (EPP)
On 30 August 2014, human rights defender Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja was detained upon arrival at Bahrain International Airport. She was travelling to visit Mr Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in detention, who has been on hunger strikesince 24 August 2014.
Security officials met Maryam Al-Khawaja upon her arrival to the airport after midnight on 30 August 2014 and informed her that she was not welcome in Bahrain. Reportedly, the human rights defender was denied entry on the grounds that she does not have Bahraini citizenship, despite presenting her Bahraini ID card. Maryam Al-Khawaja was travelling on her Danish passport. Although reportedly promising the Danish Embassy that the human rights defender would be presented in court on 31 August 2014, the authorities transferred Maryam Al-Khawaja to Isa Town women's prison for seven days of 'investigation' pending trial on charges of allegedly “assaulting the police”. These charges have been upheld by the Public Prosecutor, though Maryam Al-Khawaja has been denied access to legal representation.
Before losing internet access on 30 August 2014, the human rights defender announced on Twitter that she would begin a water-only hunger strike. However, on 31 August 2014, Maryam Al-Khawaja confirmed that she would suspend her hunger strike so as not to cause undue concern for her father, whose health is suffering from his own ongoing hunger strike.
Within the past week, Maryam Al-Khawaja's sister, Zainab Al-Khawaja, was briefly detained when she went to the hospital to visit her father after he was transferred there from the prison.
On Saturday, 6 September, in a hearing in a Bahraini court, a judge postponed the trial of Maryam Al-Khawaja and extended her detention by 10 days. She is being held on charges of allegedly assaulting a policewoman, which she denied in court. Maryam appeared in court with her arm in a sling.
On Saturday, 30 August, Maryam Al-Khawaja, daughter of imprisoned human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, and a prominent HRD in her own right, was detained at Bahrain's airport upon her arrival to visit her father in hospital, where he was taken after beginning a hunger strike earlier in the week.
Following the denial of entry on the grounds that she does not have Bahraini citizenship (despite her presenting her Bahraini ID card upon arrival), Maryam was detained and ultimately taken to prison for 7 days of so-called 'investigation'. Her lawyer, Mohammed Al-Jishi has been denied access, but has indicated that charges against her include 'insulting the king.'
Before losing access to her account, she announced on Twitter that she would begin a water-only hunger strike. (On Sunday, 31 August, Maryam confirmed she would suspend her hunger strike so as not to cause undue concern for her father, whose health is suffering from his ongoing hunger strike).
Earlier this week, Maryam's sister Zainab Al-Khawaja was briefly detained when she went to the hospital to visit Abdulhadi, after he was moved from the prison, but denied access to his family or a lawyer.
Abdulhadi began his hunger strike on Monday, 25 August, to protest his continued arbitrary detention.
On 9 August 2013, Ms Maryam Al-Khawaja was prevented from boarding a British Airways flight from Copenhagen to Manama. She was informed that she has been banned from entering Bahrain by the authorities there, no explanation has been given for this decision.
This move appears to be the latest in a series of restrictive measures against human rights defenders by the Bahraini authorities in the run-up to protests scheduled for 14 August.
The human rights defender had planned to travel to Bahrain to document the protests due to take place on 14 August 2013, and to visit family members, also human rights defenders, who have been imprisoned for their activities defending human rights in Bahrain.
On 12 February 2012, Maryam Al-Khawaja's sister, human rights defender and blogger MsZainab Al-Khawaja was arrested by the Bahraini security forces in the capital Manama as she was on her way to the site of the Pearl Roundabout to join a peaceful protest. Zainab Al-Khawaja had been campaigning since April 2011 for the release of her father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. At this stage, Maryam Al-Khawaja chose to leave Bahrain, as it was obvious that the Bahraini authorities were targeting members of BCHR, as well as the Al-Khawaja family.
Over the last two weeks, the Bahraini authorities have escalated their crackdown on peaceful human rights defenders including the detention on 8 August 2013 of lawyer MrAbdul Aziz Moussa for reporting that his client, human rights defender and blogger Mr Mohamed Hassan, showed visible marks of torture. The two human rights defenders are the subject of an urgent appeal released by Front Line Defenders on 9 August 2013.
