16 December 2024

After 5,000 Days of Arbitrary Detention, Bahrain Must Immediately Release Danish-Bahraini Citizen and Human Rights Defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja

Today, 16 December 2024, Danish-Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has endured 5,000 days of arbitrary detention in Bahrain.

We, the undersigned, condemn Bahrain for the arbitrary detention and brutal torture of Mr Al-Khawaja and call on the King of Bahrain to release him immediately and unconditionally. We also express our disappointment that Denmark has failed in its responsibility to secure the release of its citizen for over 13 years.

Exactly 5,000 days ago, on the night of 8-9 April 2011, Mr Al-Khawaja was arrested and severely beaten by plain clothes security forces. He was held in solitary confinement and subjected to physical, psychological and sexual torture. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry medically documented the torture and assault suffered by political prisoners, including Mr Al-Khawaja. However, after 5,000 days, Mr Al-Khawaja has not received adequate treatment for multiple serious medical problems, many of which were inflicted by the Bahraini state.

In 2012, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Al-Khawaja’s detention was arbitrary, in violation of international law, and called for his ‘immediate release’ and ‘an enforceable right to compensation’. However, 5,000 days on from the brutal arrest and assault in April 2011, Mr Al-Khawaja remains in arbitrary detention.

The most recent report on human rights practices in Bahrain by the U.S. State Department asserts that ‘significant human rights problems include credible reports of: cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners or detainees’, among other abuses. However, the United States remains a close ally of Bahrain, which is home to the US Fifth Fleet, and a non-NATO ally.

Mr Al-Khawaja is a Danish citizen and likely the world’s only imprisoned Danish human rights defender. The fact that the Danish state has taken 5,000 days – and counting – to secure the release of one of its own citizens is an utter failure. Meanwhile, Denmark is happy to promote trade and investment in Bahrain while ignoring gross human rights abuses against its own citizen.

Mr Al-Khawaja is a lifelong human rights defender, activist and educator. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, the founder of two civil society organisations – the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, a published writer and poet, and the recipient of the 2022 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. Most importantly, he is a husband, father, grandfather and friend who should never have spent a day in jail, let alone 5,000 days separated from his loved ones.

We, the undersigned, urge the governments of Bahrain and Denmark, together with their respective allies, to ensure the release of Mr Al-Khawaja and all prisoners arbitrarily detained for their opinions, activism, and opposition, including human rights defenders. We also urge the EU High Representative, the Danish Prime Minister and the Danish Foreign Minister to meet personally with Mr Al-Khawaja’s family to pledge their joint efforts to secure Mr Al-Khawaja’s immediate release.

Signatures: