Abdulhadi Alkhawaja’s Hunger Strike “Freedom or Martyrdom”

Monday | April 2^nd, 2012

+20 hours into the first day of hunger strike that came as an effort to bring attention to the cases of Human Rights Defenders and political prisoners in Bahrain. HRD Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, both Danish & Bahraini, was arrested a year ago and was sentenced to life due to his career of calling for regime reform, accountability and justice in the small kingdom. HE has been exiled as youth from the small country and sought refuge in Denmark where he continued to work on the issues in Bahrain. After the royal pardon of 2001, the Alkhawaja family moved back to Bahrain and continued actively advocating for better human rights and political justice in Bahrain.

Abdulhadi is one of hundreds, if not thousands, of exiled voices who have returned to the country seeking a better Bahrain, most of which are silenced today. Due to the February 14 youth uprising that broke out from the capital in the early months of last year, many human rights defenders, politicians, activists, medics, teachers, union members, students and even first-timer activists have fallen victims to the government’s excessive crackdown in fear of a spreading voice that mirrored the aspiration of the entire nation. The outcome is thousands sacked, misplaced, injured, targeted, jailed, tortured, attacked and even driven to exile.

The leftover today are a few “attempts to reform” by the Bahraini government including: One, a weakened opposition; two, an unconditional pro-government; three, somewhat violently sectarian movement; and four, an enraged youth movement that has been put aside.

The king commissioned the BICI to investigate and recommend solutions to address the outcomes of this uprising, which the civil society nongovernmental organizations had been doing all year long, yet we do not see reform taking place. Some of the BICI’s recommendation deals with the investigation process, detention facilities and better prison documentation and surveillance, especially in interrogation rooms. However, there are reported cases of people being taken off to unknown locations sometimes outside the prison facility with no recording devices or prior to arriving at the detention facility where they are tortured. In terms of the recommendation that dealt with torture accusations against governmental officials, only thee low-ranking officers have been charged with anything and they were still on duty while being on trial. No high-ranking officials have even been considered for any sort of investigation. Medics are still on trial and freedom-of-expression convicts are still imprisoned, some of which are in ongoing trials and others are civilians who have been convicted after being trialed military courts.

The question that faces the Bahraini government, the supporting United States government and the highly paid public relations companies that promote for Bahrain’s image as a fair democratic monarchy is: would you rather have a civil war and a bloodbath to rectify the excessive use of violence against unarmed civilians, or do you want to restrict the Saudi troops from Bahrain and really support democracy for an educated people in Bahrain? Do you wish to support one of the most peaceful uprising in the Middle East and secure accountability, justice and freedom for civilians in a nation that no longer stands for anything? Or, do you want people to fight back?

I think enough has been said about America’s double-standards and the progress that the Bahraini regime has showcased along with the fabricated realities that do not have a merit of truth on ground.

One entire year into a democratic uprising, in a nation that claims to be one, with the international community watching an unarmed orphan fight for his life against tankers, armed policemen and foreign troops that undermine Bahrain’s security and peace by not even speaking the language of the country. If we wait longer, there is no telling what path this movement may take.

Today marks fifty-four days since HRD Abdulhadi Alkhawaja started his hunger strike for the Freedom of Martyrdom in prison. No one expected him to make it past day 20, not to mention how his condition was worsened and undermined on impact of the torture he’s received since his arrest in April, 2011. By the end of this week, he will have spent an entire year in prison where he’s claimed to have undergone mental, physical as well as sexual abuse and torture.

It appears to me that the Bahraini government does not understand the value of this individual in terms of the Bahrain uprising and the ability to move ahead post our current situation. And the sheer truth is, If Abdulhadi Alkhawaja passes away this week, there is no turning back. The uprising has remained nonviolent for its most part during this past year, but with this figure on nonviolence passing away, the ceiling for demands will be the only solution for Bahrain.

A word of advice in this situation must be delivered to the Bahraini king Hamad. The loss of any political prisoner, especially leaders, will prove to cause even larger waves of unrest, nonviolent or not. 

#HungerChain4Bh Week 1: To Reason with Hearts

On November 23rd, 2011, I went on a hunger strike in protest to human rights violation and to support the reform demands in Bahrain. I abstained from food and spent my time blogging, talking to people, meeting with people from Bahrain and attending general meetings to promote for the hunger strike as well as focusing on spreading the word on Resolution 80 and Resolution 28 of the Congress to block a $53 million Arms Deal to Bahrain that a Bahraini delegation introduced me to not too long ago.


The situation in Bahrain now is very critical and after the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inqury's report which was released on day one of the Hunger Strike Chain, November 23rd, and that requires that any international pressure be projected now towards the Bahraini government and officials as they are more inclined to cave in as they are trying to wrap up the report and claim that the period of unrest is over with, once again.


Day Zero: 23 NOV 2011 

• Setting up a new blog and my online pages to begin the hunger strike.

Day One: 24 NOV 2011

• I started reading the BICI English report;
• Attended the GA at Occupy DC, McPherson Square location where I shared the idea of the hunger strike, spoke about human rights violations, gave out handouts that I had prepared on Bahrain and the $53 Millions Arms Deal with the U.S. and invited people to join the hunger strike;
•  Set up a new blog dedicated to supporting the Bahraini people and their demands;
• And published my first blog posts in my new blog.

I was very much excited and energized to start this and was fully motivated to pursue engaging as many people come my way and show interest in Bahrain or even share a simple thing about this small nation and the role the United States plays in Bahrain. My roommate Dana, who is from Saudi Arabia and have been learning about Bahrain, has joined me on hunger strike for the first day protesting what her Saudi government and what is the Bahraini government doing to the protesters in Bahrain.



Day Two: 24 NOV 2011

• Started writing two posts for Ba7raniyati blog;
• Started working on a video blog for my Youtube as well as blog;
• Reconnected with a friend from Bahrain and spoke about the events of 2011, the aftermath, people's reactions and roles, and the BICI report and its outcomes;
• Watched the videos of the BICI report release and shared them on my social media pages;
• And called for demanding guarantees by the Bahraini king's of implementation adn respect of the report as well as holding those found guilty by it accountable.

Today was not so hard as well as I was still strong, fully charged and inspired by the newly released report and its content. The report incriminates government officials and condemns human rights violations. It accuses the Bahraini government of excessive use of power, too. Having learned that helped me better direct my focus for the day toward spreading the videos, link and news of the reactions to the BICI report and the public statements of government officials to international media. I got thirsty pretty quick so I had water and juice but no food.



Day Three: 25 NOV 2011

• Shared the word on the Bahraini king's action to appoint a committee to apply the recommendations of the BICI report headed by government and royal officials;
• Read more of the BICI report and shared their findings on my social media pages;
• I updated one blog draft and worked a bit on learning how to edit and create a video as I am not very well-grounded with such programs;
• Continued to track and share the general reactions to the BICI report as well as impressions on the governments move towards form the Recommendation Committee, as advised in the report;
• And today was the 
  International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; many women have been targeted in Bahrain due to their stance in support of the popular protests in the country.

Today was harder than the first too days as my body started missing the source of energy and I was too thirsty so I has water and juice to keep my sugar up but no food. 

Day Four: 26 NOV 2011

• Followed the reaction on the streets to the BICI report;
• Daughter of prominent human rights activist who is sentenced to life in prison, Zainab Al-Khawaja was arrested and released by riot police for standing unarmed in front of police cars. I followed and shared the news on my pages;
• Spent the rest of the day evaluating the finding in BICI report and updating my post about it.

Today was mainly online interactions as I was not able to meet with people in person to advocate for Bahrain. I left handouts at the Occupy movement McPherson Square on the Hunger Strike and the situation in Bahrain. I started to feel very hungry and tired. I knew day five will be very hard to get through.

Day Five: 27 NOV 2011

• Shared news of the Hunger Strike online;
• Met with a prominent human rights activist from Bahrain with international awards of human rights activism and spoke briefly about the situation in Bahrain before and after the BICI report;
• Worked on two new drafts for my blog;
• And shared news on the governments movements of appointing Prime Minister Khalifa Al-Khalifa as head of the Recommendation Committee for the BICI report.

Shared news of the hardship of fifth day of the hunger strike with the members of the Chain and on my social media pages. I also alerted people to be careful and take care of their health while on hunger strike as it is the most important.

Day Six: 28 NOV 2011

• Worked on a new video for my Youtube channel to be edited and posted with the first video as soon as they are perfected;
• Met with a friend who is a journalist from Bahrain and talked about the situation since the beginning of events in 2011 until now, we discussed the different point of views, prominent figures' role and responsibility and accountability;
• Attended the GA of Occupy DC at Freedom Plaza and called for support for Bahrainis explaining how is the BICI report unfolded and the initial steps of the Recommendation Committee. I also focused on promoting the huger strike and was approached by several people interested who wanted to pressure their Congressmen to signing Resolution
•  80 and 28;
• And invited people to events on Bahrain in the area.

Today was better than the last, I felt faint and weak but was able to pursue my plan for the day.

Day Seven: 29 NOV 2011

• Spent the day working on my social media pages;
• Published more posts to my blog;
• Updated people about the hunger strike;
• Provided people with information they asked for about Bahrain and the Arms Deal;
• And I am almost done with my first video.

Today was very easy because I knew it was the last for this week and I got really excited knowing that more people are interested in advocating for Bahrain.

Let us all support, follow and promote Pia and Tara's week of hunger strike! Thank you both.

~Salam

Reforming Reform

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's report has been in the heart of conflict in the past week since its release. Bassiouni’s speech given at the release ceremony, where the King, Crown Price and the Prime Minister, along with highly appointed officials listening carefully and calculating their reactions, has been remarkably confident. Mr. Bassiouni had also listed the crimes his commission collected from victims and the involvement of officials in the process of arbitrary abuse of law, excessive force and violation of human rights.

                  

In any real democracy, the decision making process is in the hands of all of the people of the country. This is the approach that the people of Bahrain need today. A real direct democracy in which one is responsible for his vote, all votes are of the same value and no man is above the law. If this is declared, respected and acknowledged as reason as a resolution for the circumstances that my country is suffering from, only then, will individuals accept the government's attempts to actual reform.

At this point, the measures of reform are not well-structured or clear. Nor are they sufficient to recover social and politically in order for people to once again be accepting and forgiving of one another regardless of the backgrounds we come from. So far, the government is taking the same recovery steps and no reform is being established.

In the past experiences of civil struggle in Bahrain, crackdowns took place, people got killed, imprisoned, tortured, some to silence and other to insanity, and many were driven out of the country. The very first incidents date back to the time when Bahrain declared its independence from the United Kingdom in 1971. It seems that each decade a new wave of unrest swells up in the heart of Bahrain to be shut down forcefully by the riot police. It does not stop there, but campaigns to promote national unity, mainly engaged in promoting for loyalty to the king rather than the nation of Bahrain, occupy the streets of Bahrain to the point that every celebration becomes an opportunity to emphasize the importance of loyalty to the king and not the country. The major example for this is that the country does NOT celebrate its independence nor do many people understand the complications of the treaties signed with the British protectorate in order to claim independence in Bahrain. Bahrain's date of independence is 14th of August 1971 when both countries signed the agreement freeing Bahrain from Britain. Nonetheless, not a single official celebration is held to celebrate that, instead the National Day is when the previous Emir accessed leadership to the country and it is the only one recognized to being the national celebration rather than the one that declares us as people an independent nation.

This is merely an example of many camouflages of nationalism that the government has been feeding the young and old minds of Bahrain leading to eruption of oppressed agitations along with the systemized campaigns by the government and the local media networks to categorize people as loyalists and traitors. A little research will show you a massive database of such incidents in 2011 and perhaps before.

My main purpose of indulging in these piece of Bahraini culture and history is that reform in eh eyes of the government has always been by forcing people to believe that it is in their best interest to accept the current government, obey it and resign to the destiny they choose for you. In many cases, it is most likely that your sect, economic status, nationality and citizenship that decides how well you will do in the country and how far you are permitted to go.

Now, many new enlightened individuals who came out during the events of 2011 claiming absolute knowledge of the dynamics of politics in Bahrain when before they had no interest or had spent not a moment in their weeks to examine the demands of the marches and protest they have heard about because they enjoyed a lifestyle that is rewarding.

The divisions between the people, whether they were economic, social or political, have always existed. But, what was more important to the citizens was co-existence; this no longer the case. Therefore, for the government to want to reform the damages caused, by them and the opposition as well as the government mediums, they must stop controlling the country, engaging people, offering valid guarantees of change and implementing accountability.

In addition, this is ought to be conducted not only to the people who suffered or inflected torture for the year 2011 but also for the past since the opposition in Bahrain has been working with the international human rights community to bring accountability to the torturers of the past in Bahrain even under the British government’s protectorate.

To efface the obstacles or relapse with such a fragile opportunity presented by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the efforts of Mr. Bassiouni, things have to change not for the people, like it is the habit, but for Al-Khalifa royal family.

Hunger Strike Chain for Bahrain

Hunger Strikes seem to grab a lot of attention amongst the international media because the willingness to give up life’s basic privileges in hope of supporting a cause is the best means to spread the word and show your commitment to freedom, justice and human rights.

Bahrain is a very small country in the heart of the Arabian Gulf in the Middle East. The dynamics of politics in that small country is controlled by the Gulf Corporation Council and the United States alliance.

This year, people revolted without holding back hoping that alike other great states in the Middle East, Bahrainis would once and for all see their cause succeed and their demands adhered to. Unfortunately, this was not the case as the GCC’s intervention demolished the peaceful protests and the United States silence and support of King Hamad Alkhalifa’s promises of reform, which is not a historic example but carry a reflection of the previous promises of the past. The Pearl Square which was occupied and shelter freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration was removed and the protests are being crushed every day. Some international media personnel have been denied access to Bahrain and consequently, this small pearl in the gulf slid by like nothing happened.

Through this event that is ought to last for as long as the will of the people of Bahrain is determined to last, will focus on defying capitalism, dictatorship and oppression through peaceful demonstration.

How does this work?

•                    Submit your name to be added to the list of strikers;

•                    For a whole week fast or go on a hunger strike where you limit your diet to liquids only;

•                    Advocate:

o   Contact your democratic representative about Human rights violations in Bahrain

o   Educate your family, friends and colleagues

o   Go on TV

o   Interview with journalists

o   Write on your blogs, twitter, Facebook and other social networks

o   Demonstrate publicly and peacefully using images, videos and statements

o   Use the hashtag #HungerChain4BH to post your daily thoughts, attempts, plans, achievements and interactions to keep us all informed!

•                    This must not get violent, hateful, or targeting individuals who are expressing their freedom of speech.

•                    Respect what others have to say, accept their point of views and share yours as peacefully, civil and understanding as you can be.

To my fellow Americans:

-          Ever stopped to wonder how your role or lack of which there is affects not only you, your family, your friends but also people who live on the opposite side of the globe?

-          Ever thought that people taking things for granted are missing the bigger picture?

-          Do you think you have a better view of world politics than the “Average Joe”?

-          Did you know that the smallest country in the Middle East happens to be the United States greatest ally in the Gulf region?

-          Did you know that the U.S. Fifth fleet is stationed in Bahrain?

-          Do you know that the U.S government is attempting to go ahead with $53 million Arms Deal with Bahrain who has been for decades prosecuting individual based on their political opposition of the government?

-          Do you know that the U.S. is trying to leverage the Arms Sale deal to the Bahrain government who still commits the worst atrocities against unarmed civilians?

-          Did you know that there are people in the congress lobbying to pass a resolution to revoke the $53 Arms Deal with Bahrain?

The actions you take today will affect not only you but those who are deprived from the basic freedom of expressing their simplest needs, ambitions and dreams of a better world.

The #ArabSpring has played a major role in 2011 in shifting the structures of power and manipulating the powers of international politics, treaties and alliances. And I personally think that we, the future of this world, can take this to the next level.

How? It is simple. Challenge the strongest spectrums of politics here in the United States by

•                    Pressuring the press to listen to you,

•                    Persistently presenting our case to congressmen,

•                    Spreading the word through the biggest “mic checks” on the unjust foreign policy of America.

You have a voice far more powerful than anyone in the world. Why? Because you earned this right long before other nations in the world and maintained the great respect for this historic monument. So, use it for other to see a fraction of hope in their struggle across the seas in nations where speaking out is punishable by death, life-imprisonment, prosecution and harassment.

~ Remember, "silence is a war crime."

Bless you!

Learn how you can contribute:

Twitter @FatimaBunafoor

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#HungerChain4BH

Pre-BICI Report Remarks

Today marks a transition in Bahrain, to the better or worse, as the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry submits its report in a celebrated press conference. This could be a two-way path that could lead to reform if the government holds those accused of crimes reported in this report accountable or lets it slide by as a mere recommendation as has been the case with previous committees.

There has been a great interaction with both of the release of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report and the Shadow Report completed by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Bahrain Human Rights Society. However, I intend to study the BICI report more carefully as I read through the 501 pages so that I am not merely a critique but can also embrace the good things I have heard of being mentioned in it. Nonetheless, this was and is not my main concern with such a controversial human rights report in a country like Bahrain. My concerns reside in the mere fact that whether this report should be casted among the many camouflage moves by the Bahraini government, as witnessed several times in the history of Bahrain to revoke accusations and seize control once again. Or is it to be implemented through an independent committee consisting of all segments of the Bahraini society, since there is not much credibility to the current government with its background of oppression and abuse of power.

I cannot say that I am in favor or support of this committee, with the great respect to the time and efforts they put in pursuing justice, mainly because it was appointed by the king under great publicity to advocate for Bahrain’s image, specifically between its partners in the west. But I can say one thing, I will read this report in detail each day revealing my impressions of each part of it and noting any contradictions, general statements or misleading facts.

The BICI did its part of reporting and recommending to King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, but it is first and most the responsibility of the king to secure the safety of those prosecuted, tortured, raped, abducted, terrorized, harassed and accused of crimes uncalled for under “national safety” clauses. 

~Salam