Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
| Abdulhadi al-Khawaja | |
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Abdulhadi al-Khawaja taking part in a pro-democracy protest in February 2011
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| Born |
Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja 5 April 1961 Bahrain |
| Nationality |
 Danish and  Bahraini
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| Occupation | Human rights defender |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Criminal charge | organizing and managing a terrorist organisation, attempt to overthrow the government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organisation working for a foreign country and the collection of money for a terrorist group |
| Spouse(s) | Khadija Almousawi |
| Children | 2 other daughters |
| Website | http://www.bahrainrights.org/ |
 Abdulhadi al-Khawaja speech (Arabic) in Manama on January 2009 on YouTube
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Abdulhadi al-Khawaja speech (Arabic) in Pearl roundabout on 27 February on YouTube
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Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja (Arabic: عبد الهادي عبد الله حبيل الخواجة) is a Bahraini-Danish human rights activist. He is currently in prison in Bahrain following the suppression of pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising. He is former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), a nonprofit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain. He has held a number of positions and played various roles in regional and international human rights organizations.
On 9 April 2011, al-Khawaja was arrested and tried as part of a campaign of repression by the Bahraini authorities following pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising. Front Line Defenders expressed fear for his life following allegations of torture and sexual assault in detention. Al-Khawaja was sentenced on 22 June 2011, along with eight other activists, to life imprisonment. On 8 February 2012, he started an open-ended hunger strike until "freedom or death", protesting continuing detentions in Bahrain. The strike lasted for 110 days, and resulted in his being force-fed by authorities.
Until February 2011, al-Khawaja was the Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator with Front Line Defenders – the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. He is also a member of the International Advisory Network in the Business and Human Rights Resource Center chaired by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Al-Khawaja is a member of the Advisory Board of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies and also an expert adviser for and member of the coordinating committee of The Arab Group for Monitoring Media Performance monitoring the media in Bahrain and six other Arab countries. Al-Khawaja was part of Amnesty International’s fact-finding mission in Iraq, and has been a researcher and project consultant for Amnesty International and other international organizations. His human rights campaigning activities have been acknowledged by the International Conference of Human Rights Defenders in Dublin, and he was named by the Arab Program for Human Rights Defenders as its Regional Activist of 2005.
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