page_title: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
section_title: Involvement in the Bahraini uprising
hierarchical_section_title: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja / Involvement in the Bahraini uprising
caption_attribution_description: English: Nabeel Rajab (left), Ali Abdulemam (middle) and Abdulhadi Alkhawaja (right) in a pro-democracy march on 23 February
context_page_description: Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja is a Bahraini political activist. On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment following the suppression of pro-democracy protests against the Bahraini government. al-Khawaja has previously gone on a series of hunger strikes while serving his life sentence, in protest of the political conditions in Bahrain.
  He is former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, 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.
context_section_description: In the early days of the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2011, al-Khawaja led peaceful pro-democracy protests across the country and organised peaceful awareness-raising and human rights education activities for protesters.
  In the period following attacks by Bahraini troops on protesters on 14 February 2011, the government allowed the protesters to continue a "festival-like" event at the Pearl Roundabout where a variety of groups came and shared their views.  The Crown Prince promised to start a dialogue with the opposition following a visit to Bahrain by Robert Gates, Defense Secretary of the United States, to discuss the situation.
  After protesters entered the Financial Harbour, an area filled with financial exchanges and banks on 13 March 2011, the government began a violent crackdown in retaliation.  A few days later, prominent opposition leader Hasan Mushaima and six other opposition activists were arrested.
caption: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja (right), Ali Abdulemam (middle) and Nabeel Rajab (left) in a pro-democracy march on 23 February
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