Friday, April 22, 2011

Bahrain: Activist daughter leaves hunger strike

The Bahraini Zainab to Khawaja has decided on Wednesday to end the hunger strike that began last April 10 following the arrest of several members of his family including his father, a prominent human rights defender in this small kingdom Persian Gulf. The girl, 27, has taken this decision after appeals from several human rights organizations have visited and have become convinced that the deterioration of his health each time she could do less to fight for the release of their relatives , while he promised to do everything in his power to make the scheme Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa let them free.

In recent days, Al Khawaja was having trouble breathing normally and suffered palpitations. I could barely stand or remain upright while sitting. The mother of Al Khawaja has been commissioned to spread this news through the blog of the young in a message in which she thanked, on behalf of his daughter, "too weak to write" the outpouring of support he has received around the world as Twitter and Facebook profile.

Khadija Al Mousawi also explains that the Ministry of Interior has been in contact with the family to ask them to wear clothes to their families. This is the first news of them since they were arrested last April 9 when the Bahraini security forces stormed the house of the parents of this young Bahraini handed him a brutal beating to his father, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja , and took him away with her husband and other relatives.

Desperate at the lack of news on their whereabouts and fearing possible torture by security forces, Al Khawaja began the next day hunger strike. Speaking to THE WORLD said they would be willing to go all the way and sacrifice their own life as have many of his compatriots to achieve freedom.

"I'd rather die with dignity than to live as a slave," claimed convinced that not only fight for the liberation of his family but also "for his people." Determined to follow his father's witness in the defense of human rights in her country, she is defended by those who had criticized that had begun a hunger strike being in charge of a girl of just 18 months.

"There are some who have accused me of being a bad mother for doing this [put on hunger strike] but few, I have support not only here in Bahrain but also in other parts of the world such as Kenya, Hungary, Italy, the United States Italy, "he said proudly. Al Khawaja was aware that this decision was between the enemies of the regime, but was willing to become a goal as did his father for denouncing the systematic violations of human rights in Bahrain, by demanding that those responsible were brought to Justice and calling for democratic reforms.

For now, the Al Khalifa regime seems unwilling to move the view tab and tibia in the U.S., with strategic interests in this country (which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet U.S.) has not contributed to the start in this small Persian Gulf kingdom reforms as has happened in other states have also come waves of the Arab spring.

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