With Father and Sister Imprisoned, Exiled Bahraini Activist Maryam Alkhawaja Condemns Ongoing Abuses

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The Bahraini government continues its crackdown on opposition protesters, with demonstrations repressed and scores of dissidents held behind bars. We’re joined by Maryam Alkhawaja, a leading Bahraini human rights activist. Her family has been highly critical of the U.S.-backed monarchy, and they have paid a heavy price. Maryam’s father, human rights attorney Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, is serving a life sentence in prison. He has already spent two years in jail. Her sister, Zainab Alkhawaja, is also imprisoned. A close friend of the family, Nabeel Rajab, is also in jail. Rajab had been the head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. “There has hardly been any real accountability of the Bahraini government of the human rights violations that have been going on in Bahrain for more than two years now,” says Alkhawaja, who is now the acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

TRANSCRIPT

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to Bahrain, where the government continues its crackdown on opposition protesters, with demonstrations repressed and scores of dissidents held behind bars. Some of those imprisoned are now being denied visits from their lawyers or families. At least 87 people have died at the hands of security forces since the 2011 uprising began. Thousands more have been injured.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed monarchy last month blocked the visit of U.N. Special Rapporteur Juan Méndez, who was seeking to assess conditions on the ground. The move came a little over a year after the regime also blocked a visit by Méndez and Amnesty International.
Bahrain is a key U.S. government ally, hosting the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
AMY GOODMAN: Our next guest, Maryam Alkhawaja, is a leading Bahraini human rights activist. Her family has been highly critical of the U.S.-backed monarchy. They have paid a heavy price. Maryam’s father is the well-known human rights attorney Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. He’s serving a life sentence in prison in Bahrain. He’s already spent two years in jail. And Maryam’s sister, Zainab, who we have often interviewed on Democracy Now!, is also in prison now. A close family friend of the Alkhawajas, Nabeel Rajab, is also in jail. Rajab had been the head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Our guest, Maryam Alkhawaja, is now the group’s acting president.
Maryam, welcome to Democracy Now! But you don’t live in Bahrain.
MARYAM ALKHAWAJA: No, I don’t. I’m in self-imposed exile in Copenhagen currently, for safety reasons.