Two Bahraini human rights activists have intensified their hunger strike and are refusing fluids, according to a report [6] released March 25 by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights [7] (BCHR). According to the report Zainab al-Khawaja [8] and her father, prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja [9] began refusing fluids in response to being denied visits from their families. Earlier this month, the Bahrain court of appeals overturned the acquittal of Zainab al-Khawaja, who has been accused of insulting a government employee, and sentenced her to three months of imprisonment. She began her hunger strike on March 18. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was sentenced to life in prison for his role anti-government protests by a military tribunal in June 2011. The Bahraini government has denied the report [10].
Bahrain has faced international scrutiny regarding its treatment of political prisoners. Earlier this month a court in Bahrain acquitted [11] human rights activist Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafda [12] on charges of spreading false news to harm the country's security on Twitter. Bahrain authorities banned all protests [13] effective October 2012. In December Bahrain's High Criminal Court of Appeals commuted death sentences [14] for two protesters, instead sentencing them to life imprisonment.
From Jurist [15], March 25. Used with permission.
