Bahraini Human Rights Advocate Arrested Again

Zainab al-Khawaja stands in her jailed father's former home. Courtesy of Wikimedia

Local police in Bahrain’s capital of Manama arrested prominent Bahraini human rights activist,

 with her 1-year-old son Abdulhadi, on the charges of ripping up several photographs of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa on March 14th. Zainab has been repeatedly arrested since major “Arab Spring” uprisings swept across Bahrain and the wider Middle East in 2011.

Zainab’s use of social media and hunger strikes to advocate for the release of her jailed father rose her to prominence on Twitter, where she’s known as @AngryArabia. She has heavily criticized Bahrain’s government and its arbitrary arrests, as well as the United States for "standing behind the dictator and giving him the green light to do whatever he wants with the people of Bahrain," as reported by CNN. Though officials report her prison sentence will last for two months, her lawyer commented that this period will likely extend farther, given plans to try her on older allegations dating back to 2012. She has refused to attend appeals hearings.

Zainab’s well-known father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, currently faces a lifelong sentence for inciting the 2011 uprisings through his social media activity, while her sister lives in exile in Denmark. Many Bahraini advocates of human rights, including many other members of Zainab’s politically active family, have been targeted by the Sunni government, in an attempt to crackdown on Shi’ite popular unrest.

The Bahraini government appears to see human rights advocates as key players in protest. "Those of us who know Zainab know that she is exactly the sort of person Bahrain needs if it is to get itself out of its current mess. She should be playing a full part in creating a new, modern, Bahrain, not silenced in jail,” argues Brian Dooley of Human Rights First.

2016, the five-year anniversary of the “Arab Spring” revolutions, has thus far demonstrated reinvigorated protest and government crackdown in Bahrain. As a member of the Gulf Coast Coalition (GCC), the Kingdom of Bahrain is close allies with Saudi Arabia, and Saudi and Emirati troops have played a key role in controlling the Bahrain’s Shi’a protests since 2011.

Given their close relations, the shifting regional status of Saudi Arabia may further influence Bahrain’s internal changes. Most recently, Saudi Arabia’s execution of celebrated Iranian Shi’ite cleric Nimr al Nimr in January drove hundreds of Bahraini Shi’a into the streets of Manama, and resulted in violent exchanges between police and civilians. More broadly, Saudi Arabia’s increasingly negative discourse regarding Iran and its role in feeding the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts appears to be inflaming sectarian tensions within neighboring Bahrain. In this vein, Bahraini officials just confirmed the deportation of ten Lebanese families with alleged ties to Hezbollah, the Shi’ite terrorist organization supported by Iran.