On 14 February 2025, leading human rights organisations urged top EU officials, including Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, to pressurise Bahrain’s King to release two unjustly imprisoned EU nationals, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad. Both men were detained over a decade ago after the 2011 protests in Bahrain, where authorities responded violently, executing unlawful actions against demonstrators and silencing dissenters through torture and wrongful incarceration.
Despite ongoing dialogues, the EU’s attempts to advocate for these individuals have yielded little. Mr. Al-Khawaja and Mr. Al-Muqdad have now endured nearly 14 years of wrongful detention, starkly contradicting the EU’s human rights commitments. The latest reports from the EU fail to accurately reflect Bahrain’s oppressive realities, misleadingly highlighting progress while downplaying severe human rights violations like torture and inadequate medical care for detainees.
Both detainees, alongside many others imprisoned for political reasons, suffered significant abuses that violate international and Bahraini law. Calls grow louder for meaningful action from the EU to rectify this oversight, especially after a 2024 agreement between the EU and Bahrain that overlooked the plight of these EU nationals amid alleged human rights advancements.
The letters highlight the urgency for the EU to meet with the detainees or their families, ensuring higher visibility for their plight. They urge collaboration with Denmark and Sweden for a coordinated response and demand more accurate reporting in future EU human rights assessments. Furthermore, officials are urged to advocate against the death penalty in Bahrain and ensure independent human rights assessments precede new agreements with the government.
As the EU approaches Denmark’s presidency in July 2025, the undersigned organisations urge immediate action to bring Al-Khawaja and Al-Muqdad back to their families. They aspire for the EU to exhibit solidarity and determination to pressure Bahrain into compliance with international human rights standards, ensuring that both citizens are liberated from the shadows of their unjust imprisonment.
On 14 February 2025, human rights organisations urged the EU to intervene for the release of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad, unjustly imprisoned EU nationals. After nearly 14 years of wrongful detention, the organisations criticise the EU’s insufficient efforts and misleading reports on Bahrain’s human rights situation. They demand a clear commitment from the EU to address these violations and cooperate with Denmark and Sweden for coordinated measures.
The joint appeal from various human rights groups emphasises the necessity for the EU to act decisively regarding the cases of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad. Highlighting decades of unjust treatment towards these individuals, the groups stress a failure of the EU to maintain its human rights commitments in relations with Bahrain. A concerted effort is needed to see these nationals released and to promote genuine adherence to human rights by the Bahraini authorities, especially before Denmark assumes the EU presidency.
Original Source: www.omct.org
