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Int’l Activists, Doctors Ask Ali Mushaima and Zainab Al-Khawaja to End their Hunger Strike

2018-09-13 - 7:19 p

Bahrain Mirror- Exclusive: Brian Dooley said in a tweet on his own Twitter account that he, along with other activist, are asking Ali Mushaima and Zainab Al-Khawaja to end their hunger strike.

The 3 activists, Brian Dooley from Human Rights First, Andrew Anderson from Front Line Defenders and human rights activist Sam Walton, sent a letter to Ali Mushaima and Zainab Al-Khawaja asking them to stop their hunger strike before irreparable damage is done to their bodies.

The letter read "We note with increasing concern the medical reports about Ali Mushaima and Zainab Al-Khawaja, both fasting outside the embassy of Bahrain in London."

"We have visited and supported the protest to draw attention to the abuse of prisoners in Bahrain, including Ali's father, Hassan Mushaima, and Zainab's father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, both sentenced to life in prison after being tortured and subjected to a sham trial. We fully support the demands that prisoners be given adequate medical care, access to books and to family visits in accordance with international standards."

"We have seen the successful impact of Ali and Zainab's protests- international media attention and a renewed focus on human rights abuses in Bahrain, as well as improvements in the medical care for Hasan Mushaima," it added.

Activists stressed that this is not enough and that "These prisoners and many other should not be in jail at all. But we now urge Ali and Zainab to end their fasts for health reasons. The medical reports suggest they are in real danger of harm, and we call on them to end their fasts before irreparable damage is done to their bodies. This stand has made enormous gains, and we applaud their courage. Now it is time to pursue other forms of advocacy and protest to advance human rights in Bahrain, and to push for the release of Hasan Mushaima, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and all those wrongly jailed in Bahrain."

In the same context, a medical team of four doctors demanded Ali Mushaima to end his hunger strike, expressing grave concern for his medical condition as he enters the 43rd day of his hunger strike.

Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy published on its website saying that the doctors visiting Ali nearly every day throughout the hunger strike strongly advised him to end his hunger strike. They also warning him about the great risks for his health if he continues to subject his body to "such stress". Doctors warned Ali that his body will start to break itself down to survive and vital organs such as kidneys and the liver, may be (if not already) irreversibly damaged.

Mushaima has started a hunger strike in front of the Bahraini Embassy in London to demand his 70-year-old father right to adequate medical care, family visits and books.

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