Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a prominent Bahraini-Danish human rights defender, is the co-founder of both the Gulf Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He has been unjustly imprisoned in Bahrain since his arrest on 09 April 2011 for his role in peaceful demonstrations during Bahrain’s pro-democracy uprising and is currently serving a life sentence. Al-Khawaja’s health has deteriorated significantly during his imprisonment. He has been subjected to severe physical, sexual, and psychological torture.

Prison authorities have repeatedly failed to provide or allow Al-Khawaja access to adequate medical treatment. In February 2023, Al-Khawaja experienced a cardiac arrhythmia; for several months, he was denied access to adequate medical treatment, despite continued cardiac problems and the risk of cardiac arrest. On 09 August 2023, he began a hunger strike in protest of the denial of medical treatment for himself and other detained human rights defenders, putting his health at severe risk. He has engaged in repeated hunger strikes and protests since then to seek an end to abusive practises in prison, and denial of rights such as medical care and phone calls.