Human Rights Watch denounces arrest of Bahraini activist

HRW Executive Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sarah Leah Whitson, has said in a statement to the press, “Human Rights Watch expressed its deepest concern over reports that Bahrain has chosen to detained human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja in Bahrain.”

She added, "It is not lawful for a state to strip a national from its nationality arbitrarily … Under international law, no government can deprive someone of his/her nationality or his/her right to enter his/her own country arbitrarily.”

Maryam Al Khawaja, daughter of Abdel-Hadi Al Khawaja was refused entry into Bahrain on September 30th. She holds a dual nationality – Danish/Bahraini.