A Bahraini human rights group says authorities have detained and beaten a prominent activist amid a continued crackdown on the opposition in the tiny Gulf nation.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said Abdulhadi al—Khawaja, formerly of Amnesty International, was detained on Saturday in the early hours of the morning at his daughter’s house in a Shiite village outside the capital, Manama.
Al—Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab, confirmed the arrest. She told the AP that police beat her father unconscious before taking him into custody along with her husband and her brother—in—law.
Bahrain declared emergency rule last month and cracked down on protests by the country’s Shiite majority against a Sunni monarchy, detaining hundreds of activists and anti—government protesters.
