Violation of Human Rights in Bahrain : The conflict with the big interests of England and the United States.

"You can imprison a human rights defender, but you can’t stop the human rights cause" Maryam Al-Khawaja told during a press conference held in London on Wednesday, organised by Index on Censorship and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

The prominent Bahraini activist and co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights urged UK authorities to speak out about rights abuses in her country, which she said is being run like a business by the ruling Al-Khalifa family. This comes after the arrest of her colleague, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) president Nabeel Rajab. He is facing charges of insulting government institutions on Twitter.

Also on Wednesday, her sister Zainab Al-Khawaja was sentenced to seven days’ detention for publicly insulting King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa by ripping up a picture of him in court. She was in court over charges connected to her previous human rights campaigning.

Al-Khawaja, a dual Danish and Bahraini citizen, was herself recently released on bail after being arrested at Bahrain International Airport when trying to enter the country to see her father.  She said: “I was stopped at the airport where I was told falsely that my citizenship had been revoked.”

She was then assaulted by police at the airport, and is still recovering from a torn muscle in her shoulder as a result. The police officer who assaulted her later filled charges against Al-Khawaja, presenting a scratched finger as medical evidence.

Al-Khawaja spoke of her time in Isa Town women’s prison, where she spent 19 days; she described poor sanitation and said there were no nurses or doctors available at night and it took 45 minutes for ambulances to reach the facility.

Al-Khawaja’s father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, the founder of 2012 Index award winner BCHR, is serving a life sentence after playing a prominent role in the country’s 2011 pro-democracy protests.

Al Khawaja described how changes could be implemented in Bahrain, saying there is a need for pressure from countries such as the UK and US, who have the capability to make sure the government respect human rights.

“Reform can be implemented and enforced by accountability,” she said.

Bahrain, saying there is a need for pressure from countries such as the UK and US,