[The following letter from detained Kuwaiti activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli was published in translation by BedoonRights.org. The original Arabic text can be accessed here.]
I send this message to the free Kuwaiti people,
To His Highness the Emir,
And to the Bedoon heroes:
My brothers and countrymen, Kuwait is screaming with injustice. How long will this last? If this injustice practiced against the Bedoon does not stop, we will all lose our country. My brothers and countrymen, stand together against injustice and the oppressors and do not let down your Bedoon brothers in their legitimate, heroic and historic fight for their freedom.
Your Highness the Emir:
My country is screaming with injustice. You have always called on us all to respect the constitution and the law, yet the injustice and oppression happening to the people of our country has nothing to do with justice, law or the constitution. The security system is playing with the country’s security and people. It is violating the law and constitution. I hope you take a serious and firm stance in correcting these transgressions. I hope you issue an order promptly to guarantee everyone`s rights.
My brothers the Bedoon:
Throughout history, an oppressor has never won against free people. You have two roads from which to choose. Either the road of freedom and dignity or the road of slavery and humiliation. I have taken the road of freedom and I will not turn away from this hard road until I reach its end. Today, after all those trials and tribulations, which road you will take?
At 7p.m. on 16 January 2013, I officially announce from this freedom cell in Kuwait`s Central Jail that I will go on an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the injustice and the cases fabricated unfairly against me by the security system. They are trying to destroy my life, reputation, future, and freedom. They are torturing me to force me to stop my activism for the cause of the stateless of Kuwait. I will not stop my hunger strike until:
- I am released;
- Cases fabricated against me are dropped;
- The formation of a national nonpartisan committee to investigate cases of kidnapping, arrests, torture, and fabrications against activists, including my own case.
Most probably, this will be my last message to you for the time being as I am sure there will be repercussions after this message is released to the media and the public. I know I will be put into solitary confinement, away from the light of the sun and people, to punish me for exercising my right to defend my freedom through a hunger strike.
Abdulhakim AlFadhli
Human rights activist and defender of the rights of Kuwait`s Bedoon