- Abdulhadi al-Khawaja holds Danish citizenship
- Bahraini authorities detained him a year ago
- He is serving a life sentence for his role in anti-government protests
- His hunger strike enters its 62nd day Tuesday
(CNN) -- The United Nations is urging Bahrain to consider transferring a detained activist to Denmark for treatment as his hunger strike enters its 62nd day Tuesday.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds Danish citizenship, is serving a life sentence for his role in anti-government protests that continue to roil Bahrain. Sunday marked a year since his arrest.
A U.N. spokesman said the detainee's health and and well-being should be the main concern, saying United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon hopes Bahrain will consider Denmark's offer on humanitarian grounds.
Rights groups such as Amnesty International have called on Bahrain to free him over concerns about his declining health. His daughter said that when she spoke with him over the weekend, he was having trouble breathing and faced harassment by hospital staff and security guards.
"There were very long pauses," Zainab al-Khawaja said Sunday. "He was trying to breathe between every word."
How Bahrain quashed 2011 uprising 
Bahrain won't transfer hunger-striker 
Pleas for activist on hunger strike Relatives are concerned about his health.
"His tone and the way he was speaking was like he was saying goodbye," she said. "We're not sure if we'll ever see him again."
Bahrain's information ministry dismissed concerns about his health, saying his life is not in danger. Authorities in the nation have also shot down calls to transfer him to Denmark.
The Supreme Judicial Council said Sunday he did not meet the conditions to be transferred to foreign countries, the Bahrain News Agency reported.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights founded by the activist said he had recently told his guards that he would stop drinking water, in addition to continuing his hunger strike, unless his treatment improved.
Records show he has lost about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and has a low hemoglobin level, though not critically low, the government said last week. He was also reportedly taking fluids, mineral supplements, glucose and juice on a daily basis.
Al-Khawaja was arrested in April 2011 for his role in anti-government protests that began a month earlier with demands for political reform and greater freedoms in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority nation.
Opposition groups say more than 1,000 people -- most of them Shiites -- were detained for allegedly taking part.
In June, Bahrain found him and seven other Shiite opposition activists guilty of plotting to overthrow the country's Sunni royal family.
He can appeal his life sentence during a hearing April 23, the government said.
