On 5 August 2015, Alkarama sent its Submission to the List of Issues on the situation of civil and political rights in Kuwait to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRCtee) in view of the country's third review by the Committee during its 118th session in June/July 2016. Documenting various violations in the wake of a drastic crackdown of freedom of expression, Alkarama highlighted its mains concerns, mainly the lack of independence of the judiciary, the discrimination against the Bidoon, the arbitrary use of citizenship stripping, the violent dispersal of peaceful assemblies and the infringement of privacy through compulsory DNA collection. Based on these observations, Alkarama formulated 26 questions for the Committee to pose to the State party.
In 2011, following a corruption scandal of government officials that stirred political protests and empowered the opposition, the Emir and the Constitutional Court twice dissolved the Parliament and a new electoral decree was passed favouring pro-government majorities. Today, the authorities continue to silence political dissidents and citizens criticising the government, leading to a serious deterioration of the freedom of expression and other basic civil and political rights in Kuwait.
Executive's increasing control over the judiciary
While Kuwait is the first country in the Gulf which adopted a Parliament and a Constitution back in 1962, yet its judiciary is only partially independent as judges are appointed by the Emir acting on the advice of the Supreme Judicial Council. In 2015, the overriding powers of the executive over the judiciary have strongly been felt in the case of Dar Al Watan Publishing and Dar Al Watan TV channel, two media outlets well-known for their free and independent editorial lines, which had their licenses removed and premises shut down by administrative decisions despite judicial decision which favoured the media outlets.
Continued discrimination against the stateless Bidoon
Kuwait counts about 120,000 stateless persons, known as the "Bidoon", whose civil and political rights, as well those of their children, are being infringed on a multitude of levels, in addition to the non recognition of the right of these long-time residents to Kuwaiti nationality. While the authorities have created 'the Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Residents' and developed few schemes to benefit the Bidoon community, no real change in their disadvantaged situation has been achieved. On the contrary, certain initiatives, such as handing out economic citizenship to the Bidoon in the archipelago of Comoros, raise severe concerns about the government's political will to truly address the plight of the Bidoon.
Moreover, Bidoon peaceful demonstrators are violently dispersed when they protest against such discrimination, with hundreds of them being arrested and detained. Moreover, members of the Bidoon community are victims of judicial harassment, such as the human rights activist Abdulhakim Al Fadhli, who has been arrested many times because of his participation to peaceful protests and sentenced by the Criminal Court to one year in prison with hard labour on charges of "inciting Bidoon in Kuwait to protest and cause chaos." The Court also issued a deportation order that will come into effect at the end of his prison sentence. This is even more worrisome that Kuwaiti law provides that non Kuwaiti citizens who commit a crime and are charged and sentenced, can be expelled to their country of citizenship after serving their sentence and since the Bidoon are not considered Kuwaiti citizens, the authorities have been using this provision against them and indefinitely detained them even after serving their sentence.
Crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly
Alkarama has highlighted in its report an alarming trend of judicial persecution for "criticising the State or its institutions" and "offending the Emir." On 18 May 2015, the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation sentenced former Member of Parliament Musallam Al Barrack to two years imprisonment on charges of "insult to the Emir," an accusation that has become a regular pretext to convict any person who criticises the government's policy.
In June 2015, the parliament passed a Cybercrime Law which contains several dispositions that reinforce the ongoing crackdown on peaceful criticism provides for prison sentences for "criticising the Emir on the Internet" and up to 10 years in prison for using the Internet to attempt to "overthrow the ruling regime or incite the change of the system." This flawed legal framework adds to Kuwait's Communication Law of 2014, which already curtails the freedom of the press. Article 15, for instance, provides a sentence of three years imprisonment for "intentionally broadcasting news, statements, or false or malicious rumours [...] that harm the national interest of the State."
Moreover, Alkarama expresses concern about the violent crackdown of numerous demonstrations and the excessive use of force against peaceful protestors, even though the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in Kuwait's Legislative Decree No. 65/1979 of its Public Gathering Law.
Revocation of Citizenship and DNA collection as a reprisal against dissent
Over the past year, Alkarama has observed with concern that the Kuwaiti authorities have stripped at least 33 people of their citizenship, including some government critics for "acts aiming to undermine the country's security and stability, bringing harm to its institution" under article 13 of the 1959 Law on Nationality. Jaber Al Shammari, the owner of both television channel Al-Youm and the daily Alam Al Youm, saw his nationality revoked. Consequently, his two pro-opposition media companies were closed by the authorities since, under the Law on Press and Audio-Visual Media, the owner of a media channel must be of Kuwaiti nationality. Other prominent examples include Abdullah Al Barghash, a former opposition leader in parliament; Nabil Al Awadhi, a conservative cleric widely known for his TV talk shows; and Saad Al Ajmi, the spokesman for Musallam Al Barrak. Decisions to revoke nationality cannot be appealed judicially or administratively as there is no competent body to hear appeals on nationality matters.
What is more, Alkarama is deeply concerned about the recent passing of the Law No. 78/2015, which provides for general and compulsory DNA collection for all Kuwaiti citizens, residents and visitors in Kuwait. This law was added to the counter-terrorism legal framework after the deadly terrorist attack of 26 June 2015 against the Shia mosque of Imam Sadiq, which killed 27 people and wounded 227 in Kuwait City. The law states that any person who deliberately refrains from giving his DNA sample is punished with one year in prison and a fine of 10 thousand dinars. Alkarama is alarmed by the possibility of samples being arbitrarily used by the Ministry of Interior, as article 5 of the Law gives the "competent authorities" the capacity to investigate and use the DNA database for any cases required by the "supreme interest" of the country. "By setting a universal and compulsory DNA testing, Kuwait sets an extremely dangerous precedent in international law" said Radidja Nemar, Regional Legal Officer for the Gulf at Alkarama. "We believe that this law is a violation of the right to privacy as enshrined in Article 17 of the ICCPR and cannot be reasonably justified by counter-terrorism concerns".
Conclusion
If Kuwait is serious about the commitments it has agreed on by signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1996, then it should, amongst others:
• Amend laws that criminalise any form of criticism of the ruling elite or State authorities, notably the "insult to the Emir";
• Grant Kuwaiti nationality to the Bidoon and put an end to the discrimination against them;
• Allow for the basic right of freedom of peaceful assembly and instantly stop the use of excessive force against protestors;
• End the practice of revoking nationality as a method of reprisal against political opponents;
• Revoke the latest law of compulsory DNA testing;
Alkarama hopes that the concerns raised in its report to the HRCtee will be taken up by the Committee and addressed to the representatives of the State party, so that both can have a constructive dialogue addressing the issues in question and that ultimately Kuwait will safeguard civil and political rights. A more detailed analysis on the country's situation of civil and political rights can be found in Alkarama's Submission to the List of Issues on Kuwait to the United Nation Human Rights Committee (HRCtee).
For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).