Amnesty International Report 1995 - Kuwait
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Date:
1 January 1995
Over 160 people, among them possible prisoners of conscience, continued to serve prison terms imposed after unfair trials in 1991, 1992 and 1993. At least 150 other political prisoners, including possible prisoners of conscience, who were arrested in 1991 on charges of "collaboration" with Iraqi forces during the occupation of Kuwait, remained in custody awaiting trial. The fate and whereabouts of at least 62 detainees who "disappeared" from custody in 1991 remained unknown. Six people were sentenced to death and one person was executed. Thirteen death sentences imposed in previous years were reduced to terms of imprisonment.
In February the parliamentary Committee for Legislative and Legal Affairs completed its examination of the Law on the Combat of Drugs (No. 74 of 1983). It proposed a number of amendments to the law, including the introduction of the death penalty for a wide range of offences. Under Article 31, the death penalty would be introduced as an optional punishment for importing drugs for commercial purposes, producing or manufacturing drugs for commercial purposes and for growing or importing drug-producing plants. The death penalty would become mandatory in certain circumstances for buying or possessing drugs and for receiving payment or other gain in return for facilitating the use of drugs. The National Assembly voted in favour of these amendments in March when the draft law had its first reading. However, the draft law failed to gain majority support at its second reading. No further information was available by the end of the year. One of the country's leading human rights groups, al-Jamia al-Kuwaitiyya lil-difa an Dahaya al-Harb, the Kuwaiti Association to Defend War Victims, had to vacate its premises in October under government orders. Since a decree was issued in August 1993 ordering the dissolution of all unlicensed organizations, the group had been unable to obtain government registration to continue working on behalf of Kuwaitis missing and believed to be held in Iraq since 1991 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Over 160 political prisoners, including 13 women, continued to serve prison terms in Kuwait Central Prison following their conviction on charges of "collaboration" with Iraqi forces during the occupation of Kuwait. At least 20 of them were prisoners of conscience. Fifty-nine had been sentenced by the Martial Law Court in 1991 and the others by the State Security Court in 1992 and 1993 after trials which did not satisfy international standards for fair trial (see Amnesty International Reports 1992 to 1994). At least 150 other political prisoners, including possible prisoners of conscience, were believed to be held following their arrest in 1991 on suspicion of "collaboration". At the end of 1994 no information was available about the precise number of detainees awaiting trial or how many had been brought to trial. Abd al-Amir Sabati, an Iranian national who had lived in Kuwait since 1950, was reportedly arrested by State Security personnel on 21 February. According to information received by Amnesty International, he was not charged with any crime and was denied access to his family and lawyer. A Kuwaiti police detective was reported to have been detained in August for the alleged torture of Ahmad al-Mubarak, a Sudanese national, during interrogation at a police station. It was also reported that the same detective had previously been sentenced to several years in prison on charges of torture but that he had not served his sentence. No information was available about progress in other cases of prosecution for alleged torture in previous years, including the case of seven policemen implicated in the torture of a Sri Lankan detainee who died in June 1992 (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 and 1994). The fate and whereabouts of at least 62 Palestinians, Jordanians, Iraqis and other nationals who "disappeared" in custody between February and June 1991 remained unknown at the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1993). Among them was a Palestinian with Jordanian nationality, George Victor Salsa, who was arrested from his home by members of the State Security forces in May 1991 and subsequently "disappeared". In January the Minister of Information told Amnesty International that: "A thorough investigation was conducted, which unfortunately resulted in no information concerning the whereabouts of Mr Salsa". Fears also remained over the fate of Khalid Rashid Muhammad Agha-Mir, an Iraqi Kurd born in Kuwait, who worked as a cashier at al-Salam Gynaecological Hospital before his arrest in April 1991 at his home by soldiers and armed civilians. He was reportedly seen at al-Salmiyya police station and subsequently moved to an unknown destination. In June the State Security Court sentenced to death five Iraqi nationals and a Kuwaiti for participating in an alleged assassination attempt on the former US President, George Bush, during his visit to Kuwait in April 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Among those sentenced were Bandar Ujail Jaber al-Shummari and Adel Ismail Issa al-Utaibi. Seven other defendants in the same case, all Iraqi nationals, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to 10 years; one Kuwaiti national was acquitted. The trial proceedings fell short of international standards for fair trial: for example, the defendants were not allowed access to lawyers before the trial and were denied full right of appeal. The main prosecution witness in the trial was a senior officer in State Security Intelligence who led the operation to arrest the defendants. His evidence during the trial was reportedly based on "secret sources" and the information, which he claimed proved that the defendants were linked to Iraqi intelligence, was not made known to the court. The defence lawyers complained that they could not challenge the "secret information" as it was not available to them. The officer's evidence was also based on the confessions made by the defendants. Some of the defendants had initially confessed to the charges against them, but later retracted saying that they were innocent. Some stated that they had been beaten during interrogation. The six death sentences were to be reviewed by the Court of Cassation before ratification by the Amir, al-Shaikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The Court of Cassation had not given a verdict by the end of the year. Muhammad Ali Qulaib al-Rashidi, sentenced to death by the Criminal Court in August 1993 following his conviction for rape, was executed in August after his sentence was upheld by the Court of Cassation (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The Court of Cassation reduced to terms of imprisonment 13 death sentences imposed by the State Security Court in 1992 and 1993 following proceedings which failed to conform to international standards for fair trial. The defendants were 10 Jordanian men, two Iraqi men and one Kuwaiti woman who were convicted of "collaboration" with Iraqi forces during the occupation of Kuwait (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In February Amnesty International published a report, Kuwait: Three years of unfair trials, which detailed the organization's concerns about the trials of alleged "collaborators" which took place before the Martial Law Court in May and June 1991 and the continuing trials before the State Security Court which began in April 1992. The report contained a series of recommendations to the government, including the release of all prisoners of conscience, the fair trial or release of all political prisoners and the abolition of special courts. The organization also urged the authorities to clarify all cases of "disappearance" and to investigate all torture allegations and deaths in custody. Amnesty International called for the commutation of all death sentences. The Minister of Information responded in a television interview by denying the allegations of unfair trials, but added: "I am not here to deny the negative things that did take place after the liberation". He invited Amnesty International to visit Kuwait. The organization welcomed the invitation, but stated that for such a visit to be productive, it would be helpful if Amnesty International were to receive beforehand a substantial portion of the information requested over the past three years, including details of investigations into cases of "disappearance" and allegations of torture, and details of the evidence against defendants convicted by the Martial Law Court and State Security Court. In May Kuwait's Ambassador to Belgium described the report's contents as "hostile to Kuwait and a repetition of old allegations", but failed to address the substance of any of Amnesty International's concerns. Early in the year the Ministry of Justice provided Amnesty International, at its request, with the names of 625 Kuwaitis arrested during the occupation in 1990 and 1991 and believed to be still in Iraq (see Iraq entry).
In February the parliamentary Committee for Legislative and Legal Affairs completed its examination of the Law on the Combat of Drugs (No. 74 of 1983). It proposed a number of amendments to the law, including the introduction of the death penalty for a wide range of offences. Under Article 31, the death penalty would be introduced as an optional punishment for importing drugs for commercial purposes, producing or manufacturing drugs for commercial purposes and for growing or importing drug-producing plants. The death penalty would become mandatory in certain circumstances for buying or possessing drugs and for receiving payment or other gain in return for facilitating the use of drugs. The National Assembly voted in favour of these amendments in March when the draft law had its first reading. However, the draft law failed to gain majority support at its second reading. No further information was available by the end of the year. One of the country's leading human rights groups, al-Jamia al-Kuwaitiyya lil-difa an Dahaya al-Harb, the Kuwaiti Association to Defend War Victims, had to vacate its premises in October under government orders. Since a decree was issued in August 1993 ordering the dissolution of all unlicensed organizations, the group had been unable to obtain government registration to continue working on behalf of Kuwaitis missing and believed to be held in Iraq since 1991 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Over 160 political prisoners, including 13 women, continued to serve prison terms in Kuwait Central Prison following their conviction on charges of "collaboration" with Iraqi forces during the occupation of Kuwait. At least 20 of them were prisoners of conscience. Fifty-nine had been sentenced by the Martial Law Court in 1991 and the others by the State Security Court in 1992 and 1993 after trials which did not satisfy international standards for fair trial (see Amnesty International Reports 1992 to 1994). At least 150 other political prisoners, including possible prisoners of conscience, were believed to be held following their arrest in 1991 on suspicion of "collaboration". At the end of 1994 no information was available about the precise number of detainees awaiting trial or how many had been brought to trial. Abd al-Amir Sabati, an Iranian national who had lived in Kuwait since 1950, was reportedly arrested by State Security personnel on 21 February. According to information received by Amnesty International, he was not charged with any crime and was denied access to his family and lawyer. A Kuwaiti police detective was reported to have been detained in August for the alleged torture of Ahmad al-Mubarak, a Sudanese national, during interrogation at a police station. It was also reported that the same detective had previously been sentenced to several years in prison on charges of torture but that he had not served his sentence. No information was available about progress in other cases of prosecution for alleged torture in previous years, including the case of seven policemen implicated in the torture of a Sri Lankan detainee who died in June 1992 (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 and 1994). The fate and whereabouts of at least 62 Palestinians, Jordanians, Iraqis and other nationals who "disappeared" in custody between February and June 1991 remained unknown at the end of the year (see Amnesty International Report 1993). Among them was a Palestinian with Jordanian nationality, George Victor Salsa, who was arrested from his home by members of the State Security forces in May 1991 and subsequently "disappeared". In January the Minister of Information told Amnesty International that: "A thorough investigation was conducted, which unfortunately resulted in no information concerning the whereabouts of Mr Salsa". Fears also remained over the fate of Khalid Rashid Muhammad Agha-Mir, an Iraqi Kurd born in Kuwait, who worked as a cashier at al-Salam Gynaecological Hospital before his arrest in April 1991 at his home by soldiers and armed civilians. He was reportedly seen at al-Salmiyya police station and subsequently moved to an unknown destination. In June the State Security Court sentenced to death five Iraqi nationals and a Kuwaiti for participating in an alleged assassination attempt on the former US President, George Bush, during his visit to Kuwait in April 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Among those sentenced were Bandar Ujail Jaber al-Shummari and Adel Ismail Issa al-Utaibi. Seven other defendants in the same case, all Iraqi nationals, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to 10 years; one Kuwaiti national was acquitted. The trial proceedings fell short of international standards for fair trial: for example, the defendants were not allowed access to lawyers before the trial and were denied full right of appeal. The main prosecution witness in the trial was a senior officer in State Security Intelligence who led the operation to arrest the defendants. His evidence during the trial was reportedly based on "secret sources" and the information, which he claimed proved that the defendants were linked to Iraqi intelligence, was not made known to the court. The defence lawyers complained that they could not challenge the "secret information" as it was not available to them. The officer's evidence was also based on the confessions made by the defendants. Some of the defendants had initially confessed to the charges against them, but later retracted saying that they were innocent. Some stated that they had been beaten during interrogation. The six death sentences were to be reviewed by the Court of Cassation before ratification by the Amir, al-Shaikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The Court of Cassation had not given a verdict by the end of the year. Muhammad Ali Qulaib al-Rashidi, sentenced to death by the Criminal Court in August 1993 following his conviction for rape, was executed in August after his sentence was upheld by the Court of Cassation (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The Court of Cassation reduced to terms of imprisonment 13 death sentences imposed by the State Security Court in 1992 and 1993 following proceedings which failed to conform to international standards for fair trial. The defendants were 10 Jordanian men, two Iraqi men and one Kuwaiti woman who were convicted of "collaboration" with Iraqi forces during the occupation of Kuwait (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In February Amnesty International published a report, Kuwait: Three years of unfair trials, which detailed the organization's concerns about the trials of alleged "collaborators" which took place before the Martial Law Court in May and June 1991 and the continuing trials before the State Security Court which began in April 1992. The report contained a series of recommendations to the government, including the release of all prisoners of conscience, the fair trial or release of all political prisoners and the abolition of special courts. The organization also urged the authorities to clarify all cases of "disappearance" and to investigate all torture allegations and deaths in custody. Amnesty International called for the commutation of all death sentences. The Minister of Information responded in a television interview by denying the allegations of unfair trials, but added: "I am not here to deny the negative things that did take place after the liberation". He invited Amnesty International to visit Kuwait. The organization welcomed the invitation, but stated that for such a visit to be productive, it would be helpful if Amnesty International were to receive beforehand a substantial portion of the information requested over the past three years, including details of investigations into cases of "disappearance" and allegations of torture, and details of the evidence against defendants convicted by the Martial Law Court and State Security Court. In May Kuwait's Ambassador to Belgium described the report's contents as "hostile to Kuwait and a repetition of old allegations", but failed to address the substance of any of Amnesty International's concerns. Early in the year the Ministry of Justice provided Amnesty International, at its request, with the names of 625 Kuwaitis arrested during the occupation in 1990 and 1991 and believed to be still in Iraq (see Iraq entry).
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