Covering events from January-December 2001

STATE OF KUWAIT

Head of state: al-Shaikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah
Head of government: al-Shaikh Sa'ad al-'Abdallah al-Sabah
Capital: Kuwait City
Population: 1.9 million
Official language: Arabic
Death penalty: retentionist


More than 40 political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continued to be held; they had been convicted in manifestly unfair trials since 1991. The fate of more than 70 people who "disappeared" in custody in 1991 remained unknown. At least five men were sentenced to death. Two men and a woman were executed. Scores of men suspected of spying and other security offences were arrested in September and October. There were reports of torture.

Martial Law – 10 years on

The majority of human rights violations related to the period of martial law following the withdrawal of Iraqi forces in February 1991. Ten years later, despite the recommendations by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2000, the government had still not addressed most of these violations, including the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience, unresolved extrajudicial executions and "disappearances", and political prisoners sentenced after manifestly unfair trials in the Martial Law and State Security Courts. Prisoners of conscience Ibtisam Berto Sulaiman al-Dakhil and Fawwaz Muhammad al 'Awadhi Bseiso, among others, continued to be held despite worldwide appeals for their release.

Arrests

There were reports that, in the wake of the 11 September attacks in the USA, the security forces carried out arrests targeting people suspected of links with the Taleban or al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan. Dozens of detainees were reportedly held incommunicado without charge or trial and were feared to be at risk of torture.

  • In September, an official from the Ministry of the Interior confirmed reports that four Iraqi nationals suspected of spying had been arrested in Kuwait and had "confessed" to activities endangering state security.
  • Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested on 26 September; two of them had reportedly returned from Afghanistan, two from Chechnya and one from Pakistan.
  • A group of more than 50 Kuwaiti nationals was arrested on 10 October prior to their reportedly imminent departure for Pakistan.
  • Four Kuwaiti nationals who returned from Afghanistan on 15 December were reportedly arrested and interrogated about their suspected connections with al-Qa'ida. They were believed to remain in detention at the end of the year amid unconfirmed reports that they might be handed over to the US authorities for further questioning.
Torture

A Kuwaiti national was arrested in October and reportedly confessed to the shooting on 10 October of Luc Ethier, a Canadian national resident in Kuwait. However, his lawyer alleged that the confession had been obtained under torture during interrogation. He was released on 6 November. In early November the authorities announced the names of seven Philippine men and women, including the widow of Luc Ethier, who had reportedly confessed to responsibility for the murder. There were allegations that the confessions may have been obtained under torture.

Women's political rights

Women activists continued their struggle through the courts to win the right to vote. Seven legal challenges to the legitimacy of the electoral law, which denies women the right to vote, were rejected by the Constitutional Court on procedural grounds. An administrative court rejected three new cases by women contesting the constitutionality of the existing electoral laws. The cases were rejected on the grounds that they were intended to result in referral to the Constitutional Court.

Non-governmental organizations

In August, journalist Nasser al-Abdali announced the formation of the Kuwait Society for the Advancement of Democracy. It reportedly comprised 13 members of the National Assembly and 50 others, including lawyers, journalists and former members of the National Assembly. The group submitted an application to the government for official recognition, but this had not been granted by the end of the year. One of several other groups awaiting official recognition was the Kuwait Society for Human Rights.

Bidun (stateless people)

In June, the National Assembly passed legislation allowing a maximum of 2,000 Bidun to apply for citizenship before the end of the year. However, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs reportedly stated in July that the government would not grant citizenship rights to more than 600 Bidun and that it was not obliged to grant such rights annually. This was in stark contrast to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee, which called upon the government to ensure that all persons living in Kuwait, including Bidun, enjoyed all rights without discrimination.

Freedom of expression

A Kuwaiti woman writer, 'Alia Shu'aib, was charged with offending public decency for attempting to publish her academic research into sexual orientation. She was found not guilty following a trial in November.

Death penalty

Two men and a woman were hanged. Kadeer Kaleeja, a 24-year-old Indian domestic worker convicted of strangling her employer in 1999, was the first woman to be executed in Kuwait for over 10 years. Five men were sentenced to death. The Court of Appeal upheld the death sentences against three men convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs, and a fourth man convicted of murder.

'Collaboration' trial

In March the Court of Cassation commuted the death sentence against Ala' Hussein 'Ali to life imprisonment, citing as reasons "his good behaviour and his age as well as his decision to return to Kuwait from Norway voluntarily". A former colonel in the Kuwaiti army, he had been sentenced to death for heading the so-called provisional government during the Iraqi occupation
in 1990.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.