Description
During this detailed data in regard to kuwait uses provisions to criminalize various means of expression hrw.
LOCAL
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2016
KUWAI T: Human Ri ghts Watch
(HRW) released its ‘ World Report
2016,’ which provides an overview
regarding the human rights’ con-
ditions in each country. In its cov-
erage for Kuwait, HRW said that
the government aggressi vel y
cracked down on f ree speech
throughout 2015, using provisions
in the constitution, the national
security law, and other legislation
to stifle political dissent, as well as
passing new legislation criminaliz-
ing or increasing penalties for vari-
ous forms and means of expres-
sion.
Furthermore, the report indi-
cates that in an effort to curb local
terrorism, according to authorities,
Kuwait became the first country to
pass a l aw requi ri ng that al l
Kuwaiti citizens and residents pro-
vide DNA samples, in violation of
the right to privacy. The following
is a transcript for the full report:
Freedom of Expression
Kuwai ti authori ti es have
invoked several provisions in the
constitution, penal code, Printing
and Publ i cati on Law, Mi suse of
Telephone Communications and
Buggi ng Devi ces Law, Publ i c
Gatheri ngs Law, and Nati onal
Uni t y Law to prosecute over a
dozen peopl e over the l ast few
years for criticizing in blogs or on
Twitter, Facebook, or other social
media HH the Amir, the govern-
ment, religion, and the rulers of
neighboring countries.
Those prosecuted have faced
charges such as harming the hon-
or of another person; insulting HH
the Amir or other public figures or
the judiciary; insulting religion;
planning or participating in illegal
gatheri ngs; and mi susi ng tel e-
phone communi cati ons. Other
charges i ncl ude harmi ng state
security, inciting the government’s
overthrow, and harming Kuwait’s
relations with other states. From
January to October, courts con-
vi cted at l east f i ve of those
charged, i mposi ng pri son sen-
tences of up to six years and fines.
In June 2015, Kuwait passed a
new cybercrime law that includes
f ar- reachi ng restri cti ons on
Internet-based speech. Article 6 of
the law imposes prison sentences
and fines for insulting religion and
religious figures, and for criticizing
HH the Ami r on the I nternet.
Article 6 also prohibits Internet-
based statements deemed to criti-
cize the judicial system or harm
Kuwai t ’s rel ati ons wi th other
states, or that publicize classified
information, without exceptions
for disclosures in the public inter-
est.
Article 7 imposes a punishment
of up to 10 years i n pri son for
using the Internet to “overthrow
the ruling regime in the country
when this instigation included an
enticement to change the system
by force or through illegal means,
or by urgi ng to use force to
change the social and economic
system that exists in the country,
or to adopt creeds that ai m at
destroying the basic statutes of
Kuwait through illegal means.” The
law empowers authorities to close
for one year all outlets or locations
in which these crimes are commit-
ted and confiscate devices used in
committing them.
Treatment of Minorities
At least 105,702 bedoon resi-
dents of Kuwait remain stateless.
After an initial registration peri-
od for citizenship ended in 1960,
authorities shifted bedoon citizen-
ship claims to administrative com-
mi ttees that for decades have
avoi ded resol vi ng the cl ai ms.
Authori ti es cl ai m that many
bedoon are “illegal residents” who
deliberately destroyed evidence of
another nati onal i ty i n order to
receive benefits that Kuwait gives
its citizens.
Members of the bedoon com-
muni t y f requentl y take to the
streets to protest the govern-
ment’s failure to address their citi-
zenship claims, despite govern-
ment warni ngs that bedoon
should not gather in public. Article
12 of the 1979 Public Gatherings
Law bars non-Kuwaitis from par-
ticipating in public gatherings.
In media interviews during the
year, government offi ci al s sug-
gested that Kuwait may “solve” the
bedoon community’s nationality
cl ai ms by payi ng the Comoros
Islands to grant the bedoon a form
of economic citizenship, thus reg-
ularizing them as foreign nationals
i n Kuwai t and renderi ng them
liable to legal deportation from
Kuwai t-possi bl y vi ol ati ng thei r
right to family life.
Migrant Workers
About 2 million of Kuwait’s 2.9
mi l l i on popul ati on are mi grant
workers. Abuse and exploitation of
mi grant domesti c workers-who
comprise a large proportion of the
migrant worker population-con-
tinued to be reported, including
withholding of salaries, and physi-
cal and sexual abuse.
In June 2015, Kuwait passed a
new law giving domestic workers
enforceable labor rights for the
first time. The law grants domestic
workers the right to a weekly day
off, 30 days of annual paid leave, a
12-hour worki ng day wi th rest,
and an end-of-service benefit of
one month a year at the end of the
contract, among other rights.
However, it has only unspeci-
fied “hours of rest” and lacks other
key protections found in the gen-
eral labor law, such as an 8-hour
day; one hour of rest after every 5
hours of work; and detailed provi-
sions for sick leave, including 15
days at full pay.
The domestic worker law also
fal l s shor t by fai l i ng to set out
enforcement mechanisms, such as
l abor i nspecti ons. I t prohi bi ts
employers from confiscating work-
ers’ passports, a common abuse,
but fails to specify penalties. The
new law does not guarantee the
right to form a union. It came into
force on July 26, 2015, when it was
published in the Official Gazette.
The Interior Ministry is required to
i ssue regulati ons to i mplement
the law by January 2016.
Women’s Rights, Sexual
Orientation, and Gender
Identity
Women continue to face dis-
cri mi nati on i n many aspects of
their lives, and large legal gaps
remain in protections for them.
Kuwai t has no l aws prohi bi ti ng
domestic violence, sexual harass-
ment, or marital rape. Legislation
proposed in April 2014 to penalize
sexual harassment was not passed
in 2015. Kuwaiti women married
to non-Kuwai ti s, unli ke Kuwai ti
men, cannot pass on their citizen-
ship to their children or spouses.
Kuwai ti l aw al so prevents a
woman from marrying a partner of
her choi ce wi thout her father ’s
permission.
Same-sex rel ati ons between
men are punishable by up to sev-
en years in prison. Transgender
people can be arrested under a
penal code provi si on that pro-
hibits “imitating the opposite sex
in any way.”
Counterterrorism
In July 2015, in response to a
suicide bomb attack on the Shite
Imam Sadiq Mosque that killed 27
people, Kuwait became the first
country to pass a law requiring
that all Kuwaiti citizens and resi-
dents provide DNA samples to the
authorities as part of a new coun-
terterrorism law.
Death Penalty
Kuwaiti authorities are currently
seeking the death penalty for 11
suspects i n the I mam Al -Sadeq
Mosque bombing. In 2013, they
carried out five executions, the
first time the country had applied
the death penalty since 2007.
Key International Actors
I n the 2015 US State
Department annual Trafficking in
Persons report, the United States
classified Kuwait as Tier 3-among
the most problematic countries-
for the ninth consecutive year. The
repor t ci ted Kuwai t ’s fai l ure to
prosecute, convict, or sentence a
single trafficking offender during
the reporting period.
It found that the government
failed to develop procedures to
identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations or a refer-
ral mechani sm to provi de ade-
quate protection services to vic-
tims.
Kuwait uses provisions to criminalize
various means of expression: HRW
• Kuwait frst country to pass law requiring DNA samples, violating people’s privacy rights
• Cybercrime law includes far-reaching restrictions on Internet-based speech
• Ofcials suggested paying the Comoros Islands to grant citizenship to ‘bedoon’
• Domestic workers’ law lacks key protections found in the general labor law
KUWAIT: Journalists and civil society activists in
Kuwait found themselves under fresh assault in 2015,
Freedom House sai d i n i ts most recent repor t.
Authorities in Kuwait are quashing dissent with
increasing aggression and frequency, galvanizing
concerns about citizenship revocation and use of the
death penalty, says the ‘Freedom in the World 2016’
report, which ranks Kuwait among a short list of
‘Countries to Watch in 2016’ with states like Iran,
Myanmar and Venezuela.
Kuwait retained its position as a ‘partially free’
country in the report with a score of 36; yet ranks last
among states listed in this specifc category. It is one
of three Arab nations to be classifed as ‘partially free,’
along with Morocco and Lebanon. Meanwhile, Tunisia
was the only Arab state to be classifed as ‘Free,’ and
one of two nations in the Middle East and North
Africa region to earn that calcifcation, along with
Israel.
On a scale from one to seven, with one being most
free and seven being least free, Kuwait scored 5 in
political rights, civil liberties and freedom ratings,
retaining the same scores in Freedom in the World
2015 report.
Freedom House’s newest report indicates that “the
world was battered by crises that fueled xenophobic
sentiment in democratic countries, undermined the
economies of states dependent on the sale of natural
resources, and led authoritarian regimes to crack
down harder on dissent. These developments con-
tributed to the 10th consecutive year of decline in
global freedom.”
“Ratings for the Middle East and North Africa
region were the worst in the world in 2015,” says the
report, noting that “the number of countries showing
a decline in freedom for the year-72-was the largest
since the 10-year slide began. Just 43 countries made
gains.”
Kuwait last among ‘partially free’
states in Freedom House report
Small enterprises fund graduates
first batch of entrepreneurs
By Nawara Fattahova
KUWAIT: The Nati onal Fund for Smal l and
Medium Enterprise Development (NFSMED)
held a graduation ceremony for the frst batch of
Kuwaiti entrepreneurs of the ‘Kaufman Fast
Track New Venture’ trai ni ng program on
Thursday at the Kuwait Chamber for Commerce
and Industry. The program included 60 entrepre-
neurs who successfully passed the course, who
presented feasibility studies and planning for
their projects in addition to other training tasks.
They are now in the beginning of a new stage of
thei r proj ects. Some of them had al ready
launched their projects and they took the pro-
gram either to expand or to develop them.
“More than 40 of these projects have been
fnanced by the fund, and we have a plan to
fnance more projects,” said the Minister of
Commerce and Industry Dr Yousef Al-Ali during
the ceremony. The next phase is to help build
the state economy and diversify income sources,
and the fund plays a key role in future programs.
“NFSMED will serve a wide category of the
Kuwaiti society to make their dreams come true
through establishing their small and medium
enterprises. NFSMED has a great role due to the
present situation, as it’s responsible for increas-
ing work opportunities for Kuwaitis through
their projects and for those who aim to work in
these projects. Supporting these enterprises will
have diferent forms. It may be through training
courses such as this program, or through provid-
ing fnancial support and consolation,” Ali said.
Dr Mohammed Al -Zuhei r, Chai rman of
NFSMED, noted that this is the frst batch of
entrepreneurs and the fund is looking forward
to graduate more entrepreneurs in the future.
He then presented certifcates to the 60 entre-
preneurs in addition to awarding the instructors
of the 21-day training program.
“This program represented one of NFSMED’s
goals that aims to qualify entrepreneurs and
help them improve their skills in preparing feasi-
bility studies and project ideas in addition to
teaching them the proper way of establishing
and directing successful companies. This pro-
gram is special as it provides training, consulta-
tion and technical support in addition to fnan-
cial support for small and medium enterprises,”
added Zuheir.
During the ceremony, seven of the participat-
ing entrepreneurs displayed presentations pro-
viding information about their projects. Some
were existing projects that will be developed,
while others were plans for upcoming projects.
KUWAIT: Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Yousef Al-Ali (right) is honored during the cer-
emony. — Photo by Joseph Shagra
doc_814028656.pdf
During this detailed data in regard to kuwait uses provisions to criminalize various means of expression hrw.
LOCAL
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2016
KUWAI T: Human Ri ghts Watch
(HRW) released its ‘ World Report
2016,’ which provides an overview
regarding the human rights’ con-
ditions in each country. In its cov-
erage for Kuwait, HRW said that
the government aggressi vel y
cracked down on f ree speech
throughout 2015, using provisions
in the constitution, the national
security law, and other legislation
to stifle political dissent, as well as
passing new legislation criminaliz-
ing or increasing penalties for vari-
ous forms and means of expres-
sion.
Furthermore, the report indi-
cates that in an effort to curb local
terrorism, according to authorities,
Kuwait became the first country to
pass a l aw requi ri ng that al l
Kuwaiti citizens and residents pro-
vide DNA samples, in violation of
the right to privacy. The following
is a transcript for the full report:
Freedom of Expression
Kuwai ti authori ti es have
invoked several provisions in the
constitution, penal code, Printing
and Publ i cati on Law, Mi suse of
Telephone Communications and
Buggi ng Devi ces Law, Publ i c
Gatheri ngs Law, and Nati onal
Uni t y Law to prosecute over a
dozen peopl e over the l ast few
years for criticizing in blogs or on
Twitter, Facebook, or other social
media HH the Amir, the govern-
ment, religion, and the rulers of
neighboring countries.
Those prosecuted have faced
charges such as harming the hon-
or of another person; insulting HH
the Amir or other public figures or
the judiciary; insulting religion;
planning or participating in illegal
gatheri ngs; and mi susi ng tel e-
phone communi cati ons. Other
charges i ncl ude harmi ng state
security, inciting the government’s
overthrow, and harming Kuwait’s
relations with other states. From
January to October, courts con-
vi cted at l east f i ve of those
charged, i mposi ng pri son sen-
tences of up to six years and fines.
In June 2015, Kuwait passed a
new cybercrime law that includes
f ar- reachi ng restri cti ons on
Internet-based speech. Article 6 of
the law imposes prison sentences
and fines for insulting religion and
religious figures, and for criticizing
HH the Ami r on the I nternet.
Article 6 also prohibits Internet-
based statements deemed to criti-
cize the judicial system or harm
Kuwai t ’s rel ati ons wi th other
states, or that publicize classified
information, without exceptions
for disclosures in the public inter-
est.
Article 7 imposes a punishment
of up to 10 years i n pri son for
using the Internet to “overthrow
the ruling regime in the country
when this instigation included an
enticement to change the system
by force or through illegal means,
or by urgi ng to use force to
change the social and economic
system that exists in the country,
or to adopt creeds that ai m at
destroying the basic statutes of
Kuwait through illegal means.” The
law empowers authorities to close
for one year all outlets or locations
in which these crimes are commit-
ted and confiscate devices used in
committing them.
Treatment of Minorities
At least 105,702 bedoon resi-
dents of Kuwait remain stateless.
After an initial registration peri-
od for citizenship ended in 1960,
authorities shifted bedoon citizen-
ship claims to administrative com-
mi ttees that for decades have
avoi ded resol vi ng the cl ai ms.
Authori ti es cl ai m that many
bedoon are “illegal residents” who
deliberately destroyed evidence of
another nati onal i ty i n order to
receive benefits that Kuwait gives
its citizens.
Members of the bedoon com-
muni t y f requentl y take to the
streets to protest the govern-
ment’s failure to address their citi-
zenship claims, despite govern-
ment warni ngs that bedoon
should not gather in public. Article
12 of the 1979 Public Gatherings
Law bars non-Kuwaitis from par-
ticipating in public gatherings.
In media interviews during the
year, government offi ci al s sug-
gested that Kuwait may “solve” the
bedoon community’s nationality
cl ai ms by payi ng the Comoros
Islands to grant the bedoon a form
of economic citizenship, thus reg-
ularizing them as foreign nationals
i n Kuwai t and renderi ng them
liable to legal deportation from
Kuwai t-possi bl y vi ol ati ng thei r
right to family life.
Migrant Workers
About 2 million of Kuwait’s 2.9
mi l l i on popul ati on are mi grant
workers. Abuse and exploitation of
mi grant domesti c workers-who
comprise a large proportion of the
migrant worker population-con-
tinued to be reported, including
withholding of salaries, and physi-
cal and sexual abuse.
In June 2015, Kuwait passed a
new law giving domestic workers
enforceable labor rights for the
first time. The law grants domestic
workers the right to a weekly day
off, 30 days of annual paid leave, a
12-hour worki ng day wi th rest,
and an end-of-service benefit of
one month a year at the end of the
contract, among other rights.
However, it has only unspeci-
fied “hours of rest” and lacks other
key protections found in the gen-
eral labor law, such as an 8-hour
day; one hour of rest after every 5
hours of work; and detailed provi-
sions for sick leave, including 15
days at full pay.
The domestic worker law also
fal l s shor t by fai l i ng to set out
enforcement mechanisms, such as
l abor i nspecti ons. I t prohi bi ts
employers from confiscating work-
ers’ passports, a common abuse,
but fails to specify penalties. The
new law does not guarantee the
right to form a union. It came into
force on July 26, 2015, when it was
published in the Official Gazette.
The Interior Ministry is required to
i ssue regulati ons to i mplement
the law by January 2016.
Women’s Rights, Sexual
Orientation, and Gender
Identity
Women continue to face dis-
cri mi nati on i n many aspects of
their lives, and large legal gaps
remain in protections for them.
Kuwai t has no l aws prohi bi ti ng
domestic violence, sexual harass-
ment, or marital rape. Legislation
proposed in April 2014 to penalize
sexual harassment was not passed
in 2015. Kuwaiti women married
to non-Kuwai ti s, unli ke Kuwai ti
men, cannot pass on their citizen-
ship to their children or spouses.
Kuwai ti l aw al so prevents a
woman from marrying a partner of
her choi ce wi thout her father ’s
permission.
Same-sex rel ati ons between
men are punishable by up to sev-
en years in prison. Transgender
people can be arrested under a
penal code provi si on that pro-
hibits “imitating the opposite sex
in any way.”
Counterterrorism
In July 2015, in response to a
suicide bomb attack on the Shite
Imam Sadiq Mosque that killed 27
people, Kuwait became the first
country to pass a law requiring
that all Kuwaiti citizens and resi-
dents provide DNA samples to the
authorities as part of a new coun-
terterrorism law.
Death Penalty
Kuwaiti authorities are currently
seeking the death penalty for 11
suspects i n the I mam Al -Sadeq
Mosque bombing. In 2013, they
carried out five executions, the
first time the country had applied
the death penalty since 2007.
Key International Actors
I n the 2015 US State
Department annual Trafficking in
Persons report, the United States
classified Kuwait as Tier 3-among
the most problematic countries-
for the ninth consecutive year. The
repor t ci ted Kuwai t ’s fai l ure to
prosecute, convict, or sentence a
single trafficking offender during
the reporting period.
It found that the government
failed to develop procedures to
identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations or a refer-
ral mechani sm to provi de ade-
quate protection services to vic-
tims.
Kuwait uses provisions to criminalize
various means of expression: HRW
• Kuwait frst country to pass law requiring DNA samples, violating people’s privacy rights
• Cybercrime law includes far-reaching restrictions on Internet-based speech
• Ofcials suggested paying the Comoros Islands to grant citizenship to ‘bedoon’
• Domestic workers’ law lacks key protections found in the general labor law
KUWAIT: Journalists and civil society activists in
Kuwait found themselves under fresh assault in 2015,
Freedom House sai d i n i ts most recent repor t.
Authorities in Kuwait are quashing dissent with
increasing aggression and frequency, galvanizing
concerns about citizenship revocation and use of the
death penalty, says the ‘Freedom in the World 2016’
report, which ranks Kuwait among a short list of
‘Countries to Watch in 2016’ with states like Iran,
Myanmar and Venezuela.
Kuwait retained its position as a ‘partially free’
country in the report with a score of 36; yet ranks last
among states listed in this specifc category. It is one
of three Arab nations to be classifed as ‘partially free,’
along with Morocco and Lebanon. Meanwhile, Tunisia
was the only Arab state to be classifed as ‘Free,’ and
one of two nations in the Middle East and North
Africa region to earn that calcifcation, along with
Israel.
On a scale from one to seven, with one being most
free and seven being least free, Kuwait scored 5 in
political rights, civil liberties and freedom ratings,
retaining the same scores in Freedom in the World
2015 report.
Freedom House’s newest report indicates that “the
world was battered by crises that fueled xenophobic
sentiment in democratic countries, undermined the
economies of states dependent on the sale of natural
resources, and led authoritarian regimes to crack
down harder on dissent. These developments con-
tributed to the 10th consecutive year of decline in
global freedom.”
“Ratings for the Middle East and North Africa
region were the worst in the world in 2015,” says the
report, noting that “the number of countries showing
a decline in freedom for the year-72-was the largest
since the 10-year slide began. Just 43 countries made
gains.”
Kuwait last among ‘partially free’
states in Freedom House report
Small enterprises fund graduates
first batch of entrepreneurs
By Nawara Fattahova
KUWAIT: The Nati onal Fund for Smal l and
Medium Enterprise Development (NFSMED)
held a graduation ceremony for the frst batch of
Kuwaiti entrepreneurs of the ‘Kaufman Fast
Track New Venture’ trai ni ng program on
Thursday at the Kuwait Chamber for Commerce
and Industry. The program included 60 entrepre-
neurs who successfully passed the course, who
presented feasibility studies and planning for
their projects in addition to other training tasks.
They are now in the beginning of a new stage of
thei r proj ects. Some of them had al ready
launched their projects and they took the pro-
gram either to expand or to develop them.
“More than 40 of these projects have been
fnanced by the fund, and we have a plan to
fnance more projects,” said the Minister of
Commerce and Industry Dr Yousef Al-Ali during
the ceremony. The next phase is to help build
the state economy and diversify income sources,
and the fund plays a key role in future programs.
“NFSMED will serve a wide category of the
Kuwaiti society to make their dreams come true
through establishing their small and medium
enterprises. NFSMED has a great role due to the
present situation, as it’s responsible for increas-
ing work opportunities for Kuwaitis through
their projects and for those who aim to work in
these projects. Supporting these enterprises will
have diferent forms. It may be through training
courses such as this program, or through provid-
ing fnancial support and consolation,” Ali said.
Dr Mohammed Al -Zuhei r, Chai rman of
NFSMED, noted that this is the frst batch of
entrepreneurs and the fund is looking forward
to graduate more entrepreneurs in the future.
He then presented certifcates to the 60 entre-
preneurs in addition to awarding the instructors
of the 21-day training program.
“This program represented one of NFSMED’s
goals that aims to qualify entrepreneurs and
help them improve their skills in preparing feasi-
bility studies and project ideas in addition to
teaching them the proper way of establishing
and directing successful companies. This pro-
gram is special as it provides training, consulta-
tion and technical support in addition to fnan-
cial support for small and medium enterprises,”
added Zuheir.
During the ceremony, seven of the participat-
ing entrepreneurs displayed presentations pro-
viding information about their projects. Some
were existing projects that will be developed,
while others were plans for upcoming projects.
KUWAIT: Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Yousef Al-Ali (right) is honored during the cer-
emony. — Photo by Joseph Shagra
doc_814028656.pdf