The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses its full solidarity with the prominent Bedoon rights defender Mohammed Al-Barghash, who has been imprisoned in Kuwait solely for his peaceful, legitimate and civilised activism in defense of the civil and human rights of Bedoon citizens.

On 03 June 2025, Al-Barghash posted a video on X, in which he thanked all those who inquired about him and followed up on his case. He also spoke about his request to meet with Interior Minister Fahad Al-Youssef to talk about the injustice imposed on him and to all citizens of the Bedoon community. He also expressed his surprise that his request was being used to file a legal complaint against him, despite the fact that he submitted this request after Al-Yousef himself invited bloggers to write to him instead of posting their complaints on social media.

On 12 May 2025, Al-Barghash posted on his X account a photo of his request to meet with the Minister of Interior. In his request he stressed the failure of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs to resolve the chronic problems facing the Bedoon community in Kuwait in the last 15 years.

On 02 June 2025, he received a summons from the State Security Apparatus to report to the Ishbilya Police Station at 8:00 PM that same day, which was later changed to Abdullah Al-Mubarak Police Station. Upon his appearance, he was initially questioned and served with a summons to appear before the Public Prosecution on 11 June 2025.

When he appeared before the Public Prosecution on the aforementioned date, he was charged with state security offences, the details of which are not yet available. It was decided to detain him in the Central Prison pending the start of his trial. A reliable local source confirmed that this could take one to two months, pending the first session of his trial. This new case against him is believed to be related to his request to meet with the Minister of the Interior.

Several legal experts in Kuwait confirmed to GCHR that the decision to imprison him is entirely arbitrary and designed to silence his vocal human rights advocacy. His whereabouts are known and he should have been released on bail, in addition to the fact that he was peacefully expressing his opinions. The transformation of this democratic practice into fabricated charges related to state security confirms that Kuwait has become a police state par excellence, working to silence all independent and dissenting voices.

In a separate case, on 14 May 2025, the Court of Appeals acquitted Al-Barghash, upholding the initial verdict. The charges against him included allegedly spreading false news and insulting and slandering employees of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs, which had initially filed the complaint against him.

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Al-Barghash belongs to the Bedoon community in Kuwait. He founded the National Bloc of Kuwaiti Bedoons, which he also heads, and which has organised a number of events to shed light on the chronic problems that the Bedoon community suffers and demand radical solutions to them. He uses his X account to share his peaceful views and defend the rights of stateless citizens.

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the authorities in Kuwait to:

1. Immediately drop all charges against prominent human rights defender Mohammed Al-Barghash;
2. Immediately and unconditionally release him; and
3. Respect public freedoms, including the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and refrain from using laws or the judiciary to criminalise human rights defenders and online activists.