Kuwait Mission Report

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

October 2024

1.                Summary and Background

In this report, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) examines the Kuwaiti government’s suppression of political advocacy over the past two years, including that relating to the “Bedoon” community. In particular, the government has repeatedly charged people with crimes based on expressions of support for the Bedoon (and other mild political statements) that plainly are protected by international law. Through these and related efforts, the government has largely succeeded in silencing advocacy on behalf of the Bedoon and political dissent generally.  Given that the Kuwaiti Amir dissolved Kuwait’s elected parliament in May 2024, assuming the parliament’s authority for himself, it appears that, if anything, the suppression of free expression will only intensify.

“Bedoon” is the term used to describe residents of Kuwait who do not have citizenship there or in any other country; the term is short for “bidūn jinsiyya,” which literally means “without a nationality.” The Bedoon are people to whom the Kuwaiti government did not grant citizenship at the country’s independence in 1961 as well as their descendants, including children who are being born today.^[1]

According to the Kuwaiti government, most Bedoon are not actually Kuwaiti, but rather citizens of other countries who live in Kuwait illegally, a position rejected by the Bedoon community and advocates on their behalf.^[2] In 2014, the Research Directorate of Kuwait’s National Assembly (the country’s elected parliament) estimated that there were 111,000 stateless people in Kuwait, a country with approximately 1,500,000 recognised nationals.^[3] Some estimate the number of Bedoon to be substantially higher.^[4]

The Bedoon face tremendous challenges due to their purported statelessness to the point that they are denied access to the basic necessities for daily life.  In many instances, they are unable to obtain identification documents from the government, which, in turn, leaves them unable to access government services and benefits, including education, employment, medical care, and civil documents, such as birth, marriage, and death certificates. Since the government treats them as illegal residents, the Bedoon do not have property rights and frequently have difficulty opening or maintaining bank accounts. There have been multiple reports that the government demands individuals sign blank documents on the promise that identification cards will be provided, only to later use those documents (as subsequently completed) to claim the individuals have admitted to being citizens of other countries.^[5]

These problems have persisted for years, including after the 2010 creation of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs (Central Apparatus), which purportedly was established to resolve Bedoon-related issues, and despite repeated government assurances that it is making efforts to resolve issues of statelessness. For example, also in 2010, Kuwait promised to grant Kuwaiti citizenship to Bedoons who could prove they had lived in Kuwait since 1965, a modest step that would have provided relief only to 34,000 Bedoons.^[6] But, as of 2020, even those 34,000 Bedoons had not become naturalised.^[7]

More recently, in 2022, seemingly positive efforts were being made to address statelessness. That year, the Kuwaiti Lawyers’ Union (an organisation of some 12,000 attorneys) created draft legislation to establish a citizenship pathway. The draft legislation was presented to the National Assembly, where it found some support.^[8] MP Mohammad Hayef said, “Bedoons should not continue to suffer oppression. It is unacceptable for individuals without identity to remain on our streets.” MP Abdullah Fahhad described the Bedoon’s plight as a “bleeding wound” and criticised the Central Apparatus for treating Bedoons in a “racist manner.”^[9]

While not all those involved in the drafting believed the proposed legislation actually would become law, they were hopeful that, at least, it might lead to granting additional rights to the Bedoon. And the fact that the draft legislation could be presented to the Assembly and receive some support showed the political environment had room for Bedoon-related advocacy.^[10]

Ultimately though, this effort – like all before it – failed for political reasons. For example, the so-called “Group of 80 Patriots,” consisting largely of former security officials, MPs, and government ministers, vehemently opposed the legislation.^[11] Many in the government began calling not to resolve the status of people without citizenship, but to crack down on citizens who had secured citizenship allegedly through forged documentation. Observers suggest that the government likely recognised political advantages in adopting this hardline approach, particularly due to concerns that influential figures within Kuwait’s power structure would oppose granting citizenship to members of the Bedoon community. In fact, some believe that the environment to address the Bedoon issue has never been worse.^[12]

That belief finds support in a review of government actions during 2023 and 2024 in connection with Bedoon-related and other advocacy. In 2023, for example, the government brought cases against a number of Bedoon activists based on nothing more than mild expressions of opinion, including tweets that called for a solution to the problems facing the Bedoon, asserted the Bedoon community would not be ignored, and urged the government to pay attention to a gravely ill activist. None of these statements even hinted at violence or any other activity that legitimately could be considered illegal. Among these activists was Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, who, in particular, has been targeted repeatedly for prosecution based on advocacy.

Also in 2023, prosecutors brought charges against Takween, a book publisher and seller, in a case that is a paradigmatic example of government suppression of speech. Prosecutors claimed Takween had published and sold two books without preapproval from the Ministry of Information and that these books harmed Kuwait’s national interests.  The allegedly offending passages included brief discussions of Bedoon issues and, in one instance, a statement by a fictionalised character that he had seen a camp for “illegal immigrants” in Kuwait in 1975. Amazingly, the court agreed with Takween that the law did not require pre-approval, but then pronounced a conviction nonetheless.

If anything, the possibilities for addressing, let alone resolving, Bedoon-related matters have worsened in recent months. This period has seen a general curtailment of political activity in Kuwait, which had enjoyed a reputation of being the Gulf country with perhaps the greatest tolerance for popular participation in politics.

On 20 December 2023, a new Amir, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was sworn in. Immediately, he criticised the National Assembly for “harm[ing] the interests of the country.”^[13] In early April 2024, snap elections were held for the Assembly (the third such election in three years), resulting in opposition MPs gaining a majority of seats. Days later, on 10 May 2024, the Amir dissolved the Assembly, which had not even met. He also suspended portions of the Kuwaiti Constitution relating to the Assembly. Both steps were taken, it was said in order to review the “democratic process,” an examination that would potentially last until 2028. According to the Amir, he and a royal-appointed cabinet will assume the powers of the Assembly.^[14]

The government’s suppression of free expression also has continued during 2024. In fact, authorities have charged four former Assembly members based on political statements, including tweets calling generally for the reform of Kuwait’s political system and for a rejection of foreign interference in that system. To state the obvious, there is no possibility of political expression or other advocacy in a country that criminalises such statements – and to date three of the four charged former MPs have been sentenced to jail terms. Also in 2024, the government has continued cases against Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, including in a matter brought on the basis of allegedly criminal statements that were not even specified in prosecutors’ charging instrument.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many in Kuwait now report that they do not see any space in which to engage in advocacy or other political activity. Given current events, it is entirely unclear if or when things will change.

2.                Methodology

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has reported on issues relating to the Bedoon and free expression generally in Kuwait since 2012.^[15] Most recently, United States-based human rights lawyer Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a member of GCHR’s Advisory Board, visited Kuwait in April and May 2024, interviewing human rights advocates, people who have been subjected to political prosecutions, defence attorneys, journalists, and others. Certain people spoke to us on the condition that we not identify them. GCHR conducted all interviews in English, or in Arabic with the assistance of a translator. GCHR also reviewed documents and records generated by Kuwaiti courts and the Public Prosecution Office.

[1] Human Rights Watch, Kuwait: Jailed Bidun Activists on Hunger Strike, 30 August 2019; see also Human Rights Council, Written Statement Submitted by International Council Supporting Fair Trial and Human Rights, a Nongovernmental Organization in Special Consultative Status, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/46/NGO/33, 17 February 2021; Saad Obaid Jafar Al-Hajiri, The Rights of the Stateless and Their Problems in State of Kuwait, 3 J. Shariah L. Rsch. 177 (2018).

[2] Human Rights Watch, Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness (2011) (hereinafter Human Rights Watch), at 4, https://www.hrw.org/reports/kuwait0611.pdf.

[3] Amnesty International, Kuwait: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 91st session, 29 August-23 September 2022, at 4, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde17/5937/2022/en/.

[4] Andreas Bjorklund, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights: The Bidoon in Kuwait, History at a Glance, October 2020, at 3, https://salam-dhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FINAL.-Bidoon-report.pdf.

[5] Human Rights Watch at 5-6; U.S. State Department, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Kuwait at 31-32, https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qurium/www.gc4hr.org/kuwait.html; GCHR interview with Ahmad Al-Hammadi, 1 May 2024 (attorney who has represented Bedoon in various matters).

[6] Human Rights Watch at 20.

[7] Gulf Centre for Human Rights and International Human Rights Law Clinic, Berkeley Law, Who Will Be Left to Defend Human Rights? Persecution of Online Expression in the Gulf and Neigbouring Countries, at 131 (November 2021), https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Kuwait.pdf; U.S. State Department, 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Kuwait at 18, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KUWAIT-2019-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf (“According to the government…813 Bidoon were granted citizenship between 2018 and 2019.”)

[8] GCHR interview with Ahmad Al-Hammadi, 1 May 2024, GCHR interview with Hadeel Buqrais, 28 April 2024.

[9] Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, The Bedoon situation in Kuwait (20 May 2024), https://www.adhrb.org/2024/05/the-bedoon-situation-in-/qurium/www.gc4hr.org/kuwait.html.

[10] GCHR interview with Ahmad Al-Hammadi, 1 May 2024; GCHR interview with Hadeel Buqrais, 29 April 2024.

[11] GCHR interview with Ahmad Al-Hammadi, 1 May 2024; GCHR interview with Mohammed Salem, 27 April 2024.

[12] GCHR interview with a member of the media who must remain anonymous for safety reasons, 30 April 2024; GCHR interview with Ghanim Al-Najjar, 6 May 2024.

[13] Emir Mishaal launches his rule over Kuwait with forthright criticism of MPs, government and his predecessor, Gulf States Newsletter, Issue 1183, 21 December 2023, https://www.gsn-online.com/news-centre/article/amir-mishaal-launches-his-rule-over-kuwait-forthright.

[14] Few changes after Kuwait holds first parliamentary election under new emir, Al Jazeera, 5 April 2024, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/5/few-changes-after-kuwait-holds-first-parliamentary-election-under-new-amir; Kuwait: Politician Mesaed al-Quraifa jailed for ‘insulting’ royal family, Middle East Eye, 28 May 2024, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kuwait-jails-politician-insulting-royal-family.

[15] Kuwait, Country Summary, The state of human rights in Kuwait, Gulf Centre for Human Rights (2024), /qurium/www.gc4hr.org/kuwait.html.