Amnesty International has called on the Kuwait government to immediately release all political prisoners, warning that the Persian Gulf country was at risk of sliding deeper into repression.
In a Wednesday report titled “The iron fist policy: criminalization of peaceful dissent in Kuwait”, Amnesty said that Kuwaiti authorities have arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned scores of peaceful activists, including human rights defenders and political opponents, in their efforts to silence critics and punish dissent.
The report, which details the clampdown on freedom of expression in Kuwait since 2011, said that at least 94 government critics were either in prison or on trial mainly for insulting or offending the Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah or other senior officials.
“Scores of peaceful critics have been arrested and imprisoned simply for speaking out against a specter of widespread repression,” Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, James Lynch said.
“The authorities have resorted to a mesmerizingly complex web of laws in an attempt to throttle freedom of expression,” he said.
The watchdog also lashed out at the Kuwaiti government for revoking the citizenship of a number of leading opposition activists including Abdullah al-Barghash, a former member of parliament, and Saad al-Ajmi, spokesman for the opposition Popular Action Movement who was later deported to Saudi Arabia.
Amnesty further urged Kuwaiti authorities to review and revoke a number of laws that hamper freedom of expression.
The Kuwaiti government has yet to comment on this report.
According to online activists who launched a campaign on Twitter on Tuesday in solidarity with people facing prosecution some 626 Kuwaitis face criminal charges for expressing their views peacefully.
Kuwait began the clampdown in 2011 in reaction to demonstrations staged by members of the Bidun community.
Criticizing the Emir is illegal in Kuwait and constitutes a state security charge. Offenders face up to five years in jail.
Kuwait, an oil-rich Persian Gulf littoral state, is plagued by growing tensions between the government, controlled by the Al Sabah family, and its parliament, dominated by the opposition.
Since parliamentary elections were held on December 1, 2012, the opposition has been staging protests to demand that the new parliament be dissolved and the changes made to the electoral law be reversed.
Activists say the decision to change the electoral law by the Emir is aimed at electing a rubber-stamp parliament.
Kuwait was the first Arab state in the Persian Gulf to establish an elected parliament in 1962. However, the Sabah family remained in control of key posts, including the premiership and the ministries of defense, interior, and foreign affairs.
For Reference
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/16/442006/Kuwait-Amnesty-Emir-Sheikh-Sabah--
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