HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE REVIEWS CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IN KUWAIT

Press Release
HR/CT/576

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE REVIEWS CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IN KUWAIT

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 18 July (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on Human Rights this morning started its consideration of an initial report by Kuwait on how that country was implementing the provisions on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Introducing the report, Dharar A.R. Razzooqi, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said his country had experienced a merciless and brutal occupation in August 1990 by Iraq. He said human tragedy was still persisting in Kuwait because of more than 600 missing detainees and prisoners of war, both Kuwaitis and third-country nationals, who were languishing in Iraqi prisons since that time.

Several Committee experts expressed concern about the inequality between men and women in Kuwait. The rejection by Parliament of the decree which would have allowed women to take part in elections was regretted by many experts.

The delegation of Kuwait was made up of Adnan A. Al-Omar, Director, External Relations Department, Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour; Khalid A. Al-Osaimi, Director, Public Affairs Department of Legal Affairs Department, Ministry of Interior; Mohammed A. Al-Batain, Assistant Director, External Relations Department, Ministry of Interior; Waal S. Al-Saleh, Judge, Ministry of Justice; and Jamal K. Al-Reesh, Executive Committee on Illegal Residents, Ministry of Interior.

The delegation also included the following officials from the Permanent Mission of Kuwait at Geneva: Abdullah Al-Askar, First Secretary; Najeeb Al-Bader, Second Secretary; Sadiq Marafi, Third Secretary; and Aisha Al-Adsani, Attaché.

Kuwait is among the 145 States parties to the Covenant, and as such it must submit periodic reports on its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue its review of the report of Kuwait.

Report of Kuwait

The initial report of Kuwait (document CCPR/C/120/Add.1) enumerates the measures undertaken by the State to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on an article-by-article basis. It says that the political and legal regime of the basic principles and provisions of the

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rules of human rights applicable in the country have been enshrined in its Constitution. Most articles of the Constitution express the principles agreed upon by the international community and enshrined in the relevant international instruments.

The report says that Kuwait believes unequivocally in the right of peoples to self-determination as an inalienable right that has been enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The Kuwaiti Constitution affirms that all natural resources and all revenues are the property of the State, and that the State shall ensure their preservation and proper exploitation. It also provides for the right to private property, and that no one shall be prevented from disposing of his property except within the limits of the law.

It further says that the initial report is a general and comprehensive review of the legislative framework within which human rights are protected in the State of Kuwait.

Presentation of Kuwait's Report

DHARAR A. RAZZOOQI, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations Office at Geneva, stated that the system of the Government of Kuwait was democratic. Sovereignty resided in the people, the source of all powers. Sovereignty was exercised in the manner specified in the Constitution; justice, liberty and equality were the pillars of the society.

Kuwait's system of Government was based on principles of the separation of powers functioning in cooperation with each other in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, Mr. Razzooqi went on to state. None of those powers might relinquish all or part of its competence specified in the Constitution.

Mr. Razzooqi said that the population of Kuwait in 1995 was 1,575,983 of which 41.6 per cent were Kuwaitis. The rights of non-Kuwaitis were guaranteed in view of the fact that the Constitution was based on respect for human rights. However, that did not cover the rights that were guaranteed to citizens, such as the rights of suffrage, election to public office and ownership of property.

The State of Kuwait had devoted major attention to the Kuwaiti female population and had created an enlightened workplace in various walks of life, Mr. Razzooqi said. In addition, the Emir of Kuwait had issued a decree in May 1999 to confer full political rights on Kuwaiti women, but unfortunately that decree was defeated by Parliament. Some members of Parliament had proposed a law regarding the same matter, but it was also defeated by Parliament.

Mr. Razzooqi continued to say that Kuwait had experienced a merciless and brutal occupation in August 1990 by Iraq. Human tragedy still persisted in Kuwait because of more than 600 missing detainees and prisoners of war, both Kuwaitis and third-country nationals, who were languishing in Iraqi prisons since that time. The majority of the detainees and the prisoners of war were civilians, youth and elderly, men and women of different ages, arrested in all kinds of locations. He appealed to the Committee to help the Government of Kuwait in putting pressure on Iraq to release all prisoners of war and to cease inhumane practices against them.

Discussion

In response to written questions drawn up by Committee experts in advance, the members of the Kuwaiti delegation said that any women could decide of her own free will to get married at the age of 25 years without permission from her guardian. If she was prevented from carrying out her decision by her guardian, she could appeal to any court to get justice. With regard to custody of children, the same duty was conferred to men and women. Non-Muslim women also enjoyed the same rights as nationals in matters of child custody.

Polygamy was not prohibited by Kuwaiti law and Islamic Sharia allowed its practice, the delegation affirmed. Any man could have up to four wives; however, he should be able to afford and treat his wives fairly and equally.

Women had equal access to public services as men, and they enjoyed the right to equal pay for work of equal value in the public and private sector, the delegation said. Women also held senior government and private positions in all sectors without discrimination.

On the issue of non-discrimination and protection of minorities, the delegation said that there were no minorities in Kuwait in the strictest sense except the presence of foreign workers who enjoyed equal status with the nationals. Concerning the report of pressure exercised by employers upon their foreign employees by means of retention of passports, the delegation said ill- treatment of domestic workers were isolated incidents which were dealt with by the law. The equality of dignity was observed in Kuwait without any reference to origin or nationality. Passport seizure of any domestic workers by any individual or the employer was prohibited by law. Kuwait did not allow any humiliating action to be taken against any individual under its territory.

The right to freedom of association and assembly was not restricted in Kuwait, the delegation stressed, adding that the country was a democratic State with transparency and freedom of expression being fully exercised. Separation of powers was fully implemented with the executive and judiciary exercising their powers independently. Kuwait newspapers were free from any governmental influence.

The number of stateless residents in Kuwait had dropped due to the measures taken by the Government to regularize their status, the delegation said. Persons living illegally in the country were considered to be stateless; the Government had granted Kuwaiti nationality to those who met the requirements of the State. Additional efforts had also been exerted to educate the children of stateless persons.

Capital crimes for which the death penalty might be imposed included, among other things, premeditated murder, abduction for rape, drug smuggling, and sexual violence against an insane person, the delegation said. Since the Iraqi invasion, capital punishment had been imposed on 17 persons.

The allegation that over 70 persons, whose whereabouts were still unknown, had "disappeared" in 1991 after having been detained and accused of collaboration with Iraq was not correct, the delegation said. Only one person, who was still

living outside Kuwait, was indicated by the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights.

The Kuwaiti Penal Code considered abortion a punishable crime, the delegation said. Any person who practised abortion was punished if found guilty; and the penalty was aggravated when the act was committed by a medical practitioner. In addition, the pregnant woman was also punished for practising abortion.

Coercive means of investigation were prohibited in Kuwait, the delegation said; any confession obtained under duress was invalidated before the courts; and the police officer who practised coercive investigation could face punishment.

Following the responses by the Kuwaiti delegation, Committee experts raised a number of questions. Several experts focused on the situation of females, and particularly expressed concern about the position of the Kuwaiti Parliament which had rejected a decree which would have allowed women to take part in elections. One expert stressed that the crime of honour was initially meant for Mediterranean countries and not for all Islamic countries. Why did civil law not allow the freedom of choice in a marriage which was a mutual contract between the man and the woman? the expert asked.

The conditions of the Bedoons, residents without documentation, was also underlined by a number of Committee experts who said that their situation had remained unchanged for several years. Those who had left the country during the war were prevented from re-entering, commented one expert.

Another expert said the report lacked information on the situation of human rights in the country; it only cited legislative provisions on the issue. How committed could a parliamentary human rights committee be when the right of women to equality was rejected by Parliament. The same expert also required more additional information as to why a Kuwaiti woman married to foreigner could not pass her nationality to her child. Why did the law consider the eyewitness account of two women equal to that by one man? Was it true that Bedoon children could not get public education? And why were foreign domestic workers not covered by the Kuwaiti labour law?

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