Habib Ghazanfari is a Kuwaiti human rights defender and chair of a charity committee. In November 2021, he and 11 members of his organization were arbitrarily arrested by the State Security Bureau without a warrant. Upon his arrest, Habib Ghazanfari’s home was searched and his family’s personal property, including silver, jewellery and gold, was confiscated without inventory or justification. The inmates were placed in solitary confinement in cells with no windows, depriving them of any notion of time. The lights were always on, and they were regularly woken up by blows to keep them from sleeping. For four consecutive days, they were subjected to intensive interrogation without the presence of lawyers and were subjected to ill-treatment including beatings, insults, threats of electric shocks, slaps and suspension by the legs. Upon their transfer to the DA’s office, they were handcuffed, blinded and equipped with helmets to isolate them sensorially. Interrogations at the courthouse lasted 18 hours, without legal assistance, leading to forced confessions. Authorities banned all contact with their families and lawyers during the first week of detention, in flagrant violation of the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners.