Beirut, 04 May, 2012 — The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has received information that 15 human rights defenders were arrested on 1 May 2012 as they took part in a peaceful protest that was violently dispersed by riot police in Taima Square near Kuwait City.  There are approximately 180,000 people in the Bedoon Community in Kuwait who are denied citizenship under strict nationality laws in Kuwait.

On 1 May 2012, over 200 Bedoon protesters gathered in “Freedom Square” in Taima in Jahraa on the outskirts of Kuwait City to protest for improved rights, their right to citizenship and against the failure of the Central Agency to deliver on promises offered relating to their rights. The protest started in Najashi Street after afternoon prayer in Al-Shaabi mosque and the protestors then marched to the square.

Riot police reportedly used armoured trucks, batons, smoke bombs and hot water in order to disperse the protestors. They arrested 15 human rights defenders during the protest. Those arrested include prominent Bedoon activist and independent human rights defender Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, independent human rights defender Nasser Al-Shammari, Bedoon journalist Mohammed Salem, Yousef Muhsin Sultan Al-Harbi, Hussain Jabr Hilal, Abdulhadi Abdullah Khairallah, Fahad Ahmed Al-Badri, Rakan Nawaf, AbdulKareem Saoud Rkhais, Fawaz Kasib Ismail, Shaalan Humood Ali Saif, Faisal Al-Manea, Abdulhaziz Khalaf Badei and Bahyan Badei Nazal.

Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, who has been arrested on three previous occasions, appeared before the court on 2 May 2012 accused of false charges along with other Bedoon who had protested for improved rights in recent months (See GCHR appeal dated 13 February 2012 https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/68). The current whereabouts of Abdulhakim Al-Fadhi remain unknown.

The other human rights defenders arrested were reportedly taken by police to the Department of Criminal Investigation, where the President of the Kuwait Human Rights Association, Khaled Al-Hmaidi and lawyers Mohammed Al-Hmaidi and Hussain Al-Otaibi are appointing lawyers to defend them and are working for their release.

The Interior Ministry has made false accusations against the human rights defenders in an attempt to justify their arbitrary arrests. A statement issued by the Ministry on state-run news agency KUNA said, “We regret the attacks by demonstrators in Taima (Square) and the shameful acts punishable by law that they committed”. The Ministry in the same statement falsely accused the demonstrators of trying “to run over police officers, destroy equipments and devices, ignite tires and block roads”. The head of the Bedoon parliamentary committee, MP Adel Al-Damkhi, has not made a statement on the arrests however, MP Saleh Ashoor criticized the violence and arrests against Bedoon.

According to information received, other activists were briefly detained including a 12 year old boy who was taken  by police to Jahraa police station before being released  two hours later. The Vice-President of the Kuwait Human Rights Association, Fayez Al-Sultani, who was monitoring the protest, was reportedly briefly taken by police and beaten. Other monitors, Taher Al-Baghli, Maryam Shah, and Huda Al-Dikheel, were taken to a checkpoint and asked to leave the protest. Police took their mobile phones and deleted the photos that they had taken of the protest.

The GCHR believes that the arrests and false accusations made against the human rights defenders and the violent dispersal of the protest by police constitute a breach of the right to assembly and to protest peacefully. The GCHR views these acts as an attempt to intimidate and to hinder those working for the promotion of the rights of the Bedoon community from carrying out their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities.  The GCHR expresses concern over the arrest and detention of the human rights defenders and particular concern over the fact that the whereabouts of Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli remain unknown.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) urges the authorities in Kuwait to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release the 15 human rights defenders arrested on 1 May 2012 at Taima Square as GCHR believes that they have been detained solely as a result of their legitimate human rights work;
2. Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli and ensure he is granted immediate and unfettered access to his lawyer and family;
3. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arrests and detention of the aforementioned human rights defenders and the excessive use of force by police at the protest, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Kuwait are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment. 

GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 5(a) “For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (a) To meet or assemble peacefully” and to Article 12 (2): “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threat, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.”

 The Gulf Centre for Human Rights is an independent centre and has been registered in Ireland. The Centre works to strengthen support for human rights defenders and independent journalists in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.