On 18 October 2016, the Appeal Court in Kuwait confirmed a three-month sentence with labour against human rights defender Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli. The sentence was originally handed down by the Criminal Court on a charge related to the staging of a demonstration in 2012 demanding the rights of the Bedoon community in Kuwait.
The charges in this case are “incitement to demonstrate, resisting the security men, destroying security personnel vehicles, and destabilising the security and stability of the country.”
On 20 September 2016, the judge of the Misdemeanors Appeal Court rejected Al-Fadhli’s appeal of a one-year sentence for charges of gathering and participating in a peaceful demonstration and assembly. The judge confirmed the sentence of one year in prison with labour, to be followed by deportation from his country, which was originally handed down on 16 May 2016.
On 02 August 2016, Al-Fadhli was released from prison after serving a three-month sentence issued on 23 February 2016 on a charge of alleged misuse of the phone related to his participation in a peaceful demonstration on 02 October 2013.
While returning to the central prison from the hearing in May 2016, Al-Fadhli was handcuffed and subjected to beatings at the hands of three policemen, leaving him with a bruise and a visible injury on his forehead.
For more information about the case see: https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1325
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) calls on the government of Kuwait to stop targeting Al-Fadhli with criminal charges related to his human rights work.
The GCHR urges authorities in Kuwait to:
- Revoke all the charges against Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli as they are solely related to his human rights activism;
- Immediately rescind the deportation order of Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli;
- Open an independent investigation into his beating and bring the attackers from the police force to a fair trial; and
- 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.
The 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 Article 6 (c): “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters“, 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, threats, 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.”
