On 08 March 2022, human rights defender Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli received a phone call from the Public Prosecution in Kuwait asking him to appear before them at ten o’clock the next day. The caller did not indicate his identity or the reasons for calling.

The next day, Al-Fadhli went to the Public Prosecution at the appointed time, where it became clear to him that a complaint had been filed against him by Colonel Mohammed Al-Sharaf, who was delegated ten years ago from the Ministry of the Interior to work in the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs, where he is currently a director for the office of the head of the Apparatus.

The investigation lasted only ten minutes as it centered around the alleged use of a Twitter account to make accusations that Colonel Al-Sharaf used his position to extort women from the Bedoon community, a charge which Al-Fadhli denied.

Local reports received by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) confirmed that Colonel Al-Sharaf exploited his position and powers to issue identity cards to female citizens of the Bedoon community in order to blackmail them.

The Public Prosecution decided to transfer the complaint to the General Department of Criminal Investigation to express its opinion on the ownership of the Twitter account that is the subject of the complaint.

On 10 March 2022, shortly before nine in the morning, Al-Fadhli received a phone call from an officer of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, summoning him to attend a second interrogation. The caller once again gave him no information.

Al-Fadhli complied with the summons request and entered the building of the General Department of Criminal Investigation at exactly ten o’clock, where an investigation began with him in the Department of Electronic Crimes by one of its officers, who asked Al-Fadhli to hand him the only copy of his personal identity. The officer asked questions about the ownership of a Twitter account, something that Al-Fadhli denied again, and then he searched his phone after asking Al-Fadhli for the password but he found no evidence during his search.

The officer continued to provoke him with other questions and using violent and uncivilised language at him, at which point Al-Fadhli requested the presence of his lawyer, which was refused. He also asked for a drink of water, and his request was not met despite availability of water in the investigation room. Meanwhile, Al-Fadhli experienced a drop in blood pressure and requested a referral to the medical clinic, which was also refused.

Al-Fadhli left the building about two hours later, after his only copy of his ID was confiscated. Upon entering his house, he received two text messages containing suspicious links that appeared to be an attempt to hack his phone.

GCHR condemns the judicial and security harassment of prominent human rights defender Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, who was repeatedly summoned and interrogated without a lawyer by officers using uncivilised language. GCHR believes that the reason for this harassment is his peaceful and legitimate activity in defense of human rights for the Bedoon community in Kuwait.

GCHR urges the authorities in Kuwait to:

1. Stop all forms of harassment, including judicial and security harassment, against Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli;
2. Conduct an independent, transparent and fair investigation into reports that Colonel Mohammad Al-Sharaf used his position to blackmail women; and
3. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Kuwait are – in all circumstances – able to carry out their legitimate human rights work without fear of reprisals and without any restrictions.