Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1996--Kuwait

The Ministry of Interior supervises the security apparatus, including the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Kuwait State Security (KSS), two agencies that, in addition to the regular police, investigate internal security-related offenses. Some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.

Richly endowed with oil, the country's estimated per capita gross national product is approximately $20,600. Costly reconstruction undertaken to recover from the destruction caused by the Iraqi occupation led the Government to incur a cumulative fiscal deficit of approximately $70 billion, which it covered by liquidating government-owned foreign assets and increasing the public debt. The Government is gradually reducing the deficit and plans to eliminate it by the year 2000. Despite its emphasis on an open market, the Government continues to dominate the local economy through direct expenditures and government-owned companies and equities. The Government has initiated a program of disposing of its holdings of stock in private companies.

The Government's human rights record improved, although problems remain in certain areas. Police abuse detainees during interogation, and guards beat a large number of prisoners after a January prison riot. Citizens cannot change their head of state. The Government bans formal political parties, and women do not have the right to vote. The Government restricts freedom of assembly and association, and places some limits on the freedom of religion. Journalists

practice self-censorship. The Government prevents the return to Kuwait of stateless persons who have strong ties to the country. Deportation orders may be issued by administrative order, and hundreds of persons are being held in detention facilities pending deportation. Many have been held for a year or more. Discrimination and violence against women are problems. The Government restricts the rights of women, e.g., women do not have the right to vote. Domestic servants are not protected by labor law, and unskilled foreign workers suffer from lack of a minimum wage in the private sector and from failures to enforce labor law.

However, for the first time, sons of naturalized male citizens and citizens naturalized between 20 and 30 years ago were eligible to vote in the October National Assembly elections. Although the Government continues to be indifferent to the human rights problems of the more than 100,000 stateless people residing in Kuwait known as the "bidoon," the Government naturalized a small fraction of the bidoon, and made some efforts to address their status. The Amir commuted the sentences of four individuals who were convicted of security offenses in 1991 by the Martial Law Court. During the year the National Assembly passed laws granting the judiciary greater administrative and financial independence and providing for increased access and employment opportunites for the disabled.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:

a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial killings.

There were no developments in the investigations into the extrajudicial killings that occurred during the chaotic period after Kuwait's liberation in 1991.

b. Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

There have been no developments since 1994 in the cases of disappearance that occurred following Kuwait's liberation in 1991.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Iraqi authorities have not yet accounted for 602 Kuwaitis and residents of Kuwait, including 8 women, who were taken prisoner during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. Iraq repatriated one woman in May. The Government of Iraq has

refused to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, which stipulates the release of the detainees. Iraq denies that it holds Kuwaiti detainees.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution prohibits torture, however, there continue to be credible reports that the police physically abuse detainees during interrogation. The police were more likely to inflict such abuse on non-Kuwaitis than on citizens. Reported abuse includes blindfoldings, verbal threats, slaps, and blows.

The Government says that it investigates all allegations of abuse and that it has punished at least some of the offenders. However, the Government does not make public the findings in its abuse investigations or what, if any, punishments are imposed. This omission creates a climate of impunity, which diminishes deterrence against torture and abuse. Prison guards beat a large number of prisoners following a prison riot in January. Although authorities apparently put an end to the abuse, it is not known if the guards involved in the beatings were disciplined.

Defendants have the right to present evidence in court that they have been mistreated during interrogation. However, the courts frequently dismiss abuse complaints because defendants are often unable to substantiate their complaints with physical evidence. Members of the security forces deliberately hide or misrepresent their identity,