The document provides an overview of Kuwait, including its geography, population, economy, legal system, and human rights issues. It notes Kuwait has restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, and security forces have abused prisoners and protesters. The document outlines laws limiting media freedoms and online activism. Several cases are described of activists being arrested or imprisoned for insulting officials or neighboring states on social media. The basis of a refugee claim from an activist in Kuwait would be fear of persecution due to their political opinions or membership in a particular social group.

2. • Part 1: A brief introduction about
Kuwait
• Part 2: NPD documents and reports
• Part 3: Factual situation in Kuwait
from local reports and articles
• Part 4: Analysis of the basis of claim
• Part 5: Conclusion and personal
insight

3. • Geography:
• Kuwait is relatively small country
in the Middle East, placed
geographically with a strategic
location at head of Persian Gulf,
between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,

4. Area:
17,818 sq. km
Total population:
2,832,776
(July 2016 est.)
*map of Kuwait as part of the Middle East
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html

5. Kuwait has wealthy,
relatively open economy
with crude oil reserves of
about more than 6% of
world reserves.
Petroleum accounts for
over half of GDP (Gross
Domestic Product), 94% of
export revenues, and 90%
of government income.

6. Shari’a (Islamic law) is the main
source of legislations. The Articles
(1:3) of the Constitution of Kuwait
states that
“Kuwait is an Arab State,
independent and fully sovereign.
Neither its sovereignty nor any
part of its territory may be
relinquished.. Its religion is Islam
and Shari’a law is main source of
its legislations. Its political system
is democratic..”

7. The legal system of Kuwait is
a combination of British
common law, French civil
law, Islamic legal principles,
and Egyptian law.
However, Kuwait lacks an
independent judiciary. The
emir appoints all judges, and
the executive branch
approves judicial
promotions.*
*https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-
world/2016/kuwait

8. • According to the executive summary of
the report on Human Rights Practices
for 2015- Department of State- Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor,
on 13 April 2015, describing the main
issue of human rights violations in
Kuwait, the report states the following:

9. • “Principal human rights problems included
limitations on citizens’ ability to change their
government; restrictions on freedom of
speech and assembly, especially among
foreign workers and stateless Arabs (called
“bidoon”).
• Other human rights problems included
reports of security force members’ abusing
prisoners and protesters, arbitrary arrest and
extrajudicial deportation of foreign workers;
limitations on freedoms of press, association,
worker rights, and religion; and restrictions
on freedom of movement for certain groups”

10. • The report indicates that: “courts
convicted dozens of persons for insulting
the emir, the judiciary, neighboring
states, or religion on their social media
sites. Several cases involved questioning
authorities’ competency, decisions, or
honesty, and resulted in jail terms of up
to 10 years. “

11. • Report on Freedom of the press
2015 by Freedom House:
• Although the Press and Publications
Law also extends some important
protections to the media, it prohibits
the publication of material that
insults God, the prophets, or Islam. It
also forbids criticism of the emir, the
disclosure of secret or private
information, and statements calling
for the overthrow of the regime.

12. ... authorities monitor online
communications for defamation and
security threats, and the Ministry of
Communications (MOC) blocks websites
that are suspected of “inciting terrorism
and instability.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8D
eox2FC1A

14. • The report expresses concerns about
the new Cyber Crimes Law no.63 on
freedom of expression and online
activism in Kuwait which has come into
force in Jan2016.

15. • Legislation:
• 1-Constitutional law:
• Although the Kuwaiti constitution
grants the right of freedom of opinion
and expression, article 36 and 37 of the
constitution restricts that right by
forcing the actions taken to be in
accordance with the conditions and
procedures specified by law.

16. • 2- Press and Publications Law 3/2006:
• The law regulates matters prohibited from
publishing in the Print or the Newspaper,
specifically Articles 19 to 24 and grants the
criminal court the authority to decide on all
penal lawsuits that are stipulated under this
law.
• The penalties for violations extends to up to
10,000 Kuwaiti Dinar (CAD43,333) , limit of
penalties extends on Chief editor and the
article writer for violating the law, to up to
one year imprisonment and a fine up to
20,000 Kd

17. On June 2015, the parliament
passed a Cybercrime Law which
contains several dispositions that
reinforce the ongoing crackdown
on peaceful criticism provides for
prison sentences for "criticizing
the Emir on the Internet" and up
to 10 years in prison for using the
Internet to attempt to "overthrow
the ruling regime or incite the
change of the system."

18. a.Sentencing activist and
opposition leaders for
“offending the Emir”
An article published by Al-jazeera -
which is a very well-known news
broadcaster in the Middle East- dated
1 March 2015 reports sentencing
Kuwait activist and opposition leader
Musallam al-Barrak , a former
member of parliament for two years,
for insulting the Emir and for
criticizing an election law that gives
the ruling family more power.

19. • On Wednesday 29 Jan. 2015
an article published by
KuwaitTimes, which is a local
newspaper that publishes in
English, regarding the arrest
and detention of number of
online activists allegedly for
comments deemed offensive
to Saudi Arabia’s late King
Abduallah. The activist
Mohammad Al-Ajmi was
arrested for questioning over
Tweets he made on Saudi
Arabia.

20. Nawaf Al-Handal, a leading rights
activist for the same reason.
Former liberal MP Saleh Al-Mulla was
detained for five days earlier this
month for tweets deemed offensive to
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi
during a visit to Kuwait. He is to stand
trial on February 15.

21. A Kuwaiti court on sentenced
Shiite lawmaker Abdulhameed
Dashti to 11 years' jail in
absentia for insults against the
emirate's ruler and its neighbour
Saudi Arabia.
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=sfBJsRwUil4
While former Islamist Mubarak
Al-Duwailah was questioned
over comments critical of Abu
Dhabi’s rulers.

22. • Another source reports the sentence of
a Blogger “Saleh al-Saeed was given an
extended two-year sentence by the
appeal court for allegedly undermining
Kuwait-Saudi relations”, reported
Middle East Eye on 18 Feb. However,
the sentence was extended to 6 years
and was upheld by the supreme court
on 12 June 2015.

23. On Article published by Gulf
Center for human rights on 20
June 2016, the mistreatment of a
Human rights defender
Abdulhakim Al-fadhli was
reported, the article confirms
that AlFadhli was beaten by
police as sentence reduced while
being transferred from court to
prison, when he was subjected to
beatings at the hands of three
policemen, leaving him with a
bruise and a visible injury on his
forehead.

24. • An article published by a Committee to
protect journalists’ website, on 19 Feb2015
announces the court’s decision of upholding
government’s shutdown of Al-Watan
newspaper.
• The article states that “Al-Watan has been
harassed by authorities in recent years as
well. In April 2014, a Kuwaiti court suspended
the paper and another daily, Alam Al-Youm.

25. The basis of claim that an
activist in Kuwait can present
under Geneva Convention is :
“Fear of persecution or serious
harm at the hands of the state
due to the person’s
membership of a particular
social group or political
opinion.”

26. 1-Persecution link to one or more of the
Convention Grounds:
Examples of “membership in a particular
social group”
• The Supreme Court of Canada in Ward
gives example of each category, as follow:
….while the second would encompass, for
example, human rights activists.

27. "any opinion on any matter in which the
machinery of state, government, and policy
may be engaged"

28. 1-Activists are denied
expression and exercising
of a substance right.
2-They are being
mistreated by the State
authorities, detained,
arrested, and imprisoned
for expressing their
opinions.

29. 3-Media are set under
extreme limitations and
under the risk of being
closed down by the
authorities for unjustified
reasons.
4- The law provides serious
penalty which prevents
editors, journalists, activist
from enjoying the freedom
of expressing their opinion
or by defending other
social groups’ rights.

30. 5- A clear denial of a core human
right, especially the new law that
extends to limiting any opinion that
can be published on the internet or
the social media, or social networks
like facebook and twitter and
WhatsApp.
6- Forms of harm are persistent and
repeated often looking at the number
of activists or people arrested for
tweeting or for writing an opinion
that disagrees with the state’s policy
or religious acts or any other matter
that is restricted by law.

31. As the definition of a Convention
refugee is forward-looking, the
question is whether the claimant
has good grounds for fearing
persecution in the future?
the answer is yes, as long as the
Kuwaiti authorities kept these
practices against activists or
against individuals expressing
their opinions,

32. • The situation is unlikely to change since the Kuwaiti
government are issuing new laws to restrict
freedom of expression thorough the media and
publishing or even on the internet, taking into
consideration that the emir, has the last say in
state matters, and is described as "immune and
inviolable" in the constitution and is shielded from
criticism by the penal code.

33. • All the above mentioned factors prove
that a person or an activist who
expresses his/her opinion in any matter
that is restricted by Kuwait Law are
subject to persecution.
• Objective fear test is evident in our case
and the national documentary packages
evidence describes that situation in
Kuwait.

34. Subjective fear is proven through the
evidence describing the factual situation
in the country and the fear of each
activists to express their opinion, which
can be seen as more than good grounds
for fearing persecution, especially that
the restrictions have extended to the
posts on the internet on different social
network websites.

35. A personal insight:
I believe that all documents provided by the
National Documentation Package give an
insight about the overall situation of activists,
and the media (in cluding prints and
publications) in Kuwait.
Besides the documentary evidences about the
factual situation in the country,and above all,
the persecution of activists and the punishment
and penalty imposed on them, and on the press
that has been taken over in the past few years
by the government ..

36. are all serious indications of persecution of this
group of people.
Alternatively, the unlimited powers of the Emir
that interferes with the legislative, judicial and
executive system in Kuwait and therefore lacks
any independency.
These are elements that would definitely
support the allegation of persecution by the
claimant as long as the State of Kuwait keep
executing such practices against such group of
people, and as long as it keeps these type of
laws in effect.