KSHR slams detention of American in Kuwait ‘Human rights violated’

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 22: Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) has criticized the detention of a 19-year-old American visitor to Kuwait, Gulet Mohammad, “by Kuwaiti securitymen at the behest of a foreign government.” “We in the KSHR wonder why attention was not paid to this incident. We are surprised that this foreign party (the US government) has denied ever making such a request. In fact, it has not taken the right legal channel like the Interpol, for example,” said the society’s head Ali Ahmad Al-Baghli.

“We strongly denounce and condemn the usage of Kuwaiti security apparatuses by foreign sources in perpetrating actions that are clear violations of human rights in Kuwait, whether committed against citizens or residents. We also implore the security apparatus and Interior Ministry to desist from heeding such illegal requests from any source or government even if they are allies, like the American government and others. They should resist being used as the flogging boy in the future, because the US government-out of respect for its own laws, constitution, and justice system- has always asked other countries (Morocco, Jordan and now Kuwait) to do illegal things against its own citizens or others, but outside the borders of its own country. This is illegal and unacceptable, and we hope lessons would be learnt from this incident.

“The actions of the Kuwaiti government came after Mohammed was put on US government’s no-fly list, a situation which caused worry to Kuwaiti officials. We like to remind Kuwait’s Criminal Investigations Department and other security authorities that torture is illegal and carries criminal and civil penalties,” added Al-Baghli.


(2010-1-23/arabtimesonline)