| Kuwait_Joint trial observation report_121216 15 pages / 554 KB |

Kuwait’s Cyber Crimes Law has
effectively silenced dissent in the country, and brought human rights defenders
to trial, including blogger Sara Al-Drees, who faces up to five years in
jail for a tweet. A trial observation report outlines the violations of
international law that occurred during her trial, following a mission to Kuwait
in November by a coalition of groups.
The coalition of rights groups
which monitored the trial was composed of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights
(GCHR), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), International
Service for Human Rights (ISHR), and FIDH and the World Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory
for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
The Public Prosecution’s office
accused Al-Drees of allegedly defaming the Emir of Kuwait, violating the Cyber
Crimes law and the misuse of a mobile phone in relation to the tweets that she
published on her twitter account, which were reported by the Cyber Crimes Unit.
A trial observer attended the
hearing of Al-Drees in the Court of First Instance in Kuwait City on 24 November
2016 and produced a trial observation report. The analysis of the charges and
prosecution has been supplemented by field investigation and consultation with
human rights defenders in Kuwait. The trial is ongoing and the next hearing is expected
in December 2016.
On 22 September 2016, the Public
Prosecution issued an order to imprison Al-Drees for 21 days in connection with
the case. On 25 September 2016, Al-Drees surrendered herself voluntarily and
was transferred to the central prison. She began a hunger strike to protest her
imprisonment.
On 06 October 2016, the Criminal
Court in Kuwait held the first hearing in the trial of Al-Drees. The court
ordered her released on a bail of 500 Kuwaiti Dinars (US$1,656) and adjourned
the hearing to 27 October 2016. She was then freed from prison after the court
imposed a travel ban on her. See: http://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1388.
The hearing was adjourned on 27 October to 24 November.
Noting some of the violations of
international law, the trial observer says, “Al-Drees was subject to prima
facie unlawful detention for 11 days and faces a maximum penalty of five years’
imprisonment for tweets which, on any reasonable view, constitute a legitimate
exercise in freedom of expression under international law.” However, some
aspects of her case complied with the law, such as her ability to choose an
independent lawyer of her choice.
He continues, “The residual
independence of the Kuwaiti judicial system, in the face of decisions by state
security/the Public Prosecutor, is not adequate to remedy the unfairness
created by the laws themselves – Article 25, in particular.”
The trial observer notes,
“Article 25 of the Penal Code already effectively places Kuwait's ruler beyond
any public criticism. But the concurrent use of the new Cybercrimes law in this
case constitutes a further erosion of the space for the free exchange of
opinion and ideas.”
The report also details wider
legal issues facing journalists and human rights defenders in the country,
which forms part of the context to ongoing prosecutions by the State in 2016.
“The terms of political debate,
which had been on the verge of a new opening after 2011, have been firmly
narrowed on all sides – not least through the closure of independent media like
Al-Yawm. Meanwhile the Bedoon issue remains off the table, the Courts remain
full and the Emir himself, as the Al-Drees trial indicates, lies beyond even
the mildest of public reproach,” concludes the report.
GCHR, ANHRI, ISHR, FIDH and OMCT urge the authorities in Kuwait to:
1.
Drop the charges against Sarah
Al-Drees, as they violate the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
2.
Guarantee in all circumstances
that all human rights defenders and bloggers are able to carry out their
legitimate human rights activities and to exercise their right to freedom of
expression without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including
judicial harassment; and
3.
More generally comply with the
United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and notably Articles 1, 5
and 12.2.
Read the full report online (in English) here.
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