Ngos Highlight Kuwait's Human Rights Violations
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SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014 MUHARRAM 16, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net US envoy Suspects Arafat still Chelsea march assures safety admit killing Palestinian on after 2-1 of 16,000 43 Mexican icon 10 yrs win at US citizens2 students10 after13 death Liverpool20 NGOs highlight Kuwait’s Min 08º Max 28º human rights violations High Tide 00:14 & 14:07 Low Tide Report submitted to UN’s Universal Periodic Review 07:38 & 19:33 40 PAGES NO: 16337 150 FILS By Ben Garcia implement it subsequently,” said Sheikha Bibi Al-Sabah, In my view Chairwoman of the Social Work Society of Kuwait. KUWAIT: For six Kuwaiti-based non-governmental organiza- The report has already been submitted to the Human tions, 2015 will be a historic year. The Kuwait Graduates Rights Council Committee at the UN, but KCA is also set to ‘Wise’ MoI officials Society, Human Line Organizations, Kuwaiti Bedoons present the report to the council committee assembly and Congregation, Social Work Society of Kuwait, Youth discuss it with the 47-member council. “We have been lob- Association of Kuwait and the Musawah bying the support of big countries like the sanction rally Group - together called the Kuwait Civil United Kingdom and countries in the EU Alliance (KCA) - collaborated to come up so that our voices will be heard loudly,” with a detailed report about human rights she added. Primarily for expatriate work- next to highway! violations in Kuwait and submitted it to the ers, one of the many issues highlighted United Nations’ ‘Universal Periodic Review’. was the call for the cancellation of the The report, which will be discussed at the sponsorship system, which Kuwait prom- By Dr M Z Al-Alyan UN human rights assembly in January in ised to scrap years ago. Geneva, will highlight issues like the spon- “It has reached the critical level already sorship (kafala) system, the right of educa- and needs a proper solution. The govern- tion for every child regardless of nationality, ment must take the kafala issue seriously - bedoons, rights of women and children, we must protect migrant workers, because freedom of religion and many more. at the end of the day, it will reflect on us, The six NGOs have teamed up to make SEE PAGES 4 & 5 which will determine how well we treat our their appeal louder, clearer and stronger visitors. The government is taking their than ever. “What we really wish for is for our government to course slowly and we want them to act faster. As NGOs, our address human rights issues here once and for all. It’s better role is to consistently call upon their attention and remind to face the issues now than later. We want the government them of their duties and responsibilities to international to act upon and be committed to international laws that we bodies. We want to tell them that we are here; we’re watch- signed a long time back and are answerable to them. We ing; you must do and act now,” Sheikha Bibi said. want the government to adopt our recommendations and Continued on Page 13 Easing of Saudi women driving ban possible RIYADH: It’s only for women over 30, who must be off the road by 8 pm and cannot wear makeup t was during my drive home yesterday from labeled with “you don’t love Kuwait” or you’re not behind the wheel. But it’s still a startling shift. The Bnaider that many motorists and I noticed a considered a true Kuwaiti. We need to realize Saudi king’s advisory council has recommended that Ithick cloud of dust that suddenly obscured our sooner rather than later that identifying our prob- the government lift its ban on female drivers, a visibility. One would be forgiven for thinking that lems is the first step in rectifying them. Someone member of the council told AP on Friday. The Shura this resulted from a car collision or something luckily realised that the previous police commis- Council’s recommendations are not obligatory on worst, but we soon realized a rally was in progress sioner obviously lacked insight and quickly the government, but simply making the recommen- immediately adjacent to the main highway lead- changed him. dation was a major step after years of the kingdom ing to the city - a highway that has claimed What is urgently needed here in Kuwait is to staunchly rejecting any review of the ban. numerous lives throughout the past years as a implement the laws that we claim we have. There have been small but increasingly bold result of reckless driving and poor legislation People aren’t afraid of the law anymore and protests by women who took to their cars over the topped with a lack of significant police presence. hence will easily break it. This is human nature. past year. The driving ban, which is unique in the The great thinkers of the Interior Ministry Officers need to be trained adequately and then world, is imposed because the kingdom’s ultracon- apparently thought it was a good idea to allow a empowered to take immediate action on those servative Muslim clerics say “licentiousness” will car race to take place immediately next to the who break the law, regardless of their family spread if women drive. The council member said the road. It was the same stroke of genius that gave name or ethnicity. Shura Council made the recommendations in a us the enigma of the emergency lane’s use. No Our roads are war zones. Very few locals secret, closed session held in the past month. The one really knows if it’s OK to use the emergency respect or fear the police. Examples of this are member spoke on condition of anonymity because lane or not, as if this will solve the traffic issue in seen on a daily basis. All one has to do is simply the recommendations had not been made public. Kuwait. drive to work in the mornings and notice the Under the recommendations, only women over 30 would be allowed to drive and they would need The MoI has a history replete with bad ideas - number of vehicles driving down the pavements! RIYADH: In this file photo taken on March 29, 2014, Aziza Yousef luckily not all of them were turned into laws. I This is no laughing matter. The powers that be permission from a male relative - usually a husband or father, but lacking those, a brother or son. drives a car as part of a campaign to defy Saudi Arabia’s ban on believe the police commissioner in charge of traf- need to take action. If the government can’t do it women driving. — AP fic was recently replaced, which has not hap- alone, then there is no shame from seeking help Continued on Page 13 pened a moment too soon in my opinion. I recall or perhaps hiring expertise from a certain neigh- him stating in an official interview that he boring country slightly to our south. After all, News thought Kuwaitis were the most law-abiding citi- about half of our population is there every week- Man who threatened zens in the world when it came to traffic laws. I am end. in brief a Kuwaiti and I love my country. However, any It is about time our officials started tackling our US schools arrested man that comes up with a statement like that has major issues such as healthcare, schools, trans- Qaeda tried to kill US envoy to Yemen never stepped foot in Kuwait or requires urgent portation, housing and rising crime as opposed to CAIRO: Egypt yesterday announced the arrest of a US-Egyptian cit- neurological assessment. wasting time on pathetic issues such as cancelling SANAA: Al-Qaeda said yesterday it had tried to assassinate izen accused of having posted on jihadist websites a threat to the US ambassador to Yemen with Unfortunately, many Kuwaitis have this phe- Halloween celebrations in schools as was the case attack American and other international schools in the region. At two bombs that were discovered nomenon whereby if you criticize Kuwait, you get a few weeks ago. the end of October, US embassies in the Gulf states of Saudi minutes before they were due to Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the explode. The explosives were mission in Egypt, called for vigilance over a threat to American planted Thursday outside the schools there. Egypt’s interior ministry, in a statement on its official house of President Abdrabuh Facebook page, said Alsayyed Abu Saree, 60, was behind the Mansur Hadi, the media arm of Al- threats and had been arrested, although it did not say when. Qaeda’s Yemen branch said in a The suspect “posted a call through jihadist websites for attacks statement posted on Twitter. They targeting government and foreign interests... including against for- were intended to be detonated eign teachers at American and international schools in the coun- when Ambassador Matthew Matthew Tueller try”, it said. Interior ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif told AFP Tueller, who was the US envoy to Kuwait before being posted the suspect was arrested in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, to Yemen, left following a roughly hour-long visit to the house and that he holds both US and Egyptian citizenship. He also holds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, it said. There was no official con- a certificate to teach at American schools around the world and firmation of the failed plot. has lived in the United States for 27 years.