KUWAIT CITY, Dec 16: Kuwaiti riot police used tear-gas and water cannons on Friday to scatter hundreds of stateless protesters demanding citizenship, a move that angered political groups and former MPs.
The police sought to break up a crowd of 400 people gathered after noon prayers in Jahra, 50 kms (31 miles) northwest of Kuwait City, raising Kuwaiti flags and banners that read: “We demand Kuwaiti citizenship.”
The assault came after the protesters refused to disperse, defying a police deadline to clear the area within 15 minutes. Security forces chased protesters to their nearby homes, while a helicopter hovered overhead.
Police arrested at least 20 stateless people, a journalist and a photographer of a local newspaper. Witnesses said that police raided a number of homes in the area to make arrests. Some sources said 25 arrests had been made.

Members of the dissolved Parliament, political groups and the students union strongly condemned police “repression” and warned that the use of force will not resolve the decades-old stateless crisis.
“The security method will only complicate the issue... We call for halting repression, the use of force and for the release of those arrested,” the leftist Progressive Movement said in a statement.
The Kuwait Students Union described the situation of the stateless “as a stigma in Kuwait’s freedoms record” and a “humanitarian crime that should not continue in our country.”
Former MPs deplored the use of force against the peaceful protest and called on the government to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

The demonstration comes four days after a Kuwaiti lower court began the trial of around 50 stateless people, locally known as Bedouns, who were arrested during similar protests in February and March.
The men were charged by the court of illegal assembly with the intent to commit crimes and assault security forces. All the defendants denied the charges and said they committed no offence.
Under Kuwaiti law, only citizens have the right to hold public gatherings while foreigners are banned.
Kuwait launched a crackdown on the estimated 100,000 Bedouns in 2000, depriving them of health care, education and jobs. The stateless claim they are Kuwaiti citizens who have been denied nationality.
The Kuwaiti government meanwhile insists that a large number of them hold nationalities of other countries.
Kuwait, which considers Bedouns illegal residents, has said that it is studying the issue of the stateless carefully and is prepared to grant citizenship to those deemed deserving.

The call for protest was made through Twitter and Facebook and under the slogan ‘The Constitution Protects Us.’

Assistant Undersecretary for Public Security Affairs at the Ministry of Interior Major General Mahmoud Al-Dousari had given the Bedouns an hour to stage their protest and disperse. He said the media can cover the protest within an hour and the protesters can make all their demands within the time. However, the Bedouns refused to cooperate after the deadline, forcing Al-Dousari to address them once again. He asked them to disperse and reminded that the right to hold protests is mainly for Kuwaitis in the Constitution. The Bedouns refused to heed and shouted slogans ‘We are tired of empty promises,’ ‘We want nationality,’ and so on. The protesters also raised the photos of HH the Amir and HH the Crown Prince during the protest.
The refusal to disperse ended in the use of water canons and 20-25 people, ranging from ages 17 to 35, were arrested.

A representative of Kuwait Human Rights Society (KHRS) Taher Al-Baghli was present at the venue to listen to the demands of the protesters.

Sources said there was heavy security in Taima and Sulaibiya since early morning, although no protests took place in Sulaibiya.

Special Forces reportedly chased demonstrators in Taima, causing panic amongst women and children residing in the area, especially as a street in Block 2, Taima, was converted into a military barrack.
Former MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Dr Jamaan Al-Harbash, Faisal Al-Duwaisan, Ali Al-Deqbasi and Dr Assel Al-Awadhi criticized the manner followed by the ministry in dealing with the protesters and opposed the use of such oppressive methods.

Former MP Askar Al-Enezi also expressed deep regret at the way the ministry handled the incident. “The way the ministry abused Bedouns is shameful. It is inhumane to use force and tear-gas against them,” he said, adding it is regrettable that the ministry attacked them, instead of carrying out its main task of granting them citizenship.

Al-Enezi said the right to hold peaceful demonstration is a human right that cannot be denied and added that Bedouns can demonstrate peacefully, especially since their fathers died defending this country.
“Where are the promises the government made before the Bedouns committee that it will issue all ministerial decisions necessary to grant Bedouns their rights?” he asked.

Stating that he is against all forms of violence used against Bedouns, Al-Enezi also criticized the use of tear-gas within residential areas. He said the gas went into houses in the area, harming children and old people.

A 14-year-old boy was among those beaten up and apprehended, an observer with the Kuwait Human Rights Society, who witnessed part of the protest, told Reuters.

Protests by the stateless Arabs, known as Bedouns, are usually on a small scale and in marginalised neighbourhoods outside the capital, Kuwait City.

“Their gathering was peaceful, but unfortunately the security forces didn’t give them a chance and started beating them with bats,” the rights observer said. “A 14-year-old boy was beaten and arrested while he was still bleeding.”

The police could not be reached for comment.
“I am very upset about the government’s response. It was disproportionate, there was no reason to break into the homes of the protesters,” said the observer, who asked not to be named.