Human Rights MPs to visit prison

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KUWAIT CITY, March 1: The parliamentary Human Rights Committee met Thursday during which its members decided to visit the Central Prison on Monday. Committee Chairman MP Dr Adel Al-Damkhi revealed they discussed the poor conditions in prisons and violations against prisoners.

Talking about the Bedoun who attempted to commit suicide by burning himself in front of Jahra Court, Al- Damkhi said the committee will ask the National Assembly to grant it permission to investigate this matter and previous burning incidents involving some Bedouns. He affirmed the attempts of Bedouns to burn themselves will not go unnoticed and the committee will discuss this issue with a team from the Interior Ministry headed by the minister on March 8, 2018; in addition to the security restrictions file.

Meanwhile, MP Osama Al-Shaheen said he met with MPs Jamaan Al- Harbash, Mohammed Hayef, Adel Al- Damakhi, Nayef Al-Mirdas, Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Omar Al-Tabtabaei and Abdel-Wahab Al-Babtain in his office to discuss the reform draft laws that will be presented as matters of urgency such as the general amnesty and freedom bills in preparation for holding a session to ratify them. He added, “We look forward to the adoption of the draft law on conflict of interests. We will also focus on bills regarding freedoms and cancellation of imprisonment as punishment for those involved in opinion cases.”

In a related issue, MP Saleh Ashour criticized the verdicts against some bloggers who merely expressed their points of view while the concerned authorities turn a blind eye to bloggers in neighboring countries who offended His Highness the Amir without being held accountable as they were just asked to sign a pledge not to repeat the offense.

In a press conference at the National Assembly on Thursday, Ashour called for reciprocity regarding bloggers who stand trial for expressing their opinions. He also urged the ministers to stop referring such offenders to the Public Prosecution.

On the issue of Bedouns, Ashour claimed the government “displaced” Bedouns instead of solving the issue by granting them social and civil rights, as well as naturalizing the deserving among them. “Within a short period, two Bedouns tried to commit suicide by burning themselves.

Instead of finding the cause, the Interior Ministry defamed them although there is no final court ruling against them,” he added. He pointed out the psychological pressure on Bedouns made them behave this way, while emphasizing the need to address the problems of Bedouns. He asserted, “It is unreasonable for the interior minister to describe those who tried to commit suicide by burning themselves as people with criminal records especially since no court verdict has been issued against them.”

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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