UIA-IROL Expresses Concern about the Situation of Kuwaiti Lawyer Hani Hussain

The UIA-IROL is deeply concerned by the recent detention of Hani HUSSAIN, Kuwaiti human rights lawyer, who has been especially active visible in his defense of the Bedoon community, a group of persons considered illegal residents in Kuwait and who are significantly deprived of their rights by the authorities.

According to the latest information received, the authorities in Kuwait arrested human rights lawyer Hani HUSSAIN on February 19, 2020, and he was imprisoned in the overcrowded Central Prison. On March 23, 2020, a judge extended his detention for two additional weeks on charges linked to the views he has published on his social media accounts. He has been using his Twitter account to express his opinion on civil and human rights issues in Kuwait. In one of his latest posts, he criticized the February 18, 2020 decision of the Legislative Affairs Committee’s to combine three distinct amnesty bills in one report.

The UIA-IROL strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of Hani HUSSAIN.

The UIA-IROL believes that charges against Hani HUSSAIN are solely aimed at curtailing the peaceful exercise of his freedom of expression as well as his legitimate human rights activities as a lawyer. For these reasons, the UIA-IROL urges the Kuwaiti authorities to immediately release Hani HUSSAIN and drop all charges against him.

The UIA-IROL also received information that other online activists have recently been summoned, interrogated and briefly detained for expressing their personal views on social media. The UIA-IROL calls upon the Kuwaiti authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment of Kuwaiti lawyers and human rights activists, including online activists, and ensure that in all circumstances such lawyers and activists are able to carry out their activities and duties without fear of retaliation and persecution.