Kuwaiti authorities announced Wednesday the execution of seven people convicted of murder and «other crimes», a move criticized by the European Union (EU), which has summoned the Kuwaiti ambassador to protest the «worrying increase» in the use of capital punishment in the Asian country.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that those executed are four Kuwaitis — three men and two women –, a Syrian, a Pakistani and an Ethiopian, according to the Kuwaiti state news agency, KUNA. He said that one of the Kuwaitis was convicted of two murders and illegal possession of weapons.
Another of the executed Kuwaitis was convicted of «perpetrating a crime», illegal possession of weapons, drinking in public and drunk driving, while the third was sentenced for premeditated murder. The Kuwaiti woman was also convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons.
The Syrian man was sentenced for kidnapping, murder and robbery, while the Pakistani man was convicted of murder and adultery. Finally, the Ethiopian woman was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The executions are the first in Kuwait since 2017.
The EU’s External Action Service has in a statement deplored the executions and stressed that «it is the largest application of the death penalty since 2017.» «The executions coincide with the visit of European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas to the country,» it said, before adding that it has conveyed its concerns about this development to the authorities.
«Human Rights issues are at the heart of the EU’s internal and external relations and directly affect all our policies. The EU will continue to raise its concerns in this regard with Kuwait at all levels, starting with the Human Rights dialogue scheduled for next week,» he explained.
Therefore, he outlined that «the EU calls for a moratorium on executions and a complete ‘de facto’ moratorium on the application of the death penalty as a first step towards a formal and total abolition of the death penalty in Kuwait.» «As a matter of principle, the EU strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances,» he reminded.
In doing so, the EU External Action Service has said that capital punishment «is a cruel and inhuman punishment that does not work as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.» «The EU will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few countries that still apply it,» it concluded.
Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Amna Guellali, had on Tuesday called on Kuwait to «immediately» halt executions and stressed that «the death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the most cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.»
«While Kuwaiti authorities have a duty to bring to justice those responsible for serious crimes, suspects must be tried in line with international law in trials that satisfy Kuwait’s human rights obligations,» he said, before calling for the «commutation» of «these and other death sentences.»
Finally, Guellali called on the country to «review its death penalty laws» and «immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to the total abolition of the death penalty,» according to a statement published by the non-governmental organization on its website.
