Publications

This report addresses Kuwait’s compliance with its human rights obligations regarding the death penalty. The Kuwaiti Government lacks transparency regarding the number of people sentenced to death; Amnesty International reported that at least 24 people were under sentence of death at the end of 2022. Despite pausing executions from 2017 to 2022, Kuwait continues to carry out executions, most recently in July 2023, when Kuwait executed five people by hanging.3 Kuwait is not taking steps toward a de jure moratorium on executions or ratification of the Second Optional Protocol. Kuwait does not ensure that defendants in capital cases have a fair trial. Kuwait’s use of torture and the lack of an independent judiciary are continued areas of concern. As Kuwait will take up a seat on the Human Rights Council over the 2024-2026 period, the government should urgently re-assess the use of the death penalty.