Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/KUWAIT.TXU

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TITLE:  KUWAIT HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Government prevents the establishment of human rights
groups by not approving their requests for licenses (see
Section 2.b.).  Until the ban on unregistered NGO's, the Kuwait
Association for the Defense of War Victims (KADWV), a private
group created in 1991, helped to repatriate citizens interned
in Iraq, and aided former prisoners of war and persons tortured
by Iraqi occupation forces.  KADWV also sought to curb human
rights abuses in Kuwait and took special interest in
alleviating the problems of the bidoon.  In February the
Government canceled a KADWV human rights seminar (which
subsequently took place under the auspices of the National
Assembly).

The Government permits international human rights organizations
to visit Kuwait and to establish offices.  Several
organizations conduct field work and report excellent
communication with and reasonable cooperation from the
Government.

The National Assembly has established a Human Rights Committee
which has taken testimony from individuals about abuses and has
made nonbinding recommendations for redress.  In 1994 the
Committee investigated prison conditions.  As a result of the
investigation, the Ministry of Interior has improved some
conditions.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

     Women

Women experience legal and social discrimination.  They are
denied the right to vote and require their husbands' or
fathers' permission to obtain a passport or travel abroad (see
Sections 2.d. and 3).  By law only males are able to confer
citizenship.  In rare cases, this means that children born to
Kuwaiti mothers and stateless fathers are themselves
stateless.  Inheritance is governed by Islamic law, which means
that female heirs receive half the male heirs' inheritance.  A
sole female heir receives half her parents' estate; the balance
goes to designated male relatives unless a woman's family has
made other arrangements to transfer assets to her.

Women are traditionally restrained from choosing certain roles
in society, and the law restricts women from working in
"dangerous industries" and trades "harmful" to health.
Educated Kuwaiti women maintain that a resurgent Islamic
fundamentalist trend limits career opportunities.  Women
wearing Western clothes and foreign women experience sexual
harassment more frequently than women in Islamic garb.
Nonetheless, an estimated 60 percent of women of working age
are employed.  The law promises "remuneration equal to that of
a man provided she does the same work."  This promise is
respected in practice.  Women work as doctors, engineers,
lawyers, and professors.  A few have reached senior government
positions in the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Education, and
the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.  However, there
are no female judges or prosecutors, only a few women in the
diplomatic service, and none in the National Assembly.

Domestic abuse of women is common.  Each of the country's 50
police stations receives one or two complaints of spousal abuse
per week.  Women in such cases usually take refuge in the homes
of relatives.  The police generally seek to resolve family
disputes and may ask the offending spouse to sign a statement
affirming that he will discontinue the abuse.  The police refer
serious cases of abuse to authorities at the Ministry of
Health.  Kuwaiti courts have found husbands guilty of spousal
abuse.

Many employers have physically and sexually abused Asian women
working as their domestic servants.  Such abuse appears to have
worsened in recent years.  The press gives the problem
considerable attention.  Foreign-born servants have the right
to sue their employers in court for abuse, but few do so owing
to both fear of deportation and fear that the judicial system
is biased against them.  In 1993 the Government established an
office under the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labor to investigate the complaints of
domestic servants.  The Government has also announced its
intention to establish a shelter for runaway maids but has not
yet done so.  As an interim measure, the authorities have
designated a police station to investigate complaints and
provide some shelter.

Many domestic servants seek shelter at their country's embassy
where they seek repatriation or a change in employers.  On
several occasions, the Philippine Embassy has sheltered over
250 women at one time, roughly half of whom complain of
physical or sexual abuse and half have contractual complaints
against their employers.

The Government discontinues family entitlements to divorced
women, but continues to make such payments to the divorced
husbands who are expected by law and custom to provide for the
children.  The law discriminates against women married to
foreign men.  These women are not entitled to government
housing subsidies which are available to other citizens.  The
law also requires Kuwaiti women to pay residency fees for their
foreign-born husbands and does not recognize marriage as the
basis for granting residency rights to foreign-born husbands.
Instead, the law grants residency only if the husband is
employed.  By contrast, men married to foreign women do not
have to pay residency fees for their spouses and their spouses'
right to residency derives from marriage.

     Children

The Government is committed to providing for the welfare of
children, providing free education and health care to all
children and a variety of other services.

There is no child prostitution, child labor problem, or any
pattern of societal abuse of children.  However, in 1993 the
Minister of Interior ordered all public and private schools not
to enroll the children of parents without valid residence
permits.  Moreover, the Government orders the children of
persons awaiting deportation to be held with their mothers at
the women's detention facility, in conditions unsuitable for
children.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The Government's failure to improve the plight of the 117,000
bidoon, or persons of undetermined nationality with long
residency in Kuwait, remains a significant human rights abuse
(see Section 1.d.).  The bidoon have been the objects of
hostile government policy since the late 1980's.  Since that
time, the Government has eliminated the bidoon from the census
rolls, discontinued their access to government-provided social
services, and has sought to deport many bidoon to other
countries.  In 1993 the Government decreed that bidoon males
may no longer serve in the military services.

The bidoon exist in a legal limbo.  Because their citizenship
or residency status is undetermined, they do not have a legal
right to work or enroll their children in public or private
schools.  If the bidoon travel abroad, they are uncertain if
immigration authorities will allow them to reenter Kuwait.
Marriages pose special hardships because the offspring of male
bidoon inherit the father's undetermined legal status.

The Government has established a review process which would
regularize the status of some of the bidoon and their families,
especially for any bidoon who has served in the military or
security forces, and for the children born to marriages between
bidoon males and Kuwaiti women.  However, the process is
improvised, slow, and ineffective.  Government officials claim
they recognize the hardships suffered by the bidoon, but so far
they have not proposed any remedial legislation.

Since the end of the Gulf War, the Government has been hostile
to workers from those nationalities that supported Iraq,
especially Palestinians, Jordanians, and Yemenis.  The
Government has delayed or denied the issuance of work and
residency permits to persons in these groups, and in many cases
has hindered such workers from sponsoring their families to
join them in Kuwait.  The Government imposes further hardships
by prohibiting schools from enrolling the children of such
persons without valid residency permits.

     Religious Minorities

Although Christians are free to practice openly, the Government
prohibits Christians from proselytizing Muslims, and Muslims
from converting from Islam.  The law prohibits non-Muslims from
becoming citizens.  A non-Muslim male must convert to Islam
when he marries a Kuwaiti woman, if the wedding is to be legal
in Kuwait.

Government welfare programs generally do not discriminate
against Shi'a Muslim citizens.  Members of Kuwait's Shi'a
minority are generally underrepresented in high government
positions, although in recent years two Shi'a Muslims were
appointed to the Cabinet and one was named to a high-ranking
military post.

     People with Disabilities

No institutionalized discrimination exists against physically
disabled persons in housing, employment, education, or the
provision of state services.  The Government has not legislated
or mandated accessibility for the disabled, but does provide
extensive benefits for the disabled that cover job training,
transportation, and social welfare.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

Workers have the right, but are not required, to join trade
unions.  Nonetheless, the Government restricts the right of
association by prohibiting all workers from freely establishing
trade unions.  The law stipulates that workers may establish
only one union in any occupational trade, and that the unions
may establish only one federation.  The International Labor
Organization (ILO) has long criticized such restrictions.

In 1994 over 28,400 people were organized in 14 unions, 12 of
which are affiliated with the Kuwait Trade Union Federation
(KTUF), the sole, legal trade union federation.  The Bank
Workers Union and the Kuwait Airways Workers Union are
independent.  The Government has shown no sign that it would
accept the establishment of more than one legal trade union
federation.  The law stipulates that any new union must include
at least 100 workers, of whom at least 15 are citizens.  Both
the ILO and the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions have criticized this requirement because it discourages
unions in sectors employing few citizens, such as the
construction industry and domestic servants.

The Government's intrusive oversight powers further erode union
independence.  The Government subsidizes as much as 90 percent
of most union budgets, may inspect the financial records of any
union, and prohibits any union from engaging in vaguely defined
political or religious activities.  The law empowers the courts
to dissolve any union for violating labor laws or for
threatening "public order and morals."  The Amir may also
dissolve a union by decree.  By law, the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Labor is authorized to seize the assets of any
dissolved union.  The ILO has criticized this aspect of the
law.  Although no union has been dissolved, the law
subordinates the legal existence of the unions to the power of
the State.

Foreigners constitute most of Kuwait's total work force and
about one-third of its unionized work force.  Yet the law
discriminates against foreign workers by permitting them to
join unions only after 5 years of residency and only as
nonvoting members.  Unlike union members who are citizens,
foreign workers do not have the right to elect their
leadership.  The law requires that union officials must be
citizens.  The ILO has criticized the 5-year residency
requirement and the denial of voting rights for foreign workers.

KTUF administers an Expatriate Labor Office which is authorized
to investigate complaints of foreign laborers and provides them
with free legal advice.  Any foreign worker may submit a
grievance to the Labor Office, regardless of union status.

The law limits the right to strike.  It requires that all labor
disputes must be referred to compulsory arbitration if labor
and management cannot reach a solution (see Section 6.b.).  The
law does not have any provision guaranteeing strikers that they
will be free from any legal or administrative action taken
against them by the State.

Two strikes occurred in 1994, by cleaning personnel in the
school system for a pay raise, and by security guards at the
Social Welfare Home to collect unpaid wages.  The majority of
the strikers were foreign workers.

The KTUF belongs to the International Confederation of Arab
Trade Unions and the formerly Soviet-controlled World
Federation of Trade Unions.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

Workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively,
subject to the restrictions cited above.  These rights have
been incorporated in the Labor Law and have, according to all
reports, been respected in practice.

The Labor Law provides for direct negotiations between
employers and "laborers or their representatives" in the
private sector.  Most agreements are resolved in such
negotiations; if not, either party may petition the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labor for mediation.  If mediation fails,
the dispute is referred to a labor arbitration board composed
of officials from the High Court of Appeals, the Attorney
General's office, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

The Civil Service Law has no provision for collective
bargaining between government workers and their employers.
Technically, wages and conditions of employment for civil
service workers are established by the Government, but in
practice, the Government sets the benefit scales after
conducting informal meetings with officials from the civil
service unions.  Union officials resolve most issues at the
working level and have regular access to senior officials.

The Labor Law prohibits antiunion discrimination.  Any worker
who alleges antiunion discrimination has the right to appeal to
the judiciary.  There were no reports of discrimination against
union or nonunion employees.  Employers found guilty of
antiunion discrimination must reinstate workers fired for union
activities.

There are no export processing zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution prohibits forced labor "except in cases
specified by law for national emergency and with just
remuneration."  Nonetheless, there have been credible reports
that foreign nationals employed as domestic servants have been
denied exit visas if they seek them without their employers'
consent.

Foreign workers may not change their employment without
permission from their original sponsors.  Domestic servants are
particularly vulnerable to abuses because they are not
protected by the Labor Law.  In many cases employers exercise
some control over their servants by holding their passports,
although the Government prohibits this practice and has acted
to retrieve passports of maids involved in disputes.

By law domestic servants who run away from their employers may
be treated as criminals.  In some reported cases, employers
illegally withheld wages from domestic servants to cover the
costs involved in bringing them to Kuwait.  The Government has
done little, if anything, to protect domestics in such cases.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The legal minimum age is 18 years for all forms of work, both
full- and part-time.  Employers must obtain permits from the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to employ juveniles
between the ages of 14 and 18 in certain trades.  Education is
compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15.  These
laws are not fully observed in the nonindustrial sector,
although no instances involving children have been alleged.
There are an undetermined number of underage foreign maids who
have given false information regarding their age in order to
obtain work.  Some small businessmen employ their children on a
part-time basis, and there have been unconfirmed reports that
some south Asian domestic servants under 18 falsified their age
in order to enter Kuwait.

Juveniles may work a maximum of 6 hours a day on the condition
that they work no more than 4 consecutive hours followed by a
1-hour rest period.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is responsible for
enforcing all labor laws.  There is no legal minimum wage in
the private sector.  In 1994 the minimum wage in the public
sector, administratively set by the Government, was
approximately $630 a month (180 dinars) for citizens and $315 a
month (90 dinars) for noncitizens.

The Labor Law establishes general conditions of work for both
the public and the private sectors, with the oil industry
treated separately.  The Civil Service Law also prescribes
additional conditions for the public sector.  Labor law limits
the standard workweek to 48 hours with 1 full day of rest per
week, provides for a minimum of 14 workdays of leave each year,
and establishes a compensation schedule for industrial
accidents.  Domestic servants, who are specifically excluded
from the private sector labor law, frequently work hours
greatly in excess of 48 hours.

The ILO has urged the Government to guarantee the weekly
24-consecutive-hour rest period to temporary workers employed
for a period of less than 6 months and workers in enterprises
employing fewer than five persons.  The law governing in the
oil industry provides for a 40-hour workweek, 30 days of annual
leave, and sick leave.  Laws establishing work conditions are
not always applied uniformly to foreign workers.  The Labor Law
also provides for employer-provided medical care and
compensation to workers disabled by injury or disease due to
job-related causes.  The Law also requires that employers
provide periodic medical examinations to workers exposed to
environmental hazards on the job (chemicals, asbestos, etc.).

The Government has issued occupational health and safety
standards; however, compliance and enforcement are poor,
especially regarding unskilled foreign laborers.  Employers
often exploit workers' willingness to accept substandard
conditions.  Foreign workers, especially unskilled or
semiskilled south Asian workers, frequently face contractual
disputes, poor working conditions, and some physical abuse.

Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to their continued employment, and
legal protections exist for workers who file complaints about
such conditions.  Latest available figures for occupational
injuries show 798 such occurrences in 1992, primarily in the
sectors of construction and building, manufacturing, hotels,
restaurants, and transportation.  To cut accident rates, the
Government periodically inspects installations to raise
awareness among workers and employers and ensure that they
abide by the safety rules, control the pollution resulting from
certain dangerous industries, train workers who use new
machines in specialized institutes, and report violations.