Amnesty International — Gulf states: more than 1,000 arrested in war-related crackdown on expression (Kuwait: state security court verdicts against 204 defendants, new terrorism and false-news laws, denaturalisations)

METHOD. Amnesty International interviewed 16 people (a journalist, activists, citizens, residents and relatives of detainees), documented eight expression-related arrests, and reviewed official statements, local media, embassy reports and local human rights groups' documentation. Its regional director states that states "may derogate from certain rights during armed conflict". Derogations must still be provided by law, necessary and proportionate, and "blanket restrictions and the sweeping criminalization of information-sharing fail to meet these requirements".

KUWAIT.
- Arrests. Between 1 and 30 March 2026 the government announced 33 arrests, including at least three women and one foreign national. According to the Ministry of Interior, the accusations included sympathising with "terrorist groups", sharing videos harmful to national security or "mocking security agencies", "spreading false information" and filming with drones.
- The state security court. A first-instance state security court was "established in early April with exclusive jurisdiction over offences related to internal and external state security". On 23 April, 1 May and 7 May it ruled against 204 defendants on charges including sympathy with "the Iranian aggression", "inciting sectarian strife" and "disseminating false news", "according to local media". Most had punishment suspended and some were acquitted. Twenty-three were sentenced to three years, one to five years and one to ten years.
- Ahmed Shihab-Eldin. The journalist was detained by plain-clothes officers on 3 March without a warrant "solely for re-posting images related to the war that had been published by international media organizations". He was held for 52 days and tried for spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone. On 23 April he was acquitted on one charge, and punishment was suspended on the other two.
- Detention without a lawyer. A man who posted content mourning Iran's supreme leader was held incommunicado for five days at the State Security Apparatus and questioned without a lawyer. He was investigated for "harming national interests", "misuse of a mobile phone", "inciting sectarian strife" and "hindering national unity".
- New laws. On 15 March 2026 the Council of Ministers issued "Law No. 47 of 2026 on Combating Terrorism". Amnesty says its definition of terrorist acts includes acts aimed at "compelling a public authority to perform or refrain from performing any act", and that it "elevates life sentences to the death penalty". On the same day "Law No. 13 of 2026" criminalised publishing "false rumours" about military entities, with up to ten years' imprisonment.
- Nationality. The 13 April 2026 amendments to the Nationality Law permit withdrawal "if the supreme interests of the state or its external security so require", or on "serious evidence" of promoting principles liable to undermine the economic, social or political system, or of membership of a foreign political organisation. On 26 April the authorities announced that more than 1,200 people had been stripped of nationality by an Amiri decree that gave no reasons. On 7 May the father of Fawaz Al-Kathiri, a UK-based critic, was stripped of nationality with anyone who acquired it through him. Al-Kathiri himself and his children had lost nationality in July 2025.

REGION. Bahrain: 47 arrests announced 1–14 March, and more than 303 by 5 May per local groups; 34 sentenced; 69 people stripped of nationality with their families on 27 April; and a royal decree removing judicial review of citizenship matters. UAE: at least 375 arrests (3 March–8 April), including 109 in Abu Dhabi on 20 March. Qatar: 313 arrests (28 February–9 March). Saudi Arabia: no announced arrests, but at least three foreign nationals detained. Oman: warnings only.

USE IN A REPORT: the entry documents the legal and judicial environment for expression in Kuwait since March 2026: a dedicated state security court, prosecutions for sharing war-related content, and nationality withdrawal as a sanction. It is relevant to any assessment of risk on return for a person known for online criticism. The Kuwaiti sentencing figures come from local media, as Amnesty says. The descriptions of the new laws are Amnesty's.

The Dossier has not yet published the text of the 2026 counter-terrorism law. The Arabic text Kuwait Mirror found on the consolidated-legislation portal it uses was incomplete, so the law's number and provisions are here as Amnesty International gives them. Human Rights Watch's analysis of the same law is on the Dossier ("Kuwait Counterterrorism Law Expands Death Penalty"). The "Law No. 13 of 2026" on false rumours about military entities has not been checked by Kuwait Mirror against the Gazette.

Amnesty's date for the nationality amendments, 13 April 2026, matches the Gazette issue the Dossier records for Decree-Law No. 52 of 2026. The regional figures are official announcements or local groups' counts and are not comparable between states.