Freedom House — Freedom in the World 2018: Kuwait (Partly Free, 36/100)

Scores: Partly Free; aggregate 36/100; Political Rights 13/40; Civil Liberties 23/60; associational and organisational rights 4/12.

Citizenship: 'Since 2014, dozens of people, including journalists, activists, and clerics, have been stripped of citizenship for criticizing the government. However, the government has slowed its use of stripping citizenship as a form of political reprisal over the last two years, and in May 2017, reinstated the citizenship of a number of people who had seen it revoked, including former opposition lawmaker Abdullah al-Barghash.' The electorate is limited to citizens of at least 20 years' standing with a Kuwaiti father.

Stateless bidoon: more than 100,000, 'considered illegal residents'; efforts to naturalise 4,000 under a 2013 law had stalled; bidoon 'do not have the ability to own or acquire property'; 'Detainees, especially bidoon, continue to experience torture and beatings while in custody.'

Rule of law: 'Kuwait lacks an independent judiciary. The emir appoints all judges, and the executive branch approves judicial promotions.' Suspects may be detained for four days without charge. In July 2017 the Court of Cassation upheld a 10-year sentence on a blogger for defaming the emir and the judiciary; in August 2017 prosecutors banned publication of information on state security cases.

Political prosecutions: in November 2017 several MPs received lengthy sentences for storming parliament in 2011; former MP Musallam al-Barrak, having completed a two-year sentence for insulting the emir, received a further nine years; in December 67 people were sentenced for the 2011 demonstration. In June 2017 the government set up a committee to monitor social media.

Governance and corruption (indicator C2: 1/4): 'Corruption is pervasive in Kuwait'; in 2017 the Anti-Corruption Authority referred only 10 cases for prosecution; there is no right-of-access-to-information law. The cabinet resigned in October 2017 as ministers faced questioning over corruption and austerity.

Other points: the Constitutional Court struck down the DNA law in October 2017 as a violation of privacy; seven executions in 2017; a nationwide crackdown in August 2017 including the deportation of 76 suspected gay men; companies 'are legally prohibited from conducting business with citizens of Israel'.

USE IN A REPORT: indicator-by-indicator scoring that can be cited for specific propositions — judicial appointment by the emir, four-day detention without charge, torture of bidoon in custody, and citizenship revocation as political reprisal from 2014.

For legal practitioners: the most significant passage is the record of citizenship revocation used against critics from 2014, its slowdown and the May 2017 reinstatements — the historical baseline against which later, larger revocation measures should be assessed. For compliance and governance readers: the corruption indicator (1/4), the Anti-Corruption Authority's ten referrals and the absence of an access-to-information law are concrete governance-risk data points; the statutory bar on business with Israeli citizens is relevant to sanctions and trade-compliance reviews. Freedom House's judgements are assessments rather than primary evidence; cite the underlying events to primary sources where they are available.