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To the Government of Kuwait:
· Withdraw the reservation and interpretative declarations regarding articles 2(1), 3, 23, and 25(b) of the ICCPR and ratify its Optional Protocol, allowing a right of individual petition to the Human Rights Committee by persons who allege that their rights guaranteed by the ICCPR have been violated by Kuwait.
· Take immediate steps to ensure that any person whose rights under the ICCPR have been violated has effective remedy, and that such remedy is enforced by the competent authorities. In particular, judicial, administrative, and legislative authorities should be instructed that the Covenant is "part of the body of national legal provisions applicable in Kuwait and binding at all levels on the authorities and organs of the country."14
· Take urgent steps to end discrimination against the Bidun, and ensure their full enjoyment of rights guaranteed in the ICCPR. In particular, amend provisions in the Nationality Law which discriminate on the basis of gender, religion, or status, or violate the right to equality of spouses. An independent body should be established to investigate allegations of discrimination in granting nationality or naturalization, and violations of the ICCPR should be judicable before Kuwaiti courts.
· Ensure that all children, including Bidun children, enjoy fully the right to such measures of protection as are required under the ICCPR by their status as minors, including the right to acquire a nationality and the right to be registered immediately after birth. Special care should be taken to alleviate the impact of past discriminatory policies against Bidun children, and to ensure that their former limited or inferior access to medical care or education does not undermine their enjoyment of rights guaranteed in the ICCPR.
· Withdraw the reservation to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which seeks to absolve Kuwait of its obligation to implement provisions of the Convention "that are incompatible with the laws of Islamic Shari'a and the local statutes in effect."
· Ensure to all individuals who have a legitimate claim to Kuwait as their "own country" the full enjoyment of their rights to leave and return to Kuwait, including the right to obtain the necessary travel documents. The government should refrain from administratively or judicially deporting Bidun solely on grounds of their status as Bidun or their alleged origin.
· Ensure that the right to marry and found a family is guaranteed to all persons within Kuwait's territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including families that include one or more Bidun members. In particular, Kuwait should take immediate steps to ensure that couples with one or more Bidun members are able to promptly register marriages, and families with one or more Bidun members are able to live together.
· Ratify the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
· Ensure that women have equality before the law. Amend the Personal Status Law to be consistent with the rights guaranteed in articles 2(1), 3, 23, and 26 of the ICCPR. In particular, revoke those provisions which assign lesser weight to women's testimony, give lesser rights in inheritance, and assign spouses unequal rights as to marriage, during marriage, and at its dissolution.
· Amend the Penal Code to be consistent with the rights guaranteed in articles 2(1), 3, 6 and 26 of the ICCPR. In particular, revoke provisions which reduce or eliminate penalties for crimes committed against women by men, and provide pregnant women and those who assist them with explicit exemptions from prosecution for inducing abortion when it is medically necessary to preserve the mother's life.
· Ensure that Kuwaiti law and practice with regard to participation in public service and public affairs is consistent with the rights guaranteed in articles 2(1), 3, 25, and 26 of the ICCPR. In particular, revoke those provisions which restrict women's full enjoyment of the right to vote, stand for election, and serve at all levels of the judiciary, and refer article 1 of the National Assembly Election Law to the Constitutional Court for constitutional review.
· Prepare and submit Kuwait's initial report (due on October 2, 1995) and second periodic report (due on October 2, 1999) on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
· Withdraw the reservations to 7(a), 9(2), and 16(1)(f) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which seek to absolve Kuwait of its obligation to end discrimination against women in voting, passing nationality to their children, and in their rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children.
· Amend the Penal Code and Printing and Publications Law to be consistent with the rights guaranteed in articles 19 and 14 of the ICCPR, including revoking provisions that allow for the criminal prosecution, imprisonment, and fining of authors and journalists for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, and that require researchers to prove good intentions.
14 Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 40 of the Covenant, Initial Report of State Parties Due in 1997: Addendum, Kuwait, United Nations Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/120/Add.1, December 3, 1999, (hereafter, Report of the Government of Kuwait), para. 37.