October 1991, Page 71

Human Rights

By Sally Clark Nyhan

Human Rights Lawyers Committee Documents Kuwaiti Abuses

The New York based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights recently visited Kuwait and documented a number of continuing human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary arrests, and unfair trials.

In their report, members of the Committee, who visited Kuwait July 16, focused on two concerns: the lack of due process protections in cases before special courts and the continuing pattern of arbitrary arrests. The Committee also expressed concern over the continuing abuse of non Kuwaiti citizens, some of whom face deportation to Iraq.

"The human rights crisis which engulfed Kuwait with the Iraqi invasion and continued with the return of Kuwaiti sovereignty is far from over, " the Lawyers Committee found. While martial law courts had been abolished, alleged collaborators awaiting trial were still being denied legal protections. There was no requirement that detainees be informed of the charges against them and they were often denied access to lawyers and family members. Verdicts are final and not subject to appeal. In addition, of 39 people acquitted by the martial law courts, none had been released from detention as of mid-July.

The committee also documented continuing arbitrary arrests and reports of torture. There were allegations of non governmental vigilante groups arresting "dozens per week, " often delivering victims to police after torturing them for several days. While the Committee was not able to verify the allegations, it noted that "the current climate of lawlessness, and the explicit scape-goating of the non Kuwaiti population, creates a situation in which there are few, if any, official safeguards against vigilante activity. The government's own failure to uphold the rule of law and to persecute those responsible for gross violations of human rights ... is a major contributing factor in creating this situation. "

The Lawyers Committee also investigated credible reports of torture in Kuwaiti prisons. The group received testimony from victims' families implicating the Kuwait Security Service and the Ministry of Interior in reports of torture of inmates. The group received reports of beatings, electric shocks, suspension above ground, sexual abuse, and threats to harm victims' families.

"In August 1990 the international community rushed to the defense of Kuwait under the auspices of the United Nations. The Kuwaiti government had recognized its indebtedness to the UN system as a whole.... In turning its back on [UN human rights] standards, the Government of Kuwait is undermining the objectives of the organization to which, in part, it owes its liberation from occupation."

The Lawyers Committee is urging the government of Kuwait to provide fair retrials for people convicted under martial law courts as well as the immediate release of people acquitted by those courts. The Committee also calls on the government to allow detainees access to lawyers and family and to stop the torture of prisoners. In addition, the committee members called on the government to reiterate its opposition to vigilante activity and to prosecute those involved in vigilante activity.

AI Alleges Israel Authorizes Torture

Amnesty International released a July 1991 report raising "serious concerns" about fair trials for Palestinian civilians tried in Israeli military courts.

"The odds are stacked against Palestinian civilians getting a fair trial in military courts in the Israeli Occupied Territories because of fundamental flaws in the system including the routine torture or ill treatment of suspects during interrogation," Amnesty concluded in its 80 page report, Israel and the Occupied Territories.

Furthermore, "there is clearly a pattern of torture or ill-treatment in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Detainees are particularly vulnerable to such treatment when they are cut off from the outside world," the group concluded.

Amnesty also has discovered regulations endorsed by the Israeli government in 1987 allowing "moderate physical pressure" during interrogation.

"We believe either that the government endorses these interrogation practices, which amount to torture or ill-treatment, or that interrogators have been routinely violating official guidelines as well as international standards which prohibit all torture and ill-treatment. Either way, the government needs to urgently address the problem, including publishing the secret guidelines, Amnesty reported.

Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli government to ensure safeguards to protect people arrested in the occupied territories. The group recommends that prisoners be informed of the reasons for their arrest; that they be brought before a judge within 48 hours of their arrest; that the family of the arrested be notified immediately; that detainees have adequate access to attorneys; and that the Israeli government publicly forbid the use of torture and conduct prompt and independent investigations into reports of prison abuse.

Sally Clark Nyhan is the outgoing AET Book Club director and human rights editor for the American Educational Trust.