Politics of Kuwait

=Human Rights in Kuwait=

Out of the six GCC states, human rights record in Kuwait is, arguably, the best. The country has no political prisoners; as for prisoners of conscience, Prof Ahmed Al-Bagdadee is believed to have been the last one following his conviction in 1999 for blaspheming Islam (the professor chaired the political science department at Kuwait University, and was sentenced on October 4, 1999 under Kuwait's Press and Publications Law to one month in prison. The conviction was based on an article he had written in 1996 for the university's student magazine, "Al-Shoula". He was eventually pardoned by the Emir of Kuwait and released from prison).Among organisations, which are primarily concerned with human rights, Kuwait Society for Human Rights can be named as one of them; also, there is a permanent Human Rights' Committee in the Kuwaiti parliament itself.As for the human rights abuses, there have been numerous allegations that the police and other Kuwait's law enforcement agencies torture suspects to extract evidence. One of the pronounced human rights problems in Kuwait is that of the stateless people residing in Kuwait (over 150 thousand of them). Those stateless people (which are called "Bidoon" in Kuwait)are denied basic civil and political rights - they cannot Many of them have spent their entire life in Kuwait and are still being refused Kuwaiti citizneship.

The ruling family

Kuwait's monarchical system of government is marked by the unusually wide involvement of members of the ruling family in state posts. Several important cabinet porfolios are held by members of the ruling family, including defense, interior and foreign affairs. Members of the ruling family (who bear the title 'shaykh' in Kuwait) typically hold additional cabinet posts, and are found in many other high posts in the government. This major family role in politics emerged in 1939, when shaykhs of the al-Sabah closed the Kuwaiti parliament that the merchants had established the year before.

Kuwait's Emir (whose official title is "His Highness the Emir of the State of Kuwait" ) is a respected figure among Kuwaiti nationals. For instance, in the year 2004—after unexpected hike in oil prices brought extra revenues to Kuwait's budget—many Kuwaiti employees, working in the governmental sector, demanded from the government an increase in salaries. The Government, however, rejected their demands arguing that the hike in oil prices was only temporary. However, the Emir stepped in and came up with a middle solution, decreeing that every Kuwaiti citizen shall be granted a one-time allowance of 200 Kuwaiti dinars. The parliament unanimously approved the Emir's initiative by passing a special bill on that matter.

From 1962 to 2003, the crown prince also headed the government as prime minister. This changed in 2003, when Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah became Prime Minister while Sa'd al-Abdallah, who had been the Prime Minister, resigned that post but stayed on as Crown Prince. The crown prince has few other constitutional duties other than serving as heir to the throne. However, that does not prevent him from being a public figure - the mass media always provide reports about him, usually of social or diplomatic nature: for instance, if he receives a foreign dignitary is his office, or sends a cable of congratulations to another monarch or travels or returns from abroad, or hosts a social event - these and other things will always be covered by Kuwait's media.

The three men who currently hold the most senior positions in the government - the emir, the crown prince, and the prime minister - are in their 70s, and the emir and crown prince have both suffered from serious health problems in recent years. This has led some to express concern that the health problems of the leadership has affected the quality of governance in Kuwait - in particular, some critics would like to see the appointment of a crown prince who enjoys good health.

International Organization Participation

Kuwait is a member of many internation organisations, including OPEC, the WHO, Interpol, and the United Nations. The other international organisations are shown in the list below.

*ABEDA
*African Development Bank (AfDB)
*Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD)
*Arab League (AL)
*Arab Monetary Fund (AMF)
*BDEAC
*Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU)
*CCCclarifyme
*United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
*Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
*Group of 77 (G-77)
*Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC aka Gulf Cooperation Council GCC)
*International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
*International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
*International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
*ICCclarifyme
*ICRMclarifyme
*IDAclarifyme
*Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
*International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
*IFCclarifyme
*International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS)
*International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
*International Labour Organization (ILO)
*International Monetary Fund (IMF)
*IMOclarifyme
*Inmarsat
*Intelsat
*International Olympic Committee (IOC)
*International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
*International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
*Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
*Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)
*Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
*Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
*United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
*UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
*United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
*Universal Postal Union (UPU)
*World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
*World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
*World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
*World Tourism Organization (WToO)
*World Trade Organization (WTrO)

External links

* [http://www2.gsu.edu/~polmfh/database/database.htm Kuwait Politics Database]
* [http://www.hrw.org/press/1999/oct/kuwait.htm Al-Baghdadi Case]
* [http://www.imow.org/wpp/stories/viewStory?storyId=1621 Kuwaiti Women's First Election Day]