relation to their participation in a 2011 vaccination campaign, which began in protest, as well as the sentencing of a group December 2020 and was free of charge. of men following an unfair trial on charges Foreign nationals and migrant workers, who that included “spying for Iran and Hizbullah”. comprise up to 70% of the population, were On 8 November, the Emir granted pardons denied access to vaccines for the first half of and reduced the sentences of 35 men, the year until July, when vaccines were made including 11 former MPs. available to everyone. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND DISCRIMINATION ASSEMBLY BIDUN The authorities detained and prosecuted Stateless Bidun people remained unable to government critics and activists under access a range of public services. provisions in the Cybercrime Law and Penal Draft laws on the Bidun issue were Code, including for speech deemed offensive proposed in parliament but none were voted to the Emir. on. In May, five MPs submitted a proposal for In April, the government approved granting the Bidun basic socio-economic amendments to the Kuwaiti Code of Criminal rights, including access to education, Procedure that mean the authorities can no healthcare and work. In September, the longer order pretrial detention in cases speaker of parliament tabled a bill on the related to freedom of expression. However, same draft law proposed in 2019 that, if individuals can still be prosecuted and enacted, would make Bidun individuals’ ultimately imprisoned for voicing their access to services conditional on opinion. relinquishing their claims to nationality. At the end of June, Jamal al-Sayer, a poet, posted tweets on his account addressing the MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS Emir and criticizing him for the tensions On 1 January, a decision to ban the renewal between the government and parliament. On of visas for migrants over the age of 60 and 5 July, a number of State Security officers not holding a university degree came into dressed in plain clothes arrested him as he force. In October, a legislative advisory body was returning home in his car. He was nullified the decision, which could have released nine days later pending charges of provided grounds for the expulsion of “insulting the Emir, spreading false news with thousands of people, including many who the aim of undermining the state, and misuse have lived in Kuwait for decades. of his phone”. On 9 November, a criminal Controversial new regulations were then court acquitted him. introduced, allowing renewal of visas for an ARBITRARY DETENTION expensive annual fee in addition to private health insurance. Palestinian nationals, At the beginning of November, in the first children of Kuwaiti women, and those born in such case reported in 2021, the State Kuwait are exempt from the fees. Security Agency arbitrarily detained 18 men, During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kuwait including 10 Kuwaiti nationals, accusing imposed an entry ban on foreign nationals, them of sending money to Hizbullah in including migrant workers with valid 1 Lebanon. Many were interrogated for several residency permits. On 1 August, the ban was days without access to a lawyer. At the end of lifted on condition of a valid residency permit the year, the detainees had yet to be formally and recognized double Covid-19 vaccination. charged. In a rare case in which a perpetrator of RIGHT TO HEALTH abuse against a migrant worker had been held to account, the Appeal Court overturned Until April, Kuwait in late May the death sentence that had been prioritized Kuwaiti nationals for its Covid-19 imposed on a Kuwaiti woman accused of Amnesty International Report 2021/22 225