November 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Kuwaiti authorities have announced this Wednesday the execution of seven people convicted of murder and “other crimes”, a measure criticized by the European Union (EU), which has summoned the Kuwaiti ambassador to protest the “worrying increase” in the use of capital punishment in the Asian country.
The Prosecutor’s Office has indicated that those executed are four Kuwaitis — three men and two women –, a Syrian, a Pakistani and an Ethiopian, according to the Kuwaiti state news agency, KUNA. Thus, he has said that one of the Kuwaitis was convicted of two murders and illegal possession of weapons.
Another of the executed Kuwaitis was convicted of “committing a crime”, illegally possessing weapons, public drinking and drunk driving, while the third was sentenced for premeditated murder. The Kuwaiti woman was also convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons.
For his part, the Syrian was convicted of kidnapping, murder and robbery, while the Pakistani was convicted of murder and adultery. Ultimately, the Ethiopian woman was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. The executions are the first in Kuwait since 2017.
The EU’s External Action Service has regretted the executions in a statement and has stressed that “it is the largest application of the death penalty since 2017.” “The executions coincide with the visit of the Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas to the country,” she said, before adding that he has conveyed his concern about this fact to the authorities.
“Human Rights issues are at the core of the EU’s internal and external relations and directly affect all our policies. The EU will continue to raise its concerns with Kuwait in this regard at all levels, starting with the Human Rights dialogue scheduled for next week”, he explained.
For this reason, it has outlined that “the EU calls for a suspension of executions and a complete ‘de facto’ moratorium on the application of the death penalty as the first step towards a formal and total abolition of the death penalty in Kuwait”. “As a matter of principle, the EU is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances,” she recalled.
In this way, the EU External Action Service has said that capital punishment “is cruel and inhuman punishment that does not work as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.” “The EU will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few countries that still apply it,” he concluded.
The deputy director of Amnesty International for the Near East and North Africa, Amna Guellali, had called on Tuesday for Kuwait to stop “immediately” the executions and stressed that “the death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the cruelest punishment , inhumane and degrading”.
“While the Kuwaiti authorities have a duty to bring those responsible for serious crimes to justice, suspects must be tried in line with international law in trials that meet Kuwait’s human rights obligations,” he said, before demand the “commutation” of “these and other death sentences”.
Finally, Guellali called on the country to “review its laws on the death penalty” and “immediately establish an official moratorium on executions in view of the total abolition of the death penalty,” according to a statement published by the non-governmental organization through their website.
