Kuwait executes 7 people, in first since 2017

Kuwait has executed seven people convicted of murder, in what are the first executions conducted in the country in the last five years.

According to media reports, four Kuwaitis, a Syrian, a Pakistani, and an Ethiopian were executed. Both the Ethiopian and one of the Kuwaitis were women.

A statement by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, cited by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), said one of the Kuwaitis was convicted of two murders and the illegal possession of weapons, and another of the executed Kuwaitis was convicted of “perpetrating a crime”, illegal possession of weapons, drinking in public and drunk driving.

The third Kuwaiti was sentenced for premeditated murder, while the Kuwaiti woman was also convicted of premeditated murder and the illegal possession of weapons.

As for the Syrian man, he was sentenced to kidnapping, murder, and robbery, while the Pakistani man was convicted of murder and adultery, and the Ethiopian woman was convicted of murder.

The executions — the first to be carried out by Kuwaiti authorities since 2017 — were condemned by the European Union’s (EU) External Action Service, which stated that they “coincide with the visit of European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas to the country”.

It stressed that “Human Rights issues are at the heart of the EU’s internal and external relations and directly affect all our policies. The EU will continue to raise its concerns in this regard with Kuwait at all levels, starting with the Human Rights dialogue scheduled for next week.”

It reiterated that the EU “strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances,” calling it “a cruel and inhuman punishment that does not work as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.”