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| Triple execution in Kuwait in April 2013 |
Shaikh Faisal Al Abdullah Al Sabah was sentenced to death for the murder of his nephew
Kuwait on Wednesday executed seven convicts in the Central Prison, a Public Prosecution spokesperson said.
The convicts, two Kuwaitis (Shaikh Faisal Al Abdullah Al Sabah and Nasra Al Enezi), two Egyptians, a Bangladeshi, a Filipina, and an Ethiopian, were found guilty in cases of premeditated murder, rape or theft and were hanged in application of the verdicts pronounced by courts and upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation and endorsed by the Emir, the spokesperson added, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.
The convicts were allowed final visits on Tuesday by relatives in the cases of the Kuwaitis and by representatives from their diplomatic missions for the foreigners,
Shaikh Faisal was sentenced to death in October 2011 after the Criminal Court found him guilty of the murder of his nephew Shaikh Basil Salem Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah.
Shaikh Faisal, who worked as a captain in the Kuwaiti army, had gone in June 2010 to visit Shaikh Basil at the Maseelah palace owned by the late Emir. The two princes were sitting together with other people, when the alleged killer told his nephew that he wanted to speak with him in private.
The two princes left the main room and, seconds later, guests heard shots. Upon entering the room, they found Shaikh Basil wounded and promptly took him to Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital where he was declared dead.
Medical staff said that the prince had been shot several times at close range. The police arrested the alleged killer and started an investigation into the case.
Shaikh Basil, 52, is the grandson of Kuwait’s 12th Emir, Shaikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, who ruled from November 24, 1965 until December 31, 1977, and the eldest son of Shaikh Salem Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah and Shaikha Badriya Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah.
His father was Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States, Canada and Venezuela from 1970 until 1975. He held the portfolios of social affairs and labour, interior, defence and foreign affairs until 2001 when he gave up political work on health grounds.
The Kuwaiti authorities had ruled out any political motives behind the murder as Shaikh Basil did not hold an official position with the government.
The death sentence was upheld in 2013.
The Kuwaiti woman, Nasra Al Enezi, was sentenced to death after she set in 2009 a wedding tent in Jahra in the suburbs of Kuwait City ablaze, killing 57 women and children.
Investigations revealed that Nasra, 23 years old at the time, had started the fire in an act of revenge against her husband who was celebrating his marriage with a new wife.
The death sentence was upheld by the Cassation Court in 2011.
The Bangladeshi, Mohammad Shaha Mohammad, was sentenced to death in 2009 for kidnapping, rape and theft in Jahra.
The Filipina,
Jakatia Pawa, was convicted in 2008 of premeditated murder while the Ethiopian was also convicted of murder in 2008.
One Egyptian, Sayyed Radhi Jumaa, was convicted in 2008 for premeditated murder while the other Egyptian, Sameer Taha Abdul Majed, was sentenced to death in 2009 for murder and theft.
Source:
Gulf News, January 25, 2017
Kuwait carries out first executions since 2013 – Reprieve comment
Kuwait has carried out its first executions since 2013, amid a rise in the use of the death penalty throughout the Gulf. The killings come days after another Gulf Kingdom, Bahrain, carried out its first executions since 2010.
According to reports, the authorities in Kuwait executed seven prisoners this morning, breaking a four-year moratorium. The executions follow a recent announcement in Kuwait that the age of eligibility for the death penalty would soon be lowered to 16. The head of juvenile protection at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry, Bader Al Ghadhoori, announced the proposals during a talk warning students about the use of social media and the internet.
The execution of juveniles is illegal under international law. However, in 2016 Saudi Arabia executed several prisoners who were arrested as juveniles. The Saudi authorities executed a total of 154 prisoners last year, nearing the previous year’s record total of 158.
At least three Saudis who were children when they were arrested remain at imminent risk of execution. In Bahrain, there are fears for two men who were sentenced to death after they were arrested in the wake of political protests and tortured into ‘confessions’.
The executions come as the UK seeks closer ties with the Gulf. During a visit to Bahrain last month, Prime Minister Theresa May told Gulf leaders: “We in the UK are determined to continue to be your partner of choice as you embed international norms and see through the reforms which are so essential for all of your people.”
Reprieve has urged the UK, and other governments, to intervene to prevent Kuwait from sentencing juveniles to death; and to take action to stop further executions in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Commenting, Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: "We are witnessing a disastrous resurgence in executions throughout the Gulf – even as the UK claims it is helping to improving human rights in the region. Governments with close Gulf ties – including the UK – must urgently call on Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to halt executions, before more lives are lost.”
Source: Reprieve, January 25, 2017. Reprieve is an international human rights organization.
Kuwait carries out seven executions in deeply alarming setback for human rights
In response to the news that the Kuwaiti authorities have carried out seven executions by hanging this morning for the first time since 2013, Samah Hadid Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International's regional office in Beirut said:
"Today's execution of 7 people - including 5 foreign nationals - is a shocking and deeply regrettable step backwards for Kuwait.
"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.
"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment. Its use cannot be justified under any circumstances. Instead of resuming executions the Kuwaiti authorities should immediately work to review laws relating to the death penalty and establish a moratorium on executions with a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty completely."
Kuwait is state party to 8 international human rights covenants. This is the 2nd group of people to have been executed in the country since 2007, the other occasion being in 2013 when Kuwait carried out the execution of 5 non-Kuwaiti nationals.
The 7 people executed today were:
1- Mohammad Shahed Mohammad Sanwar Hussain, Bangladeshi national
2- Jakatia Midon Pawa, Filipina national
3- Amakeel OoKo Mikunin, Ethiopian national
4- Nasra Youssef Mohammad al-Anzi, Kuwaiti national
5- Sayed Radhi Jumaa, Egyptian national
6- Sameer Taha Abdulmajed Abduljaleel, Egyptian national
7- Faysal Abdullah Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwaiti national
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
Source: Amnesty International, January 25, 2017
➤ Related article:
OFW Jakatia Pawa hanged in Kuwait, January 25, 2017
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