A Pakistani, a Syrian, an Ethiopian, four Kuwaitis, and three other prisoners were hanged on Wednesday. Of the seven, two were female.
It was the first hanging since January 25, 2017, when seven other people were also hanged, including a member of the two-and-a-half century-old ruling Al-Sabah dynasty.
Amnesty International, a renowned human rights organisation, demanded that the executions cease on Tuesday, claiming that they were “a violation of the right to life and the ultimate harsh, inhuman, and humiliating punishment” and that Kuwait should “completely” abolish the death sentence
Amna Guellali, deputy regional director for Amnesty International, stated in a statement that “Kuwaiti authorities must immediately declare a formal moratorium on executions.”
In the Gulf region, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the death sentence is frequently used. The largest known mass execution in the contemporary history of the country occurred in March when Saudi Arabia murdered 81 prisoners in a single day.
Since the death penalty was established in Kuwait in the middle of the 1960s, hundreds of people have been put to death, mostly those who had been found guilty of murder or drug trafficking.
In 2013, Kuwaiti authorities hanged three men convicted of murder in April. Two months later, two Egyptians, convicted of murder and abduction, were executed.
