Kuwait

2011-02-18 #Kuwait stateless arabs protest for citizenship - 30 wounded

Update: Saturday, February 19 Reuters has reported 30 people wounded and 50 arrested after yesterday's protests below. Seven of the wounded were security forces.


Youtube videos are posted of an estimated 1000 stateless Arabs protesting in Jahra, demanding citizenship. Police attacked with guns and water and reportedly arrested dozens.

Previously on WL Central:
2011-02-14 Kuwait Shaikh Jaber, investigated for death by torture, in the state cables - protests on March 8

2011-02-14 Kuwait Shaikh Jaber, investigated for death by torture, in the state cables - protests on March 8

ImageTwitter and Gulf News reported a Kuwaiti group called Fifth Fence (AlSour AlKhamis) using Twitter to attempt to organize a mass rally outside parliament on February 8. That protest has since been rescheduled to March 8. "We at the Fifth Fence call on the Kuwaiti people to assemble at parliament ... on Tuesday at 11am (0800 GMT) to press for our legitimate right of holding sessions and to declare our rejection of the continuity of this government and its undemocratic practices." the group wrote, inviting opposition MPs to join them.

The protests were, by some accounts, related to an investigation into Minister of the Interior Shaikh Jaber al-Khalid Al Sabah about the death by torture of a 35 year old Kuwaiti citizen, Mohammad Gazzai Al Mutairi, at a police station after he was arrested for possessing alcohol. The government and parliament postponed sessions for six weeks which was described as unconstitutional by the opposition. The death occurred on January 11 after six days of torture, and resulted in the arrest of sixteen policemen and the resignation of the Shaikh Jaber, a member of the family that has ruled Kuwait since 1756, but the cabinet asked Jaber to stay on.

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