Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Liz Throssell on execution of seven people in Kuwait

The execution of seven people in Kuwait this week is disturbing. According to the authorities, the seven were executed on Wednesday. They included four Kuwaiti nationals – three men and a woman – an Ethiopian woman, a Pakistani man and a man from Syria. 

The executions – the first carried out in the country since 2017 – are a deeply regrettable step backwards by the Kuwaiti authorities, and come just days after a wide majority of States in the UN General Assembly called for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide.

The State of Kuwait is among some 38 countries that continue to implement it. We call on Kuwait to halt all executions, immediately establish a formal moratorium on the use of the death penalty and commute the death sentences against those on death row.

We also urge the Kuwaiti authorities to bring the country’s laws and practices in this area fully into line with international standards.

ENDS