Full discussions of the issue have been delayed until December.

GCC civil society groups have requested that their governments postpone the move and engage their people through a referendum. Iran has called for rallies against the proposed union of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain which it describes as an annexation of Bahrain (and its comments were in turn protested by Bahrain).

Across the Gulf concern has been expressed regarding the plans for a union.

GCC states. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Aiyah Saihati, a Saudi blogger and entrepreneur, slammed the plan:

Saudi’s attempt to create a union for the purpose of countering Iran, which is not a threat, is only to enhance the sectarian narrative. Shifting the narrative from democratization to a sectarian frame changes how potential protests in the country are handled. The smaller countries with denser resources are ahead of Saudi in some of aspects of development and already have partially and soon fully elected parliaments. Uniting with Saudi just means inheriting its dogmas and problems. It means diluting dense resources over a larger more problematic constituency as well as diluting power per square area if one considers the total area governed by Al-Saud. If I were Qatar, why would I dive in?

Kuwaiti Ghassan El-Wagayan tweeted:

@Ghassanw: Thank you but NOOOOOO thank you

In Bahrain, Ali Al Saeed asked:

@alialsaeed: Oh no, women drive in #Bahrain? How can there be a union with #saudi? Ban female drivers?! #GCCunion

Kuwaiti Mishal Al Mutire expressed his concerns:

Bahraini journalist Wafa Alamm wrote:

Journalist Mohammad Albaghli questioned the feasibility of the move:

Madawi Al Rasheed, a Saudi professor of social anthropology, tweeted:

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On Wednesday 4 April, a flood of pictures went on Twitter as people expressed themselves variously with candles using the hashtag #شمعة_حرية_وأمل meaning “a candle of freedom and hope”.

Here are some of the pictures shared:

Picture posted by @m_mubher has a line by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: We do what the prisoners and the unemployed do; we grow hope.

Two Bedoon students in Jordan write "Bedoon" (without) using candles (posted by @alenazi90)

Posted by @mohammedalouda

"Group 29", a group of Kuwaiti activists focused on Bedoon rights, took this picture in support (posted by @al29ela)

Three girls holding "Until when will we remain stateless?" (posted by @7MODQ8)

Bedoon woman @mayar114 posted this picture saying "Give me my freedom"

The following two pictures were sent to blogger 7anthala:

Picture of the article concerning equality in Kuwait's constitution, with candles

"Not allowed to travel" with the campaign's hashtag

This is a video of a candle being lit by the beach, uploaded by user arzag1:

And a video of candles and a sign next to a cellphone playing a video of a Bedoon protest, uploaded by user fal3nze:

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This week, after interrogating a Twitter user for a hashtag, Twitter was stormed by the tweets of Hamad Al-Naqi, a young Shiite Kuwaiti man who is known for his support to the Bahraini revolution. Al-Naqi was accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed and one of his wives, Ayesha.

He denied the accusations but was arrested and an investigation is being conducted as he serves a pre-trial detention, a law that has been under criticism as it allows the public prosecution to keep one in detention for weeks without access to trial. He said that his account has been hacked and that he is a religious person who would never insult the Prophet.

Although the tweet can be seen as an attack on Islam, the Sunnis dealt with it as a Shia attack on Sunni Islam. On Wednesday, Kuwaitis protested in Erada Square by the parliament against Al-Naqi and called for his death while burning the Iranian flag [video] to indicate that Shia are only loyal to Iran religiously and politically.

Kuwait's interior ministry said those who burned the flag will be questioned as the country cares for its relationship with the Iranian Islamic Republic. The tweets were deleted from Al-Naqi's timeline but this is a screenshot of the major controversial tweet circulating on Twitter and other websites. It reads:

Never seen a prophet who doesn't feel ashamed of God but of the stinky Othman [companion of the Prophet] and doing porn movies with Ayesha.

Posted by @sharekdossary

Thousands of tweets from all over the Gulf countries cursed, insulted, and asked for the death of Al-Naqi. Many of those offenders did not care about the tweet made by a hacker through Al-Naqi's account that says: “Thanks to Allah we have controlled this account and this will be the beginning of the end for Shia.. your brother: the defeater of Shia @Al5aTab”:

Tweeted by Kuwaiti blogger @freejsaud

The following tweet was one of the most retweeted. Until the time of writing this post, it was retweeted more than 800 times:

However, the whole story does not make sense. When following news and tweets, some claim that another account was made with the same bio and picture to tweet the insults and others say it was hacked. When looking at his account, both the insults and the hacker's message do not exist. Al-Naqi tweeted two days ago:

In this video (uploaded by zoominalwatan), Kuwaiti protesters scream “we want no law, we want him killed”:

So far, many members of parliament made statements against Al-Naqi and asked for a ‘heavy punishment' for anyone offending God and the Prophet. More than 30 (out of the sum of 50) MPs spoke against Al-Naqi, and in this video, Islamist MP and former professor of Kuwait University Dr Faisal Al-Musalam announces in a Press conference that a law will be proposed in Kuwait to punish anyone insulting the Prophet with a death sentence or life imprisonment:

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Some Twitter users are claiming that a writer is responsible for the hash tag, with many circulating a screen shot of the tweet, which many felt insulted the country's ruler, and which is no longer available in the writer's timeline.

The ‘insult' arose because the Emir, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, is said to have had a pacemaker, which is operated by a battery.

Meanwhile, the concerned writer Mohammed AlAjmi, doesn't deny or confirm starting it and posts tweets like [ar]:

and:

While many thought of the original battery tweet as an insult to the Emir of Kuwait, a crime punishable by Kuwaiti law, the hash-tag quickly become popular among a very small minority of users who seemed to agree with the message. Meanwhile, the majority of Twitter users turned the incident into a witch hunt, calling for the imprisonment of those who dared insult the ruler.

Abdullwahab AlEssa, a television presenter, tweeted:

AbdulAziz AlYahya, a lawyer and CEO of a private television channel, added:

Husain AlAbdullah, another lawyer and a journalist, wrote:

Finally, Hamad AlNaqi, who defines himself as a member of Amnesty International and a defender of Bahraini people, said:

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The artist tweeted in shock on the 5th of March when the incident happened saying:

@shurooqamin: They want to take down the #paintings! #art #censorship #kuwait

Over the past few days, an influx of tweets poured in, in support of the painter using the hashtag #painttofreedom. In comment on the allegations against the paintings being ‘immoral and pornographic', a Kuwaiti Twitter user wrote:

@AladdinsWife: If you don't know the definition of pornography it's not our problem! look it up in a damn dictionary!

Artwork by Kuwaiti Mohammed Sharaf against censorship

Shahd Alshammari added:

@ShahdAlshammari: This is so disappointing, when art is sentenced to death.

In an interview with Al-Qabas newspaper, Amin attacked censorship in Kuwait saying the men who closed down her show interpreted the paintings the way they wanted, saying they were disrespectful of the society's tradition and took them down. Al-Qabas indicated that this might be the first incident of its kind in the history of Kuwait. Also, the Kuwaiti leftist movement published a statement online to express their rejection to what they called ‘governmental guardianship over art.'

Meanwhile, columnist and Kuwait university professor Suad Al Mojel (@suadalmojel) tweeted [ar]:

Also, blogger Abrar AlShammari wrote a post entitled “Paint to Freedom”:

We can’t find proper books in our own country anymore, now with Virgin being shut down and all the good writers banned in the other bookstores. Our movies are censored, and instead we’re fed a bunch of media advertisements to turn us into consumerist robots during those 15 minutes that the cinema had cut out. Our writings are censored, it’s inappropriate to write about love and inappropriate to address the endless issues our society is facing. How does denial help anyone? Why is it believed that if we pretend a problem doesn’t exist, it’ll go away? It only gets worse the more it’s ignored

AlShammari added:

The intellectuals of the Arab society need to unite to fight censorship and ignorance and regression.

The paintings seemed controversial for some people as they tackle the sex taboo. The exhibition was entitled “It's a man's world” and this was one of the painting deemed as controversial. It was posted on Twitter:

One of Shurooq Amin's paintings, posted by May Al Najjar on Twitter

In reaction to shutting down her exhibition, Amin posted her paintings on her website here.

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Since the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring, that has brought to the forefront the atrocities Arabs face at the hands of their ruling clans, Kuwait's stateless population, which numbers more than 120,000, has been struggling to make its voice heard.

Like protesters across the region, they too, staged rallies and demonstrations to draw attention to their condition. Known as Bedoon, which translates to ‘without', stateless Kuwaitis are generations of people without a nationality or the passports and documents we all need to identify ourselves. Thereby, they have no access to education, health care, employment and recognition in the country they, their parents and sometimes even their grandparents, were born in but where they have no citizenship or rights.

The new Bedoon Rights blog: Hightling the stuggle of Kuwait's stateless population

One stateless Kuwaiti blogger, Mona Kareem (a Global Voices author), has taken their plight online through a new blog, entitled Bedoon Rights, which has been launched to draw attention to the plight of this significant number of people residing in Kuwait. The site contains information and articles in English, tackling news and views regarding the Bedoon.

According to the Bedoon Rights About Page:

There are at least 120,000 Bidun jinsiyya (without nationality) in Kuwait today suffering from the lack of human rights. They cannot legally obtain birth, death, marriage or divorce certificates. The same applies to driving licenses, identification cards, and passports. They do not have access to public education, health care, housing or employment. And while they face some of the state’s harshest discrimination policies, they have no recourse to the law and its courts. Simply stated, the Bidun, who are equal to about 10% of the Kuwaiti population, do not exist. They have been dehumanized and rendered invisible by government policies coupled with pervasive social stigmatization.

It continues:

This network comes as a necessity due to the lack of references in English about our cause and struggle. Stateless activists and protesters in the past few years have been harassed, arrested, mistreated, and put to trials for speaking up. The network makes sure newsletters are sent regularly to organizations and media to inform them of the situation and violations of Bedoon human rights.

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

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Today, 3 February, 2012, Kuwait will hold its parliamentary elections divided by five electoral districts, a system that was only passed in 2006 in response to blogger-led protests.

At the beginning of December 2011, two year-long protests previous led to the replacement of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Mohammed with his cousin Jaber Al-Mubarak and to the dissolution of the parliament for the fourth time since Al-Mohammed was first appointed. Since then, candidates have been working their ways towards reaching voters.

Tribal rage

Mohammed Al-Juwaihel, a candidate who tried his luck last elections but was removed for bribing voters, has always been a controversial person in Kuwaiti society. He went on television several years ago lunching an attack on those who have dual citizenship, comparing them to a sort of parasitic plant with no loyalty to the country, who should be stripped off their Kuwaiti citizenship.

He has also used the same language with the Kuwaiti stateless Bidun community and attacked certain Kuwaiti tribes, some of whom in response have attacked him in return.

On Monday 30 January, Al-Juwaihel gave another speech insulting one of the tribes, Al Mutair, saying he “will step on them”. After his speech, hundreds of Al Mutair tribes people went to his election tent hub in the Al-idailiya area, chanting, ripping up the posters depicting his slogan “Kuwait is for Kuwaitis.. only”, and at last burning the tent.

In this video uploaded to YouTube by yasoo1985, one can see the attack on Al-Juwaihel's center, with tribesmen setting it on fire, celebrating and chanting with threats:

Pictures uploaded by Flickr user Yasoo85, show the crowd as they burn the center.

A picture uploaded to Twitter by @Abd_Rashed also shows the center on fire, from another angle:

Election tent burning in Kuwait. Image by Twitter user @Abd_Rashed

This picture, posted on Twitter by @hwazn, shows a security guard bleeding during the events:

Injured security guard by Twitter user @hwazn

This picture (uploaded by a Twitter parody account @Murad_ALm9ri) shows the center the following morning:

Election tent the morning after. Image uploaded by @Murad_ALm9ri

The following day, some citizens showed support to Al-Juwaihel by leaving flowers near the burned center (image uploaded by Twitter user @Nasser_Aleidan):

Image by Twitter user @Nasser_Aleidan

Attacks on media

On Tuesday, the tribesmen were not satisfied with their Monday attack and headed to scope TV channel to try to break in; they failed after being blocked by security guards. The crowd of protestors were upset that the television station broadcast Al-Juwaihel's insulting speech against their tribe.

Afterwards, they tried to attack another station, Al-Watan, as it was hosting two election candidates in a debate. One of the candidates, named Nabeel Al-Fadil, uses the same discriminatory approach as Al-Juwaihel.

The station stopped the debate but that did not hold the crowd back and the attack led to 15 injuries among security guards, according to local newspapers, and three injured journalists - Yousif Al-Mutairi from Al-Qabas newspaper, Mohammed Al-Sharhan Al-Jarida (who was previously attacked by security and detained during stateless protests) and a photojournalist from Al-Seyassah newspaper.

Here is a clear picture of crowds standing in front of Al-Watan TV, taken from Al-Qabas:

Image by alqabas.com

This picture shows the car of candidate Nabil Al-Fadil, after being smashed in by the enraged crowd:

Image uploaded to Twitter by @AhmedMAlMutairi

Vote For Kuwait

Since the parliament was dissolved, many Kuwaitis have relied on Twitter to discuss their choices or to promote certain candidates. Last elections, Facebook played a big role in elections campaigns, but in this round, Twitter is playing the essential role as it transports faster and reaches a wider audience.

Last November 2011, a group of civil rights advocates named ‘South Al-Kuwait' (The Voice of Kuwait) started a campaign to promote awareness about the national constitution and what rights it guarantees to protect one from discrimination and injustice. For the current elections, the group made the following video to promote their campaign ‘tafreg' (it differs) to encourage people to vote and help make a difference:

A week ago, a group of actors created short videos entitled ‘Sheno ya3ni TV‘ that make fun of election candidates and their deception or shallowness. Some of the videos are directly made about certain candidates. In this video, for example, they make fun of a particular female candidate who does not have a clue about politics and only cares about her expensive clothes:

While this video shows Nizar Al-Qandi playing the typical candidate who is running for elections to gain more power and money:

Another campaign was launched to call on people to monitor elections and not allow violations:

To get the latest updates on Kuwait's elections, follow the hashtag #ommah2012

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

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Protests

2011 was a year of popular uprisings. The end of the year is no different than the past months, with fed up people turning to the streets in their hope to get their voices heard and make a difference.

Middle East- North Africa

Kuwait: Stateless Protesters Attacked for Demanding Rights
Police attacked stateless protesters in Kuwait, who were demanding their rights to documents, education, healthcare, employment and naturalization.

Egypt: Women Against SCAF - Who Wins?

Egyptians are outraged at the Supreme Council for Armed Forces continuing brutality and abuse against women; this time they beat and in the process, undressed a veiled female protester, an action which was caught on video.

Egypt: Women Rally for Dignity

A couple of days after the events on the previous video, women marched in Cairo protesting against the abuses to women and also called for the fall of military rule as told in Bahrain: A Bloody National Day, a Funeral and More Suppression.

Iran: Where Is My Classmate?

A student campaign was launched on December 7 to remember all those students who have been unable to return to Iran's universities due to religious or political reasons: some banned, others expelled, some in prison and some of them were killed on the streets. Support from other places in the world was shown through videos to remember the departed and repressed students. This video was sent in from Barcelona, Spain.

Saudi Arabia: Netizens Use Online Activism to Draw Attention to Qatif Protests

The month of November marked the return of protests to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in 2011, as the people of Qatif took to the streets to demand reforms, equality, the release of their detainees, and political freedom as many of their slogans and chants have expressed. So far, four protesters have been shot dead by security forces as a result.

Occupy Protests Worldwide

See special coverage page.

USA: Uncertain Future of Student Occupy Movement in California

After the pepper spray incident and video, the University of California's participation in the worldwide Occupy movement gained media attention. They are protesting against a 40% enrollment free increase, the high interest rates for student loans and the decreased availability of state financial aid.

Bahrain: #OccupyBudaiyaSt Continues

Peaceful protesters in Bahrain who are pressuring the government to release political prisoners and pay tribute to the more than 40 people killed by security forces since February have been faced with police attacks, brutality, tear gas, and rubber bullets. This comes after police were caught on different videos brutalizing 25 protesters on a roof with batons and knives.

Philippines: “Occupy” Protests Overcome Police Brutality

Highlighting the theme “sawang-sawa na tayo (we are fed up),” the campout protest tackled a broad range of issues from the Aquino administration's budget cuts for education and social services, nonstop oil and basic commodities price hikes, land reform, migrant issues, urban poor demolitions, and persistent human rights violations.

Elections

Electoral unrest has also motivated thousands out into the streets. In Russia the result reporting more than 140% of voters has already become a meme. And although the Congolese diaspora was unable to vote, they made sure to get their voices heard by the world.

Eastern and Central Europe

With the elections in Russia, online video has proven a useful tool in documenting electoral violations such as disappearing ink pens, paid voters and inflated turnouts as well as the later post electoral protests. Posts like Russia: No Violation of Election Violations and Russia: Second Day of Post-Election Protests explain the motives behind the protests such as election results, blogger arrests and also the clashes with anti-activists groups recruited and shipped into Moscow from other regions to demonstrate support for Vladimir Putin. An example of the electoral violations is the use of erasable pens left in voting booths:

Subsaharan Africa

D.R. of Congo: Congolese Diaspora Erupts Against Kabila

The Congolese nationals based outside the Congo demonstrated in front of embassies in several different countries. Although they weren't granted the possibility to vote in the past presidential and parliamentary elections, they protested to bring awareness to the situation in their country and in some cases to protest the results of the elections and to demand the departure of President Kabila. International governments have already approached the Congolese government to intercede and stop the violence in their capitals.

Culture

Is culture found in the traditions handed down through generations or is it found in the behaviors and activities which get adopted and followed by the population? In Mexico, children are growing up believing they are less because of their skin color. In Cuba, very popular but sexually explicit music gets censored, and in Trinidad, a religious Shia Muslim commemoration has in turn become a festival.

Latin America

Mexico: The Results of a Racism Experiment with Children

These children demonstrate how pervasive racism has become in Mexico. All that was needed was a pair of dolls, one light skinned and one dark for children to express how they felt the whiter doll was better, even if they identified more with the dark-skinned one.

Caribbean

Ashura Commemorations Around the World

The Shia Muslim commemoration of Ashura takes place in many places around the world. In Trinidad and Tobago it has transformed into the festival of Hosay and the ritual is shared with Sunnis, Hindus and Afro-Trinidadians.

Cuba: Reggaeton Hit ‘Chupi Chupi' Denounced by Authorities

A popular reggaeton song which sings explicitly about oral sex has been denounced as obscene by the authorities in Cuba. The debate on censorship has moved online where people debate on the song's merits as part of the actual culture of the island, whether people like it or not, and the impact the authorities comments will have on the songs popularity.

Global Voices Online

I would like to thank you for reading and supporting our work, thanks to which we can bring you these and other stories. Please take a second to read about our new fundraising campaign which comes with a lovely video:

Global Voices is a volunteer community of over 500 writers, translators, and digital media activists who bring you underreported stories and conversations from around the world. Watch our new video highlighting images and quotations from some of our supporters:

The video is also available in multiple languages.

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Since hundreds of Kuwait's 100,000 strong Bidoun were attacked by police for protesting in support of others detained earlier in the year, a number of bloggers and international organizations have been stepping up their support for the stateless people in the hope of drawing attention to their plight. The United Nations, for example, launched its own campaign to end the ‘limbo” facing stateless people in August.

Bidoun may be lacking certain legal documents or may have failed to register as citizens when Kuwait became independent in 1961.

“Apart from the misery caused to the people themselves, the effect of marginalizing whole groups of people across generations creates great stress in the societies they live in and is sometimes a source of conflict,” Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was quoted as saying in reference to the Bidoun.

Since then, many have also paid tribute to Bidoun activist; Refugees International reports that Global Voices Author Mona Kareem recently spoke at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC:

[…] it was the testimony of three female statelessness advocates that most moved participants. Mona Kareem, a member of Kuwait's stateless bidoun community, told the audience that despite the hardships she had faced because of her status - harassment, legal troubles, travel restrictions - she was “the luckiest of my community.”

“Many of my friends could only hope to marry a good husband,” who might provide them with Kuwaiti citizenship, “or for death to take them away by committing suicide.” She added, “None of them have hope. None of them even use the word ‘hope'. Bidoun women have to confront both the conservatism of their community and the injustice of their country.”

Image from International Calamity: Human Rights Policy Tumblr

The IbishBlog went further by not only interviewing Kareem, but also by praising her use of Twitter to draw attention to the issue:

One of the most interesting people I've come to know through Twitter is Mona Kareem, a poet, journalist, blogger and tweep who also happens to be bidoun jinsiya - “without citizenship” - from Kuwait. First, it's almost impossible to follow events in Kuwait quickly and efficiently in English — and in many cases at all — without consulting her Twitter feed (@monakareem), which does the work of 20 typical Middle East journalists. I'd go so far as to call it indispensable. More significantly, through her tweets and blogs she's introduced me, and I'm sure a lot of other people, to not only up-to-date information but background details on an issue we either didn't know about or, in my case, knew about only very vaguely: the plight of the stateless of Kuwait. […]

Given this extraordinary combination, I sought out the opportunity to interview Mona in person […] about a variety of issues, particularly that of the bidoun in Kuwait, Kuwaiti politics, and the tweeting and blogging scene in her country. […] It began in a most extraordinary manner: she showed me some documents, the like of which I've never seen before. First, there was her silver Kuwaiti travel document, as opposed to the normal blue Kuwaiti passports issued to citizens, which literally identified her as an “illegal resident” of the country. The visas in it were equally interesting, and in some cases almost as horrifying. […] I'm used to seeing the “travel documents,” “permits,” “IDs,” and other inherently insulting documents issued by some Arab states to Palestinian refugees, particularly those in Lebanon. But I've never seen these, and in themselves they told quite a horrifying story.

And, as I write, today the bidoun in Kuwait are again protesting, and again facing not only severe repression which is not meted to out those deemed “citizens” by the Kuwaiti government, but also facing the added insult of continuously having to show their IDs since protesting is, as she points out, a “right” at best reserved for Kuwaiti “citizens.” It's all being barely covered by the media, particularly in English, but this ongoing outrage deserves serious consideration by all of those who care about human rights, particularly in the Arab world. In Mona, the stateless of Kuwait have, as you'll quickly note, a remarkable young advocate.

Refugees International has also been active on Twitter and this week published an eye witness account of the attack on Bidoun protesters on their blog:

We sat down on the ground, with our backs to the police force. There were at least 30 vehicles from the police and Kuwait intelligence force - more than I have ever seen before.

They attacked us without any notice. Some of us stayed where we were, while the rest ran away. I ran away with my friends, and the police force were followed us into the residential area, in between the houses. I ran for almost eight kilometers and was followed by dark-colored GMC Yukon cars.

They arrested and beat many of those who remained at the protest site, and used cattle prods, smoke bombs, tear gas, and hot water cannons against them.

Another major issue was that they refused to send the injured to the hospital only few steps away. Instead, they sent them to the police hospital in order to cover up their mess.

The issue, of course, is not new and activists such as Kareem and others have raised the problem of statelessness before, but in June 2011, Global Voices reported on how Bidoun and their supporters were increasingly turning to social media to advance their demands for citizenship rights. Mona Kareem can be followed on Twitter at @monakareem while Refugees International is at @RefugeesIntl.

Kareem's most recent post for Global Voices on this week's dispersal of a Bidoun protest in Kuwait is here.

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

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There are more than 100,000 stateless in Kuwait struggling to have the rights to documents, education, health care, employment, and most importantly naturalization. Back in February and March, hundreds of them took to the streets to demonstrate for those rights, where they faced police brutality and arrests.

This month, after the replacement of Kuwait's Prime Minister, following public pressure due to protests, Kuwait's stateless population felt more encouraged to protest again. Last week, there were several small protests in reaction to the trials of protesters. On Friday, the protest led to the arrest of 20 men, later released on Sunday.

On Monday, a bigger protest took place in Taimaa, where protesters gathered, in which police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, and smoke bombs to disperse them. Later on in the evening, Kuwaitis wanted to protest side by side with the stateless for their rights in front of the parliament, but security forces decided to not let anyone inside the Erada Square, unless they showed a valid civil ID card, which proved they were citizens.

Monday also marked the arrest of around 30 men who entered a hunger strike on that same day. I tried to cover the protest through Twitter, translating the observations of activists on the ground, tweeting in Arabic.

Here is a run down of some of what happened on Monday.

@monakareem: Activist @NawafAlbader says #Kuwait riot police using rubber bullets, smoke bombs, & water cannons against (est. 500) #stateless protesters

@monakareem: Activist @NawafAlbader says security is using dirty discriminatory language with #stateless protesters & chasing them between houses

Rubber bullets and smoke bombs used against stateless protesters in Kuwait. Photo credit: Shared by @tayartaqadomi on Twitter

Stateless protesters get water-cannoned. Photo shared by KhalefaAlwatan on Twitter.

Protesters marching towards Freedom Square in Taima. Photo shared by @al_saher_666 on Twitter.

Marks of rubber bullets on the back of a stateless protester, who was earlier arrested. Photo shared by @m_f7 on mobypicture.

Kuwaiti citizens lashed out at the treatment of their stateless brethren. Ali Al Saibie tweets:

@AlSaibie: I'm Kuwaiti & I refuse to see ANYone oppressed or disrespected in my country. This is a land of freedom & dignity.

Despite this sentiment, shown by many Kuwaitis, the crackdown continued:

A stateless protester getting arrested. Photo shared by @Alshee3ly78 on Twitter

Security vehicles in Taimaa. Photo shared by @althuwaini on Twitter

Leftist political group “The Progressive Movement” was present to cover the protest and reported violations [ar]:

Kuwaiti activist Khaled Al-Fadala was one of the few citizens who went to Taimaa to protest and tried to help. He reported through Twitter [ar]:

Security forces attempting to block entrances between houses. Photo shared on Twitter by @fares_albalhan

On Twitter, @nashmiq8 posted this photograph saying it is tear gas. Others said it is more likely to be a smoke bomb.

Protesters marching. Photograph shared on twitpic by @nashmiq8

On Twitter, @faisalalmana shares this photograph showing the arrest of Al-sabah TV correspondent

Moe Qasem reacts:

@MoeQasem: the attack was savage n cruel! Even animals won't be treated like that! Special forces would literally say: move u shit !

Others shared videos they took at the protests. Among them is Althuwaini, who tweets a video he took of the attack on the stateless protesters:

@althuwaini Storming #Bidun protesters in video yfrog.us/28uhsbz

This video (uploaded by Fares AlBalhan) shows the security attack on protesters:

While this video footage (uploaded by a stateless netizen nicknamed 7mgan) puts together different scenes from police attack on protesters:

Other netizens shared still photographs of the attack. Here are some of them:

The attack by security forces begins. Photo credit: @bodalal2, shared on Twitter

Hot water cannons used on protesters. Photo credit: @bodalal2, posted on Twitter

Stateless protester trying to stop forces from attacking the protesters. Photo credit: @bodalal2, shared on Twitter

A close up shot of protesters getting doused with water by riot police using water cannons. Photo credit: @Mohd_AlSalem, shared on Twitter

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

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From Right: Kuwait's New Prime Minister, Head of Parliament, and Resigned Prime Minister

Political tension has reached its peak in Kuwait after protesters stormed the parliament more than two weeks ago. More than 20 of those who took part in the action were arrested or have handed themselves in to the public prosecution in solidarity with those arrested. The Cabinet then resigned a day before thousands protested last Monday in Erada Square, demanding the release of detainees and the departure of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed, who is accused of corruption. At last, by the end of November, the Amir of Kuwait chose not to reappoint Sheikh Nasser for the eighth time and instead appointed the resigned defense minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak as the new prime minister; a decision that was welcomed with feelings of victory on one side and with worries and disappointment over the appointment of Al-Mubarak, on the other side.

Detainees Hunger-Strike

The 31 detainees

On the 25th of November, those detained for storming the parliament entered a hunger strike protesting the refusal of public prosecution to let them be bailed out until their trial dates. The author of this post has published the English version of the detainees' statement regarding their hunger strike which lasted for five days. On December 1, the detainees were bailed out after the appointment of the new prime minister. In the statement, the detainees listed six points to explain their decision:

First: Fixed and false accusations have been charged against all, reaching up to 13 charges to some detainees that could carry a total of lifetime sentences.
Second: 14 different detainees have been accused of stealing the same parliamentary gavel belonging to National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi.
Third: We are currently being held in prison cells that lack the most basic human requirements.
Fourth: One of the detainees needing immediate medical attention was transferred to Mubarak Hospital cuffed by hands and feet, as a provocative act by officials.
Fifth: Our attempts in trying to contact family members has been denied keeping us cut off from any news about them and their situation.
Finally, since the interrogation has already been completed by public prosecutors, and since we are accused and not convicted, and since we are Kuwaiti citizens having no reason to flee, and since we willingly and voluntarily turned ourselves in, we declare that it is unlawful and cruel to deny us bail, therefore we announce the start of a hunger strike.

As detainees were on hunger strike, people gathered in front of the court (Justice Palace) for several days demanding their release. In the sit-in, protesters carried a huge hammer in a sarcastic gesture against the head of parliament Jassim Al-Khurafi who submitted a complaint against those who stormed the parliament accusing them of stealing his hammer.

Monday Erada Protest

Last Monday, the day after the cabinet submitted its resignation, thousands gathered in Erada Square to demand the release of the detainees and the departure of the Prime Minister. Through Twitter, there were four groups responding to this protest:
1) A group that already protested against storming the parliament and in favor of the government.
2) The ‘grey' group that refused to protest as the event was led by those they saw as corrupt and fundamental opposition MPs.
3) The ‘orange' group that used the hash tag #3an_nafsi (on my behalf) to state that their refusal to let those MPs represent them, yet they will protest for the freedom of the detainees.
4) The ‘yellow' group which included people who have been protesting against the prime minister despite the crowd attending or leading it. It also included people who sympathized with detainees and wanted to leave politics aside until they get released.

Kuwaiti tweep Danah Taqi designed this avatar for the orange group

In comment on Monday's protest, Kuwaiti blogger Dahem Al-Qahtani wrote [ar]:

Another blogger called ‘what's up‘ wrote a post about the rallies in front of the Justice Palace and the one held in Erada Square last Monday [ar]:

The New Prime Minister

After the appointment of the new prime minister, bloggers and Twitter users expressed their opinions about the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Blogger Hamad wrote a post to thank those who have been protesting over the past two years against the resigned prime minister. He emphasized the importance of keeping up the struggle [ar]:

The following video shows the moments the detainees were released on bail, after the appointment of the new prime minister:

Professor of political science Kristin Diwan (@kdiwaniya) wrote in her Twitter account pointing out the value of replacing Kuwait's prime minister:

@kdiwaniya: Replacement of Kuwaiti PM due to popular pressure is a milestone in forcing political accountability in the GCC.

Kuwaiti doctor Fawaz Farhan (@FawazFarhan) actively participated in different protests against the former prime minister and for the freedom of detainees. Despite being secular, Farhan attended political rallies against the prime minister despite the fact some of them were led by Islamist or conservative members of the parliament, a number of them accused of corruption. He refuses their acts and criticizes liberals as well and their absence in the late political scene but at the same does not mind Islamist presence if brought by ballots.

Hamad Aljudai (@hamadmj) is one more young man who protested against the prime minister. He wrote many comments about the way he sees this developing and in one of his tweets, he talked about the clash inside the ruling family:

Abdullah Alsadoun (@AbdullahAlsadon) stated the obvious regarding the appointment of Al-Mubarak as the new prime minister of Kuwait:

Columnist Ahmad Al Essa (@ahmadaleisa) was one of those who formed the ‘grey' group refusing to participate in protests led by corrupt opposition figures. He comments on “the new era” saying:

Lawyer Bassam Alasousi (@Bassam_Alasousi) was also from the grey group and he was critical of the confusion that liberal politicians had in the past days. Alasousi believes the winner from all of this is Muslim Brotherhood, as he wrote in criticism and sarcasm:

Written by Mona Kareem · comments (3)
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Before protests began in Tunisia and Egypt, there were clashes in Kuwait in December 2010 between the parliament and the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, when some MPs were beaten by anti-riot police alongside people attending a political gathering organized in the house of Muslim Brotherhood MP Jimaan Al-Harbish.

MPs subsequently demanded the opportunity to quiz the prime minister and his ministers on charges of corruption; the cabinet resigned, and the prime minister was reappointed for the seventh time since he was first appointed five years ago.

Youth call for protests

After the Arab Spring, calls for protests in Kuwait started in March 2011 and around 1,000 protesters showed up, alongside politicians and MPs, to demand the departure of Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah whom they accuse of corruption.

Recently, the prime minister went to the Constitutional Court to get a valid decision that rules out any quizzing by MPs over accusations of bribery. Opposition members have also been accused of getting bribed or controlled by other figures such as ruling family members, who are battling with the current prime minister to win his chair.

This political wrangling has pushed the country's young people many times to try to organize themselves into a public movement demanding reforms and the resignation of Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah; however, some parliament members keep showing up to these protests in an attempt to take credit, chant, make statements, and lead the crowds to enforce their own agendas.

Storming the National Assembly

On 16 November, Kuwaiti youth who were just starting to camp in the capital Kuwait City's Erada Square in front of the National Assembly - enraged by what the prime minister did to run away from getting questioned - decided to protest in the square to once again demand his departure.

MPs showed up as usual and gave speeches, but when security forces tried to stop one of them from speaking, the situation escalated and clashes began with security forces that caused some injuries. Suddenly, the crowd decided to storm the National Assembly in an attempt to reclaim the parliament, which is referred to by the Kuwaiti constitution as “the house of the people.”

Here are pictures and videos of the event as tweeted by several protesters.

Clashes between protesters and security guards:

Image posted by @AbdullahBoftain on Twitpic

Protesters in the National Assembly's main hall (Abdullah Al-Salem Hall) standing over tables and chairs and chanting that “this their house and they have taken it back”:

Image posted by @waleed_bokubar on Twitpic

One of the protesters on the ground after clashes with security forces:

Image posted by 3asalaswad on Yfrog

One of the protesters who got shot with a rubber bullet:

Image posted by Twitter user @ALI_M_ALMUTAIRI

Security officers start to crack down on protesters:

Image posted to Yfrog

Protesters leaving the parliament after storming it:

Image posted by Twitter user @ALI_M_ALMUTAIRI

7eyad news service posted this video to YouTube, which shows protesters singing “Leave, Leave, Leave” by the gate of the National Assembly:

@Wikileaks_q8 posted this video on twitter of protesters chanting “The people want to topple the president [the prime minister]”:

Sultan Al-Jazzaf (@sjazzaf) posted this video of the protesters and MPs after breaking into the National Assembly:

Video footage of different moments of the protest taken from Al-Youm TV which was live broadcasting the events:

Written by Mona Kareem · comments (4)
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Logo of "Sout Al-Kuwait" group

To mark the 49th anniversary of the Kuwaiti constitution, a group of activists decided to remind citizens of the different clauses of the constitution. Under the theme of Tadry [ar] (Did you know?), Sout Al-Kuwait (Voice of Kuwait) produced six videos, each spanning a few seconds, explaining to citizens six select articles from the constitution.

Formed a few years ago by a group of activists and young liberals, Sout Al-Kuwait aims at promoting awareness regarding democracy and civil rights. The group meets regularly and communicates through social media to organize different events geared at targeting a wider audience and educating them about democracy, the constitution and civil rights. Their work comes at an important time as the Kuwaiti political sphere gets more and more tense as the parliament continues to clash with the prime minister.

On the 11/11/2011, Kuwait celebrated the 49th anniversary of its constitution which was the first constitution in the Gulf region, alongside its parliament that came to life as the first parliament in the GCC back in 1963.

Sout Al-Kuwait's team independently worked on producing the following videos, which have all been uploaded to YouTube, to commemorate the occasion.

The first video explains Article 29, which states: “All people are equal in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction to race, origin, language, or religion.”

The second video focuses on Article 17, which stipulates: “Public property is inviolable and its protection is the duty of every citizen.”

The third tackles Article 33, which states that: “Punishment is personal.” It explains: “Did you know that if your neighbour is a thief, his son should not be punished for his crime.”

Article 35 is the focus of the fourth video. It says: “Freedom of belief is absolute. The State protects the freedom of practicing religion in accordance with established customs, provided that it does not conflict with public policy or morals.”

The fifth video focuses on Article 44, which says: “Individuals have the right of private assembly without permission or prior notification, and the police may not attend such private meetings. Public meetings, demonstrations, and gatherings are permitted in accordance with the conditions and manner specified by law.”

And the last video pays attention to Article 48, which reads: “Payment of taxes and public fees is a duty in accordance with the law which regulates exemption of small incomes from taxes in such a way as to maintain the minimum standard of living.”

Written by Mona Kareem · comments (2)
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