A comparative study of the on the rights of prisoners under international human rights law: the experince of Kuwait
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The present research paper focuses on exploring the rights of prisoners under international human rights law, and in particular, the State of Kuwait and its approach towards prisoners’ human rights. The paper examines a plethora of foundational international and regional human rights instruments such as the UDHR, the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the Geneva Convention, the Arab Charter on Human Rights to showcase firstly, what the international human rights of prisoners are, and secondly, to show how the State of Kuwait has implemented these international human rights into its own domestic system and whether it has set up the required mechanisms to ensure that the rights are adequately enforced. The first very important finding of this research paper is that, even though Kuwaiti law is based on the Islamic Shari’a, meaning it is deeply rooted in religion, this does not mean it is incompatible with international human rights law, nor that it lags behind it. On the contrary, this paper establishes that the rights of prisoners in Kuwait are largely identical to those prescribed by international law. The interview responses from former prisoners show that the Central Prison has made significant efforts to realize the prisoners’ civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as their collective developmental rights. The Central Prison has established various programs to enable prisoners to assemble and study languages or engage in other arts and crafts, which they subsequently found very useful when seeking a new job after serving their sentences. The quality of the food, the conditions of the cells, and the sanitary units further suggest that, despite the limited budget, the Central Prison is working hard to meet at least the minimum internationally prescribed human rights standards.Moreover, what the present study also identified is that the most pressing issues currently experienced in prisons in Kuwait are linked to issues such as overcrowding and a lack of training of prison staff to identify and understand how to effectively communicate with prisoners with mental disabilities. And while the responses of the interviewed former prisoners are largely positive, the author identified several areas of concern linked to mild forms of physical abuse, issues with the Code of Criminal Procedure and its controversial procedures related to the fair trial of prisoners, arbitrary arrests, and detention.
Author: Alenezi, Meshal S Gh
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214510766