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HRW slams Kuwait’s deportation of 'Egyptian dissidents'

July 17, 2019 at 1:04 am

Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday condemned the Kuwaiti authorities for “unlawfully” returning eight Egyptians for allegedly being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group.

The rights organisation warned that the deported individuals could face “a serious risk of torture and persecution in Egypt,” adding that the deportation was appearing “to violate Kuwait’s obligations under international law.”

On Monday, the Kuwaiti government announced said it had arrested the Egyptian men, claiming that the Egyptian authorities had sought them for allegedly committing crimes and having links to the brotherhood.

The New York-based organisation called on the Kuwaiti authorities “to end further deportations to Egypt of anyone facing mistreatment and hold accountable those responsible for the recent deportations.”

READ: Kuwait official defends decision to extradite 8 Egyptians

“Kuwaiti authorities have put at grave risk eight men who fled mass oppression in Egypt and thought they had found refuge in Kuwait,” HRW Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson, told reporters.

“It’s horrendous that Kuwait is acting at the behest of abusive Egyptian security agencies and returning dissidents to face torture and persecution,” she added.

At the time, state-official KUNA said that the defendants were “belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood group,” which is being classed as “terrorist organisation” by the Egyptian regime.

Kuwait Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Jarallah recently said that the extradition was based on “security coordination and agreement between the two countries.”

Since the 2013 military coup – which overthrew the first freely-elected president Mohamed Morsi – Egyptian authorities have engaged in the systematic repression of the Brotherhood by arresting and sentencing to death its members after mass trials. Anyone considered an opponent of the regime is imprisoned for allegedly colluding with the group and of inciting violence and terrorism.