Immediately and Unconditionally Release Abdullah Fairouz-Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes

Kuwait must take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Abdullah Fairouz.

(YORK, UK) - Our Human Rights Ambassador, William Nicholas Gomes, believes the detention of Abdullah Fairouz is solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate human rights work.

Mr. Gomes views this act as part of an ongoing campaign of judicial harassment against human rights defenders in Kuwait.

Abdullah Fairouz, a prominent Kuwaiti human rights defender and writer, has worked for several years on the rights of the Bedouin (citizens without identity cards or any proof of their citizenship).

The human rights defender is also a member of the Bedouin Committee at the Kuwait Society for Human Rights.

Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes has condemned the arrest and asked HH Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah to immediately and unconditionally release Abdullah Fairouz.

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HH Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
Office of the Emir
PO Box 799
13008 Safat
Kuwait City
Kuwait
Fax: +965 2534 7696 / +965 2539 2163 / +965 22430559
Email: amirsoffice@da.gov.kw

Your Highness,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

On 9 April 2013, the Criminal Investigation Department in Kuwait detained human rights defender Mr Abdullah Fairouz on charges of insulting the judiciary using social media. The Prosecution Office has ordered ten days of detention pending interrogation on the charges.

Abdullah Fairouz is a prominent Kuwaiti human rights defender and writer who has worked for several years on the rights of the Bedoun (citizens without identity cards or any prove of their citizenship). The human rights defender is also a member of the Bedoun Committee at the Kuwait Society for Human Rights.

At the time of his arrest, Abdullah Fairouz was in the process of making a complaint at the Court of Ministers against Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, former minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd and the Board of Directors of the Investment Authority. Hours after the disappearance of the human rights defender, it was confirmed that he had been detained at the Criminal Investigation Department after a judge ordered his arrest on accusations of insulting the judiciary by publishing tweets and blog posts. The human rights defender had been criticising the issue of a default judgement against Dr Obaid Al Wasmi and Saud Asfour. The defendants had not been notified of their hearing date and the judgement was issued without their knowledge.

A request to visit the human rights defender by Mr Khalid Al-Hamidi, director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, was rejected by the Criminal Investigation Department without motive.

I believe that the detention of Abdullah Fairouz is solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate human rights work, and views this act as part of an ongoing campaign of judicial harassment against human rights defenders in Kuwait.

I urge the authorities in Kuwait to:

Immediately and unconditionally release Abdullah Fairouz as I believe that he is being held solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful human rights work;

Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Abdullah Fairouz while in detention;

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Kuwait are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

Yours Sincerely,
William Nicholas Gomes
Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com
www.williamnicholasgomes.com

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Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets.

He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.