KUWAIT: The human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) has criticized the Kuwaiti government for the arrest of a Kuwaiti writer, as well for excluding domestic workers from the recently passed private sector labor law. The criticism was contained in the organization's annual report covering the human rights situation in nations around the world, which was posted on the organization's website on May 28th. "Migrant workers faced exploitation and abuse despite legal reforms. Critics of the government and ruling family were harassed. Thousands of Bedoon remained stateless and so were unable to access their full range of rights," the report on Kuwait reads.

The report commends the election of four female MPs to the National Assembly in the May 2009 elections, as well as the Kuwaiti constitutional court's decision to give women the right to obtain passports without having to first obtain their husbands' consent. It is also positive about the recent amendments made to the private sector labor law, namely the introduction of a national minimum wage, increasing annual leave, prohibiting arbitrary dismissal, and punishing visa trading. Despite all this, however, the report criticizes the exclusion of domestic workers from the law's protection, stating, "The new law does not apply to domestic workers, mostly women, who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

The 430-page report provides assessment of the human rights situation in 159 countries throughout 2009. The main areas of focus for this year's report are the UN's Millennium Development Goals to fight poverty, ensure international justice, and highlight abuses against human rights defenders.

The report heavily criticizes the human rights violations made by the state of Israel during its offensive on the Gaza Strip at the beginning of 2009. "Among other things, [Israel] carried out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians, targeted and killed medical staff, used Palestinian civilians as 'human shields', and indiscriminately fired white phosphorus over densely populated residential areas," the report reads. It also criticized the continuous blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel.

The London-based watchdog report also criticized the Iranian government for using 'excessive force' against demonstrators following the presidential election in the Islamic Republic in June 2009, as well as addressing the mass arrests of protestors.

Well over 5,000 people had been detained by the end of the year," the report states. "Many were tortured, including some who were alleged to have been raped in detention, or otherwise ill-treated. Some died from their injuries. Dozens were then prosecuted in grossly unfair mass 'show trials'. Most were sentenced to prison terms but at least six were sentenced to death.

The report also criticizes US President Barack Obama's failure to follow up on an executive order he signed on January 22 of 2009 to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which has remained open. The complete report is published in nine different languages, including Arabic, and can be found on Amnesty International's website at: www.amnesty.org. - Kuwait Times