World Report 2011 - Human Rights Watch

WORLD REPORT 2011women in residency rights, allowing the spouses of Kuwaiti men but not ofKuwaiti women to be in Kuwait without employment and to qualify for citizenshipafter 10 years of marriage.In 2005 Kuwaiti women won the right to vote and to run in elections, and in May2009 voters elected four women to parliament. In April 2010 an administrativecourt rejected a female Kuwaiti law graduate’s application to become a publicprosecutor based on her gender. The advertisement for the position was open tomale candidates only. The presiding judge found that article two of Kuwait’s constitution,which cites Islam as the state religion and Islamic Sharia as “a mainsource of legislation,” prevented women from holding prosecutorial positions.Kuwaiti women are also denied the right to become judges.No government data exists on the prevalence of violence against women inKuwait, although local media regularly report incidents of violence.BidunKuwait hosts up to 120,000 stateless persons, known as the Bidun. The stateclassifies these long-term residents as “illegal residents,” maintaining that mostdo not hold legitimate claims to Kuwaiti nationality and hide “true” nationalitiesfrom Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or Iran.Due to their statelessness, the Bidun cannot freely leave and return to Kuwait; thegovernment issues them temporary passports at its discretion, mostly valid foronly one journey. Furthermore the Bidun face restrictions in their access to publicand private sector employment, as well as to healthcare. Bidun children may notenroll in free government schools. The Bidun also cannot register births, marriages,or deaths, obstructing their rights to family life.Lawmakers in December 2009 failed to reach the quorum required to discuss a2007 draft law that would grant the Bidun civil rights and permanent residency,but not nationality. In January 2010 the assembly tasked the Supreme Council forHigher Planning with reporting on the Bidun situation. Bidun from Kuwait continuedto seek and receive asylum abroad in countries including the UnitedKingdom and New Zealand, based upon their treatment by Kuwaiti governmentauthorities.552