The European Union Friday commended the recent positive developments in Kuwait, mainly in the field of women empowerment, following the third EU-Kuwait human rights dialogue held in Kuwait City on Tuesday.

The meeting provided an opportunity to continue open exchanges on recent developments in the EU and Kuwait with the aim to jointly take stock of the achieved progress and remaining challenges as regards human rights and fundamental freedoms, said a statement released today by the EU’s diplomatic service, called the European External Action Service (EEAS).

A wide range of topics have been addressed during the meeting, notably freedom of expression, including digital rights, rights of stateless residents in Kuwait; rule of law, including right to fair trial and death penalty; labour rights, such as domestic workers’ rights, and reform of the kefala system, as well as women’s and children’s rights, it said.

The two sides also exchanged views on cooperation in the multilateral human rights fora.

The EU stressed the importance that laws, such as the penal code and the cybercrime law, are in line with international standards on free speech.

The EU expressed its principled opposition to the death penalty and deplored the execution of seven individuals by Kuwait on 16 November. The EU reiterated its continuous call for a de facto moratorium as a first step towards a complete and full abolition of death penalty in Kuwait, it said.

The EU Member States participated in the Human Rights Dialogue as observers.

The co-chairs agreed to enhance their dialogue on human rights situation and convene the next meeting in 2023 in Brussels, it added.

Last week, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah rejected interferences into his country’s domestic affairs by “friends of Kuwait.” “Kuwait is a democratic state and we are proud of it, proud of its system and the separation of powers in the country, thus we as a government or individuals cannot interfere with the work of judicial branch from any outside party,” he told a press conference on Thursday, November 17.

The minister was responding to statements by Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas that seven executions on November 16 could have consequences on waiving Kuwait from the Schengen visa system

Source: Kuwait News Agency