The Committee to Protect Journalists, in partnership with the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)—an independent, nonprofit civil society organization—has submitted a report on the state of human rights in Kuwait to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of Kuwait’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session on May 7, 2025.
The UPR, a United Nations mechanism that conducts a peer review of each member state’s human rights record every 4 ½ years, assesses progress made since the previous review cycle and provides recommendations on how countries can better meet their human rights obligations.
The joint report highlights an escalating crackdown on journalists, bloggers, and press freedom in Kuwait. It also raises serious concerns about the repression of the stateless Bedoon community and increasing restrictions on the rights to free expression, association, and peaceful assembly. The report documents harassment and attacks targeting journalists, human rights defenders, and former members of parliament.
CPJ’s UPR submission on Kuwait is available in English here and Arabic here.