Freedom rings worldwide

In a New York Times re-post, on May 20, 2015, fellow blogger, Mohammed A. Al-Jasem, wrote about his efforts at trying to get his government in Kuwait to address issues that all of us may resonate with. I thought it appropriate to re-post the article here:

"For the past 10 days, I haven’t left my home in Kuwait City alone. I always make sure someone is with me. I am a grandfather and have heart problems, but it is not because of my age or health that I’m being extra careful, nor is it because I am afraid of being mugged. It is a precaution I take, however ineffectual, against being abducted by my own government.

I know the threat is real because it has already happened to three people in the past four weeks.

I was the first Kuwaiti, but certainly not the last, to be sentenced in a freedom-of-speech case involving even mild criticism of the royal family. And it could happen to me again at any time. I am a blogger who has tried to speak freely about the absolute monarchy that rules my country, and as a lawyer, I am involved in defending more than 20 other freedom-of-speech cases.

The arrests are not pleasant, nor are the court sessions. On the fourth day of my hunger strike, while in custody of the State Security department in 2010, I collapsed. The ambulance took me to the military hospital, where my family was not allowed to see me. I spent one night there, IV drip on my left hand, while my right hand and foot were cuffed to the rail. I was transferred to prison the next morning. Whenever I am transferred to and from prison in a State Security case, I am placed against a wall, my arms behind my back, cuffs around my wrists and ankles, and with a thick black blindfold secured across my eyes. Then I am escorted by a 24-man SWAT team. I have no doubt the procedure will be the same, for myself and others, during future arrests. I chronicled my experience in a book I published, On My Way to Prison. It is banned in Kuwait.

The first time it happened, my imprisonment was regarded as a major issue. Now, however, hundreds of people are being prosecuted in political cases and are being sentenced to up to five years in prison.

This Thursday, the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, will be one of the few Gulf state rulers to attend a planned summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council with President Barack Obama at Camp David.

Kuwaiti free-speech advocates have been eagerly anticipating this summit since Obama leveled some criticism of human rights policies in these GCC countries in an interview with Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on April 5. “The biggest threats that they [GCC countries] face may not be coming from Iran invading,” the president said. “It’s going to be from dissatisfaction inside their own countries.”

Some were expecting the Kuwaiti government to improve its human rights records ahead of the Camp David meeting. That hasn’t happened. The question remains whether it could happen after the meeting.

The Kuwaiti government realizes that it is very difficult for it to deny such a request from the United States. But does the White House have any serious interest in human rights violations by its allies?

I doubt it. Obama is probably far more interested in maintaining whatever Arab alliances he can as he tries for a historic nuclear deal with Iran.

One reason I’m such a skeptic is that I’ve been at this a long time. I have been a lawyer since 1978 and was a court observer for Amnesty International in Bahrain and Egypt. I started working in media in 1994 and eventually became the editor in chief of a daily newspaper and the Arabic versions of Newsweek and Foreign Policy.  

In 2003, while I was still an editor, I was accused of instigating to overthrow the regime in a State Security case. I was a guest speaker at an election campaign event and spoke openly about the relations between the ruling family and Kuwaiti people. I said simply that there had been no change in the ruling family’s mentality for decades.

That was enough for the state prosecutor to take notice. Two days later he notified me I was being investigated. Even though I wasn’t imprisoned in that case—I was released on bail—the U.S. State Department took a definitive stance against the Kuwaiti government. William Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs at the time, raised the issue to his Kuwaiti counterpart during his visit to Kuwait. They reduced the charge to merely slandering the prime minister, but eventually they dropped the case.

Since then, however, we haven’t heard much at all from the U.S. State Department. Now many people are being imprisoned in freedom of speech cases, and there is no effective, public reaction from the United States. When it comes to its allies, I believe the Obama administration is more interested in protecting regimes rather than citizens. Especially if one of those regimes controls the spigot to a lot of oil. This gives their governments free rein on human rights.

In 2005, I resigned as editor, went back to working as a lawyer and launched my website (www.aljasem.org). Since then I have been imprisoned three times as a result of articles I published on my website giving my opinions on political developments as well as constitutional matters in Kuwait; most were simple analyses of the ruling family’s history in governing the country, but some of them also called for a constitutional monarchy like that in Britain. My articles were the first to cross the “traditional red lines” in terms of freedom of speech. My imprisonments began in November 2009, right after I published a series of articles that exposed increasing Iranian influence in Kuwait.

At first, the Arab Spring had a major role in curbing the government’s oppressive policies. I was released in January 2011, just before Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted. As the Arab Spring gained momentum, it temporarily had the effect of ameliorating the oppressive policies in Kuwait. Remarkably large demonstrations erupted as people demanded anti-corruption reforms.

The prime minister, Nasser Mohammed Al Sabah, was forced to resign in November 2011, and the mostly opposition-led parliament was elected in February 2012.
But as the Arab Spring faltered, particularly in Egypt, the Kuwaiti government was emboldened to revert to its oppressive means. Within five months of the elections, the Constitutional Court dissolved the parliament. The government changed the electoral system in a way that granted it more control over the outcome of the elections, and the Constitutional Court, which many believe to be far from independent, granted it the authority to autonomously do so.

The largest demonstrations in Kuwait’s history broke out. People were back on the streets protesting the changes. The government, however, felt safe enough to quell the protests by expanding its oppressive policies through violence and prosecuting people for political reasons under legal pretenses.

The opposition noticeably weakened after several members were sentenced to three to five years in prison. Internal conflicts between its leaders rendered the opposition ineffective. People turned to Twitter to express their frustration, but the government continued its political prosecutions, accusing people of infringing on the emir’s rights.
Some opposition leaders demanded a constitutional monarchy. The government responded by revoking citizenships. It revoked the citizenship of Abdullah Barghash, a member of the opposition and former member of the parliament, along with that of 57 members of his family, including children.

Saad Al-Ajmi, another strong supporter of the opposition, was the most prominent victim of the government’s oppressive policies. His citizenship was revoked in September 2014. In April 2015, 70 members of the secret police abducted him while he was on his way to the barber. He was blindfolded and handcuffed as the secret police drove him to the Saudi border. They decided to exile him. He was denied his right to contact anyone, including his family. No one knew what had happened to him until after he arrived in Saudi Arabia.
Plagued with short-term thinking, the government has tried to stunt rising voices with violence. This strategy backfired, as voices only became louder and triggered more aggression.

The government then altered its strategy to drowning the opposition with cases and, subsequently, sentences. The public prosecutor used his authority to detain people and ban them from leaving the country as an early punishment during the investigation period. This new strategy delivered the fatal blow to the opposition. The sentences came, one after the other, as the government realized that cases and sentences were far more effective than tear gas and batons.

Now the Kuwaiti government is going to great lengths to maintain the status quo, i.e., absolute power with no accountability. The government continues oppressing people, as it realizes that any infiltration of freedom might lead to fundamental reforms it is not willing to accept.
Like many others, I live in a state of estrangement from my country because of the contradiction between my beliefs and reality. At times, this estrangement drives me to risk everything for the sake of change. At others, it drives me to isolation.

The GCC is more than a group of royal families that export oil and import weaponry. They have citizens, and we seek development and freedom. Our choice should not be limited to being oppressed by our governments or escaping to extremism.

There must be a third choice. A democratic, civil society that respects human rights, not just a U.S.-backed sheikhdom. At Camp David , I hope that President Obama's efforts at marketing his forthcoming Iran deal to GCC leaders and the reassurances of protection he offers them will not come at the price of people’s freedom in the region.
Is it too much to ask, Mr. President, that I should be able to leave my house without constantly looking over my shoulder? Or that Saad Al-Ajmi should be able to return home to his wife and children?

Mohammed A. Al-Jasem is a blogger and lawyer based in Kuwait City. He was formerly editor in chief of a daily newspaper and the Arabic versions of Newsweek and Foreign Policy.