Draft:Persecution of Kuwaitis during the 1990–1991 Iraqi occupation

Persecution of Kuwaitis during the 1990–1991 Iraqi occupation
Part of the Gulf War
A building damaged by the Iraqi troops seen after the Liberation of Kuwait.
Location	Kuwait
Date	1990–1991
Target	Kuwaitis
Attack type	Massacres, Deportations, Torture, Forced disappearances, Sexual violence, Hostage-taking, Extrajudicial killing, Ethnic cleansing, Prisoners of conscience
Deaths	Approximately 1,000-2,000 Kuwaiti civilians killed
Victims	600–750 Kuwaiti civilians missing
Perpetrator	Ba'athist Iraq
Motive	Occupation of Kuwait, Political repression, Nationalism

During Iraq's occupation of Kuwait from 2 August 1990 to 26 February 1991, Iraqi forces subjected the Kuwaiti civilian population to widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest, forced transfer to Iraq, torture, extrajudicial execution, and sexual violence. The occupation and its abuses were documented by international bodies including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations.

Suppression of national identity

Iraqi authorities replaced Kuwaiti flags and national symbols on public buildings, government offices, and schools with Iraqi equivalents. Civilians who displayed the Kuwaiti flag or engaged in acts of patriotic resistance faced arrest and other punitive measures by occupying forces.

Arrests, Forced Transfers, and Hostages

Iraqi forces carried out arrests of Kuwaiti civilians and military personnel in three distinct phases. In the days immediately following the invasion, thousands of Kuwaiti military personnel were rounded up and held in makeshift detention centres across Kuwait City, with many subsequently transferred to camps in Baghdad, Ba'quba, al-Ramadi, Takrit, and Mosul. Official Kuwaiti sources estimated between 6,000 and 7,000 military personnel were detained in this initial phase.

A second wave of civilian arrests began in the second and third weeks of August 1990, coinciding with the emergence of a Kuwaiti resistance movement. Kuwaiti civilians were arrested at home, at Iraqi checkpoints, and at the Saudi Arabia-Kuwait border. Those who were neither released nor executed at this stage were transferred to Iraq. A final wave occurred on 19 February 1991, days before Iraqi withdrawal, when mainly male Kuwaiti citizens of all ages were arrested at checkpoints and outside mosques. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Kuwait estimated at least 2,000 people were taken during this phase alone. A 1993 United States government report estimated that approximately 8,000 Kuwaitis in total were transferred to Iraq over the course of the occupation. While the majority of those detained were Kuwaiti, arrests also extended to third-country nationals present in Kuwait at the time. Amnesty International considered such detentions to constitute arbitrary detention, classifying those held as prisoners of conscience detained "solely on account of their ethnic origin" or for their perceived association with states considered enemies of Iraq.

Hostages

During the occupation, Iraqi authorities implemented a policy of detaining civilians as human shields. Hundreds of Western nationals were rounded up in Kuwait City and transferred to Iraq, while others already in Iraq were also detained. In late August 1990, the Iraqi government announced that some 13,000 Western, Soviet, and Japanese nationals would not be permitted to leave Iraq or Kuwait until United States troops withdrew from Saudi Arabia and UN sanctions against Iraq were lifted. By mid-December 1990, most of these nationals were allowed to leave. Kuwaiti nationals who attempted to re-enter Kuwait including those trying to reach elderly family members or participate in resistance activities were arrested at the border and held incommunicado.

Crackdowns on Resistance

Faced with Kuwaiti volunteers taking over the running of hospitals, food cooperatives, sanitation work, and gasoline distribution, and in response to continued resistance both peaceful and armed, Iraqi occupying authorities acted swiftly and violently to assert control. A number of physicians, a hospital administrator, and several medical volunteers were executed on suspicion of helping the resistance. Those found in possession of resistance leaflets were killed or otherwise severely punished. Only one newspaper: Al-Nida', a mouthpiece for the occupying power was permitted to publish. Iraqi occupation authorities also took control of the University of Kuwait campuses, replacing senior administrators and deans with Iraqis.

Torture

Amnesty International interviewed scores of former detainees who reported being tortured by Iraqi forces both in Kuwait and in Iraq. Torture was used systematically during interrogation to extract information and as punishment, with Iraqi personnel at all levels involved. Documented methods included beatings, electric shocks, falaqa (beatings on the soles of the feet), mock executions, and suspension by the wrists. Among those interviewed was a 17-year-old Kuwaiti student arrested in September 1990, who reported being subjected to beatings, mock executions, falaqa, and electric shocks over 36 days of detention in Kuwait City and Basra. A 31-year-old Kuwaiti man arrested at his home during a diwaniyya (a traditional Kuwaiti social gathering) reported being tortured in front of his relatives before being transferred to solitary confinement at Political Security Prison in Basra. An Amnesty International forensic pathologist who examined victims in Kuwait in March-April 1991 found physical evidence consistent with survivor testimony. The UN Special Rapporteur documented a general pattern in which detainees were heavily beaten at initial detention sites, then subjected to further torture at prisons or dedicated interrogation centres before being transferred to Iraq, where abuse in some cases continued.

Sexual violence

Iraqi soldiers and militia committed numerous acts of rape and assault on Kuwaiti civilians. An Egyptian medical professional employed at Al-Sabah Hospital reported to Amnesty International an incident in which Iraqi soldiers gang-raped a Kuwaiti mother. Amnesty International was also informed of the rape of four Kuwaiti girls in al-Rumaithiyya. Amnesty International documented these acts as part of the broader pattern of human rights violations committed during the occupation, including arbitrary arrests and executions.

Extrajudicial executions

Extrajudicial killings of detained Kuwaiti civilians and former military personnel were widespread. In many documented cases, detainees were held for days or weeks, tortured, and then shot outside their homes after being identified by a family member. The UN Special Rapporteur described the case of a Kuwaiti police inspector held in Iraq who was forced to play Russian roulette, resulting in the death of a fellow prisoner. Deaths also occurred as a result of detention conditions, including severe food deprivation, contaminated water, and lack of medical care.

Missing Persons and mass graves

Following Kuwait's liberation, large-scale repatriations took place in March and April 1991 under ICRC supervision, returning over 4,200 Kuwaiti POWs and more than 1,500 civilians. Despite this, the Kuwaiti government maintained that hundreds of Kuwaitis remained unaccounted for in Iraq. By 1993, the official Kuwaiti National Committee for Missing and Prisoners of War Affairs listed approximately 750 individuals still missing. Iraq denied holding further detainees from January 1992 onward, a position disputed by Kuwait and by Amnesty International, which concluded that strong evidence suggested hundreds of Kuwaitis remained in secret detention in Iraq. Decades after the conflict, remains of some victims continued to be recovered. In July 2021, the remains of 10 Kuwaitis arrested during the invasion were repatriated after being discovered in a mass grave in Iraq, identified through DNA testing, and buried at Sulaibakhat cemetery in Kuwait City, more than 31 years after their detention.

International response

On 18 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/45/170 by a vote of 144 to 1, condemning Iraqi forces for serious human rights violations against Kuwaiti civilians and affirming that the Fourth Geneva Convention applied to the occupation of Kuwait. UN Security Council Resolution 686 and Resolution 687, adopted in March and April 1991 respectively, demanded that Iraq release all detained Kuwaiti nationals, return the remains of any deceased, and cooperate with the ICRC in accounting for missing persons. Amnesty International classified the continued detention of Kuwaitis held solely on the basis of their nationality as arbitrary detention, and considered such individuals prisoners of conscience.

References

Category:Persecution in Iraq Category:Gulf War Category:Human rights abuses in Iraq Category:Discrimination in Iraq Category:1990 in Kuwait Category:1991 in Kuwait Category:Ba'athist Iraq Category:Iraqi military occupations Category:Iraqi invasion of Kuwait