US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT2990

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GOK PROSECUTION FOR TRAFFICKING-RELATED CRIMES

Identifier: 05KUWAIT2990
Wikileaks: View 05KUWAIT2990 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Kuwait
Created: 2005-07-03 12:59:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Tags: PHUM PGOV KCRM PREL KU
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

031259Z Jul 05

 
UNCLAS KUWAIT 002990 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KCRM, PREL, KU 
SUBJECT: GOK PROSECUTION FOR TRAFFICKING-RELATED CRIMES 
 
REF: A. STATE 108156 
 
     B. KUWAIT 2258 
 
1. (SBU) Since the June 3 release of the 2005 Trafficking in 
Persons (TIP) Report, PolOff has continued to meet with 
Hashim Maged Mohamed, General Manager of the Kuwait Union of 
Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO). Mohamed also has a business 
association with Al-Haqooq International, a law firm 
providing legal services to domestics who face exploitation. 
Mohamed provided court documents proving the litigation, and 
conviction, of more than 30 TIP-related cases that his firm 
represented during the past year. (Note: These are not 
necessarily a comprehensive tally of all GOK prosecutions but 
rather just the ones handled by Al-Haqooq. Since crimes may 
not be identified specifically as TIP-related, it is 
difficult to arrive at a precise total. End note.) The 
crimes, ranging from lack of payment to physical abuse to 
rape, occurred between January and November 2004. 
 
2. (SBU) Court documents from Mohamed indicate that the GOK, 
through the Court of First Instance, prosecuted one case of 
rape resulting in life sentences for the two perpetrators. 
For those found guilty of assault and battery, constituting 
13 cases, punishment ranged from a 100KD (approximately $345) 
fine to 15 years in prison for a Kuwaiti who fondled and then 
pushed a maid causing her to fall down a flight of stairs and 
break her back. The courts awarded other domestics 
restitution, in the form of back-wages, and fined the 
delinquent employers between 50KD ($173) and 570KD ($1,977) 
for court fees and punitive damages. These cases took between 
three months and one year to prosecute from the date of the 
crime until resolution. 
 
********************************************* 
Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website 
********************************************* 
TUELLER 

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