Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Kuwait (Ratification: 1966)

1.  The Committee notes the detailed information supplied by the Government on the amendments it intends to make to the new Labour Code which it is in the process of preparing and requests the Government to keep it informed of progress in the revision and adoption of this draft and to supply a copy of the text finally adopted.

2.  Discrimination based on national extraction.  The Committee notes that the Supreme Central Committee established in 1993 to address the situation of stateless persons or residents without nationality (bidoons) is continuing its work with a view to regularizing the situation of these persons. The Government states that the Committee has prepared plans and principles in order to find appropriate solutions for each case. The Committee regrets however that the Government has supplied no information on the follow-up given to the possibility it mentioned in its previous report of solving the situation of this category of persons by legislative means, nor information on the number of cases examined to date by the Supreme Central Committee or the criteria used to settle the situation of stateless persons and the results obtained. The Committee recalls that, according to the information in its possession, about 110,000 people are in this situation and the fact of being a resident without papers has negative effects on the training and employment potential of these persons as well as on their conditions of employment. Hence, for example, stateless persons do not have access to posts in the civil service because they cannot prove their nationality. Nor can they benefit from the principle of free education at all levels which is reserved for Kuwaiti nationals. The Committee is therefore bound to reiterate its request for information on the number of cases settled to date and also on any measures taken or envisaged to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for stateless persons, particularly in vocational training, employment and conditions of employment. It would also be grateful to have statistical data on participation of this category of the population in the Kuwaiti labour market, particularly in the sectors or branches of work where they are concentrated. Finally, noting that the United Nations Human Rights Committee has expressed its concern at the treatment suffered by thousands of Bedouins, included in the category of stateless persons and described as "illegal residents" (despite the fact that many of them were born on Kuwaiti territory or have lived there for generations) (CCPR/CO/69/KWT, paragraphs 14-17), the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information, including statistics, on the participation of Bedouin in the Kuwaiti labour market, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

3.  Discrimination based on sex.  The Committee notes the Government’s statement that there is no discrimination between men and women in Kuwaiti society. It notes, however, that recent developments such as the refusal to give women the right to vote or seek election to public office, despite the initiatives taken by the Emir to give women a greater role in political life, throw doubt on the extent to which women may have access in practice to various employment and training opportunities. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply detailed information on the specific measures or programmes that have been set up to allow women to have access to training, employment and occupations of their choice. It also requests the Government to indicate whether campaigns for public awareness and promotion of the principle of equality of opportunity between men and women have been conducted.

4.  The Committee has noted the Government’s explanations concerning access of women to judicial careers, and particularly to posts as judges who sit in court (there are women investigating magistrates). It appears from these explanations that there are no written texts forbidding the access of women to these posts, but that it is rather the weight of custom and tradition - in Kuwait, but also in the Arab States in general - which does not encourage women to seek such posts. The Government states that women nevertheless participate in judicial work as assistants or colleagues of judges or prosecutors. The Committee emphasizes that it has already addressed the question of the weight of customs and traditions in regard to the access of women to judicial careers in the Arab countries. Noting that the Government states that this situation is not contrary to the principle of equality, the Committee draws attention to the fact that, for full application of the Convention, it is necessary but not sufficient that the provisions of internal law should be in conformity with the provisions of the Convention. It is important that the provisions of the Convention are fully and strictly applied at the legislative or regulatory level as well as, and particularly, in practice. In addition, the Committee considers that particular stress should be placed on the obligations incumbent on a State which ratifies the present Convention, by virtue of Article 3(a) to (d) of the Convention. In this regard, it stresses the special responsibility of the State concerning effective pursuit of a policy of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment under its control, particularly to ensure equal access by all to employment and occupations, without discrimination based on any of the seven grounds of discrimination prohibited by the Convention, particularly sex. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether it envisages examining the issue of removing obstacles to the access of women to posts as judges who sit in court.

5.  The Committee has noted the statistical data supplied by the Government, portions of which are disaggregated by sex, but notes that this such data was supplied only in relation to migrant workers. It therefore requests the Government to supply with its next report statistics on the situation of Kuwaiti women and men on the labour market, their respective access to the various branches of occupational and technical training provided by the Government and statistics on the distribution of men and women in the various sectors, occupations and posts in the public and private sectors.

6.  Discrimination based on race.  The Committee, like the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/304/Add.72, paragraphs 6 and 18), notes the legislative proposal to add two sections to the Kuwaiti Penal Code, one prohibiting incitement to racial discrimination and the other making it a punishable offence for public officials not to respect racial equality, and requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress of this proposal and of the suggestion by the Committee on strengthening programmes for the education and training of officials responsible for application of the law. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to prevent any discrimination based on race in regard to training and access to employment and occupation.

7.  The Committee has noted the reasons for which domestic workers in Kuwait have a special status, namely that the particular nature of their employment (that is, the fact of living with the employer’s family and thus being privy to its secrets and private life) requires different regulations from ordinary law. In this regard, it recalls that although the Government considers that the specific nature of domestic employment justifies exclusion of these workers from the application of the Labour Code, that does not prohibit application of the principle of equality enshrined in Convention No. 111 to this category of workers. The Committee therefore reiterates its request for information on the manner in which the protection afforded by Convention No. 111 is extended to domestic workers, the majority of whom are women, within the framework of their special status. Noting, furthermore, that the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed its concern at the discriminatory treatment suffered by domestic servants of foreign origin (CERD/C/304/Add.72, paragraph 11) in Kuwait, the Committee requests the Government to indicate to what extent the protection afforded by Kuwaiti legislation to this category of workers, particularly in regard to conditions of employment (payment of wages, duration of work, etc.), is effectively applied in practice. It would be grateful, in particular, if the Government would supply information on the activities of the department responsible for regulating the conditions of employment of domestic servants, and indicate the number and nature of allegations of infringements of labour legislation applicable to domestic workers which are made each year, and the measures taken to punish the offenders and compensate the victims for the damages suffered.