‘No security without justice’
‘Impunity more dangerous than the crime itself’
“IMPUNITY for criminal punishment may be more dangerous than the crime itself, because if a criminal escapes punishment, he/she will continue his/ her criminal behavior,” columnist, Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, an Advisor to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Chairman of the Arab Human Rights Fund Professor Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar wrote for Al-Jarida daily Monday.
“In other words, the person who does not continue to be punished criminally thinks that he/she is stronger than the law and is a model to society and that the offender can do whatever he/she wants with impunity and thus promotes crime until it becomes a reality and lifestyle.
“This is not to mention the devastating impact of impunity created by the offender on the psyche of the victim and his family and loved ones and their sense of justice.
“However, the punishment in return must be subject to strict rules of justice that does not give the opportunity to any authority to exploit people’s need for protection and security, however, to go beyond the law and beyond the terms of due justice, and an independent judiciary.
“As a matter of fact, security and justice are two sides of the same coin no security can be achieved without justice, even if it seems apparent, while security comes whenever the justice is firmly rooted in the community. As well as there is no contradiction between security and freedom, but uncertain integration.
“In this context, the offender is not in violation of the law, but if he is the one who is arrested and convicted and punished and crimes recorded, but if not caught, he may be an important personality in the community.
“How many of our criminals are at large only because they have not been arrested? Perhaps the most serious crimes committed by human beings are crimes against humanity and war crimes and genocide. In other words, these crimes shall remain alive and they can be filed against the pertinent criminals at any time to condemn the perpetrators.
“Thus, the topic of escaping from the penalty has been transformed into a basic point in the communities from those who had suffered of civil wars, occupation and homicides. Hence, we found the international community forming the International Criminal Court which has been dedicated to try those who were involved in genocides in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The court recently sentenced former 40-year-old head of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, who is accused of murdering the Bosnian Muslims in the massacre of Srebrenica 1995.
“Apart from the above, two international criminal courts were formed, the first to try the former Sierra Leone criminals two years ago, while the second was invoked in trying those who were accused of committing genocide in Rwanda.
“Meanwhile, we say the international community has witnessed a significant judicial development represented by the conclusion of Rome Covenant in 1998 which ended in the formation of the International Criminal Court.
“In spite of this development, we found that the United States of America, Israel and most of the Arab countries and some other countries rejecting this development, because it looks like these parties were in agreement to unify their efforts to escape international justice.”
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“The Egyptian Attorney-General recently issued a decision to impose a travel ban on the Egyptian media man and former MP Tawfeeq Okasha for forging his PhD certificate,” columnist
Ahmed Al-Sarraf wrote for Al-Qabas daily Monday.
“But the question here is what will happen if the Kuwaiti Attorney-General follows in the footsteps of his Egyptian counterpart. And how many fake doctorate certificates will be detected in the country and how many travel bans the Attorney-General will issue accordingly?
“However, we say the above in light of a statement that has been issued recently by the Minister of Higher Education who was quoted as saying ‘the report of the committee that was formed to investigate the soundness of many PhD certificates will be issued soon’.
“As a matter of fact, it is but natural and there is nothing surprising for the long period of time that has been given to ascertain the authenticity of these doctorate certificates particularly since we know that the Ministry of Higher Education has the names of all recognized universities in the world.
“However, it should have not been difficult for the Ministry to verify the authenticity of these certificates within just one month by getting in touch with these recognized universities by the Ministry of Higher Education.
“But I think this delay in verifying the authenticity of suspicious certificates, can be related to some sensitive factors, because the problem doesn’t rest in whether or not the doctorate certificates are authentic, rather the real problem rests in what action to be taken against the holders of such fake PhD certificates or those who are involved in the crime.
“However, if the holders are still jobless, then the topic can be easily controlled although they shall cause a headache for the Minister of Higher Education in some of the other way, particularly if some MPs intervene on behalf of the holders of fake certificates.
“But the real legal impasse shall rest in those who currently occupy senior posts and have issued some decisions based on their qualifications because these shall constitute a real impasse for the government since they will have to be expelled from their current posts and this will be very difficult. Moreover, keeping them in these posts will certainly be more difficult, particularly since we know that our ‘rational government’ is known to be hesitant.
“Such being the case, we expect the government not to hasten to take any action linked to the fate of these fake certificates holders. We know that everybody has ‘wasta’ of a minister or an MP and the fate of such people will depend on to what extent they can use their influence to escape punishment.
“Consequently and based on the above, I expect no firm action to be taken against the holders of fake doctorate certificates and their case to be shelved just like our other situations — financial, political and economic.” “There are two main medical theories concerning dealing with patients,”
Abdulrahman Al-Awad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“According to the first theory, it is better to inform patients the truth about their medical case irrespective of how serious the case is. According to the second theory, a patient should not be informed about his serious medical condition as it will negatively affect his psychological state of mind, which plays a strong role in the patient’s recovery.
“In the Arab world, the use of second theory is more common than the first theory. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) recommends us to give relief to the sufferings of ill individuals by reassuring them of their speedy recovery and bringing them good news in that regard.
“Therefore, we ask Ministry of Health to find a balance between transparency and hiding information especially when it announces the rate at which diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure and cancer are spreading in the country. It has been noticed that repeated announcement of statistics in this regard makes most citizens and expatriates very worried about the possibility of contracting these diseases. It leads to a state of tension, which in turn results in psychiatric diseases such as depression and loss of hope.
“We appreciate the efforts being exerted by Ministry of Health concerning the public health but we hope their depressing reports on statistics about spread of diseases will reduce so that when a person wakes up in the morning and has his morning tea, he doesn’t have to see news about his health which will end up bringing darkness to his entire day.”
“A report was published by Al-Shahed daily recently about the decision issued by Manpower Public Authority to allow expatriate employees to transfer their residency without the need for their employers’ approval,” Abdulaziz Al-Khuraibet wrote for Al-Shahed daily. “The spokesperson and director of Public Relations and Security Media Department of Manpower Public Authority said the authority has issued Decision No. 378/2016 for amending Article 6 of the Decision No. 842/2015 concerning the conditions for transferring the residency of employees from one sponsor to another. She explained that an employee can transfer his work permit to another business owner after completing three years of work, provided he gives his current sponsor the legal notice period, as per Article 44 of Law No. 6/2010.
“It is true that there are some procedures that were being exploited by some sponsors against their employees in the last few years. For example, why do companies still hold on to the passports of their expatriate employees?
“We appreciate the decision taken to allow an employee to transfer his residency from his sponsor of three years to another of his choice. However, what about the necessary reform of other labor laws? There is no doubt that many businessmen misused these laws which were issued mainly for their protection. They turned the lives of their employees into hell, exploiting the latter’s need for salaries to feed their families.
“People who are against the laws of the government have criticized this law because it is not in favor of the local businessmen. This is not completely right because we know that many sponsors exploit the rights of their employees such that the latter have no where to turn to for getting their rights.
“We commend Manpower Public Authority for taking these actions and we hope it will continue to amend the necessary laws that organize the relations between the sponsors and employees in the country and ensure everyone in this country can live with the dignity and freedom that Kuwait is internationally known, due to which it earned the title of Global Humanitarian Center.”
“Social upbringing of an individual plays a vital role in shaping his sectarian identity through relevant institutions starting with the family and extending to places of worship, educational institutions and even media outfits and other relevant channels,” Dr Ali Al-Za’abi wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“Social upbringing involves multitude of social activities to which an individual is exposed while mingling in the society. It involves series of heterogeneous activities tailoring towards adopting the nature of the society in which he lives in a way that is appropriate for the society’s standards, values and norms.
“Using God-given strength, the social upbringing institutions are trying hard to actualize this objective in terms of sectarian ideologies and principles, among the children, so that they realize that sectarianism is a divisive action and ideology. The society should revert to the origin of the belief system that is devoid of strange distortions that have been causing distraction and providing misinformation about reality and the wonderful objectives of religion.”
“Last week, the weekly British newspaper ‘The Independent’ stopped printing on papers and decided to stick to releasing e-news,” Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Many of the international newspapers have taken similar decisions and are opting for news websites because of their readers’ preference in accessing news and the high publication costs. Despite this, there is a debate between those who prefer to read their news on paper and those who prefer the electronic sources.
“According to the prediction of some people, the paper versions of newspapers, magazines, books and novels will disappear one day. Many readers and researchers find it easier to access e-books and e-news and search for the information they need by using devices that are capable of downloading materials. Prevalence of e-libraries has helped readers find necessary information easily and within a short time.
“In press conferences these days, it is rare to see journalists hold pens and papers or even the classic voice recorders like in the past. Now they prefer to carry electronic devices using which they can easily capture information, edit them and send them directly to their news headquarters.
“The struggle between the traditional and the contemporary will always be there but eventually the contemporary always wins. Even though we will miss the special feel of paper and the sound of pen gliding over the paper, we will easily get used to the modern and timesaving methods.”
“The Council of Ministers approved new tariff for electricity and water, which is four times the current rate, according to regular consumption indicators. Raising tariffs for both services will automatically lead to hike in prices of other services and commodities (Al-Rai, March 30 edition),” Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily. “As a result, the house rent will go up, particularly in investment buildings, as well as locally manufactured goods and prices of food items, and it will affect all items that require electricity and water for production. A realtor commented on approval of the new tariff, saying “Landlords will be forced to increase rents due to hike in prices of electricity and water, such that low income earners among the citizens will bear the burden of budget deficit and the falling prices of oil.”
“The wave of prices hike for consumer goods and food items will not stop there, as the government will go further to raise prices of fuel. The cost of several services and commodities such as education and health will increase as a result. The cooperative societies will be privatized and regime value added tax will be implemented; another indicator the consequences of the decision on the living standard of citizens and expatriates were not carefully considered and people are now facing a dark future through these procedures.”
“The trend of trafficking in people in Kuwait is painful. It is among the contemporary and realistic incidents taking place in society and many questions come to mind once the issue is mentioned. For example: How does human trafficking happen in the country?,” Atyab Al-Shatti wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“While watching the footage of a Russian mafia on a TV channel, I realized that Kuwait is safer and more stable than what we see on TV; in terms of crime rate. In reality, what we observe is completely different from what the Interior Ministry knows, as the sector is fully acquainted with crimes committed in the country compared to the Media.
“My curiosity led me to a photo circulated on social media regarding a woman who hires a child for KD 15 per day to beg for alms. Is the child aware of the negative behavior? Did the child agree to be hired for begging or the woman hired the child from his owner?”