(MENAFN- Arab Times) MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan presented a draft law criminalizing the act of terrorism and stipulating harsh punishments like imprisonment and death penalty. In the explanatory note of the bill, the lawmaker said the regional circumstances surrounding the State of Kuwait and terrorism threats which might affect the country necessitates the issuance of a law criminalizing terrorism.
He pointed out the bill is aimed at protecting the cornerstones on which the Kuwaiti society stands through its Constitution and democratic institutions. He stressed the need for this law, considering the terrorist groups have been exploiting religious and nationalist sentiments to expand their bases and sympathizers which may facilitate their criminal activities at home and abroad. He added the first three articles of the bill include definitions on anything related to terrorism while the fourth article focuses on terrorist acts abroad.
Article Five stipulates punishments which should be applied unless another law states more severe penalties.
Articles Six to 19 specify penalties for each type of terrorist crime and the harshest is death penalty for anybody who attacks HH the Amir or HH the Crown Prince as stated in the first paragraph of Article 14 or terrorist acts that resulted in death as per the stipulation of Article Nine, third paragraph of Article 14 and Article 15. This is in addition to imprisonment and freezing of accounts if the money is proven to be from acts of terrorism or used to carry out such acts.
Article 20 stipulates exemption from punishment such as those who reported or provided information about culprits.
Article 21 allows the Attorney General to check the financial accounts of bank customers and other related institutions during the investigation of any terrorist crime.
Meanwhile, the Health, Social Affairs and Labor Affairs Committee postponed discussions on two bills concerning domestic workers until the Ministry of Interior and Public Authority for Manpower present their views on these proposals; which were presented by MPs Saleh Ashour, Kamel Al-Awadh, Saadoun Hammad, Mohammed Al-Jabri and Faisal Al-Kandari.
Committee Rapporteur MP Saadoun Hammad Al-Otaibi disclosed representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Public Authority for Manpower attended the meeting. He explained the panel decided to postpone deliberations on both bills until next week, indicating there are certain loopholes in the current law. He cited as a case in point the fact that the cost of hiring housemaids reached KD 1,000; thereby, causing enormous losses to the sponsor who is also required to shoulder the air fare of the worker.
Furthermore, the Human Rights Committee on Monday met the High Commissioner for Human Rights to discuss the proposed establishment of the National Bureau for Human Rights.
Head of the committee MP Abdul Hameed Dashti revealed they listened to the commissioner's comments on the ongoing consultations about drafting a law that reflects Kuwait's commitment to international recommendations on human rights which are guaranteed by its Constitution.
He said the committee will call for a round table discussion among jurists and specialists prior to the final round of consultations to pave the way for approval of the National Bureau for Human Rights.
On another issue, MP Khalil Al-Saleh has forwarded questions to Minister of Justice, Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Yaqoub Al-Sanei on decree Law Number 24/2012 regarding the establishment of Public Authority for Combating Corruption and provisions for financial disclosure. He demanded for updates regarding the implementation of the law, copy of the executive regulations if any, confirmation of the approval of the organizational structure for jobs and internal bylaws on financial and administrative affairs and decisions, and reasons for delay in case these are not approved yet.
In the meantime, Head of the Human Resources Committee MP Khaleel Abdullah said they discussed three proposals - tenure of government officials, strategic alternative to the salary scale which the government has not submitted until now, amendments to the Indemnity Law that will be implemented by the beginning of next year.
He disclosed the committee endorsed the proposal on the one-time renewal of the tenure of officials in the government. He said the entire government sector is covered by the proposal, except the military; indicating the management positions should be given only to those who hold higher education degrees.
On the strategic alternative to the salary scale, the MP pointed out that the government had earlier promised to submit it by the beginning of the current legislative term, but nothing has been done till date. He said the minister of finance has been talking about the strategic alternative, but the committee members think it is better if he attends their meetings for his inputs to be documented.
About the Indemnity Law, the MP said the law is applicable to all employees who reached 65 years old and have completed 30 years in service but were forced to resign even before the implementation of this law.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.