spouses on an equal footing with Kuwaiti men.”35 In the same year, the CEDAW recommended that Kuwait “amend the Nationality Act to recognise the right of Kuwaiti women to transmit their nationality to non‑Kuwaiti spouses and children on equal terms with Kuwaiti men, and to eliminate barriers faced by Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaiti men in gaining access to public housing.”36 Recommendations: • • • • • Ensure international obligations are upheld with regards to the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless persons; Ensure that all necessary steps are taken to amend the Kuwaiti Nationality Act to enable Kuwaiti women to transfer nationality to their children and spouses without restriction, on an equal basis with men, in accordance with international standards; Amend the Kuwaiti Nationality Act to ensure the prohibition and prevention of arbitrary deprivation of nationality and reinstate the nationality of all persons who may have been arbitrarily stripped of their nationality; Ratify the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; Remove reservations to and ensure full compliance with the entirety of CEDAW article 9 on equal nationality laws, as well as to CRC article 7 and CRPD article 18 on the right to acquire a nationality. 3.3 Right to life, liberty and security of person 3.3.1 Arbitrary deprivation of liberty Arbitrary detention is prohibited under article 31 of the Constitution.37 However, in practice, lengthy pre-trial detention remains a problem with detainees being held beyond the maximum detention period of six months. This situation is partly due to an insufficient number of judges and prosecutors working at the Ministry of Justice in a country where pre-trial detention is ordered quasi-systematically.38 Furthermore, two-thirds of Kuwait’s population is comprised of migrant workers who are exposed to arbitrary arrests for deportation purposes.39 There have been numerous reports that police carried out arbitrary arrests of foreigners as part of a sustained action against 35CERD, Concluding observations on the combined twenty-first to twenty-fourth periodic reports of Kuwait, CERD/C/KWT/CO/21-24, 19 September 2017, para. 32. 36 CEDAW, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Kuwait, CEDAW/C/KWT/CO/5, 22 November 2017, para. 33. 37 Article 31 of the Constitution states that “No person may be arrested, imprisoned, searched, have his residence restricted or be restrained in liberty of residence or of movement save in conformity with the provisions of the Law.” 38 US department of State, 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Kuwait, 13 March 2019, https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/kuwait/ (accessed 10 July 2019). 39 Human Rights Watch, Kuwait Event of 2018, World Report 2019, https://www.hrw.org/worldreport/2019/country-chapters/kuwait (accessed 10 July 2019). 11 UPR KUWAIT