S TAT E L E S S B Y D E C R E E from discrimination based on origin, identity, belief or opinion, and respect for peremptory norms. Recent UN treaty bodies, in successive, periodic assessments of the GoKʼs implementation of the treaties have set out in their Concluding Observations how such restrictions are not permissible under the terms of the relevant treaty, and undermine the protection of fundamental human rights, including those related to discrimination, freedom of expression, equality before the law, and citizenship-related matters relevant to this analysis. How the Government of Kuwait protects enduring discrimination by the use of reservations - the case of CEDAW In respect to the CEDAW, the GoK rejected Ar ticle 9.2, by which “States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children”, since “it runs counter to the Kuwaiti Nationality Act, which stipulates that a child's nationality shall be determined by that of his father.” The GoK also rejected Ar ticle 16.f which grants women equal rights to men regarding guardianship, wardship, trusteeship, and adoption of children - in as much as it conflicts with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah. In 2024, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern over the GoKʼs continued reservations to Ar ticles 9.2 and 16.1.f of the Convention, “the latter of which is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention” and reminded the GoK that a reservation that is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention is impermissible under international law. 21 The Committee urged the GoK to withdraw the reservations, including by engaging with domestic stakeholders in order to overcome resistance to the withdrawal of the reservations. 22 The Committee repor ted concern that “women are denied the right to acquire, change, retain and transmit their nationality” and that “children born out of wedlock or as a result of rape in Kuwait to non-Kuwaiti mothers and Kuwaiti fathers are placed in orphanages, and the mothers of these children can be prosecuted and deported.” Similarly, the Human Rights Committee noted that “nationality can be transmitted to children only by Kuwaiti fathers, and not by Kuwaiti mothers married to a nonKuwaiti man”. 23 The Committee echoed calls made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to “undertake a comprehensive review of existing laws and practices to repeal or amend, in accordance with the Covenant, all provisions that discriminate on the basis of gender, including the Personal Status Act and the Nationality Act.” 24 Treaty body assessments pre -date the 2024-2026 citizenship stripping campaign but set out how the GoKʼs pre -existing rejection of international human rights standards in relation to women, children and nationality paved the way for the arbitrary deprivation of citizenship and rights of many thousands of people. 16