STATELESS BY DECREE Contents Acronyms, Spel ling, Glossary, Language and Conventions 6 Overview 7 A catalogue of human rights violations shaped the citizenship stripping campaign 9 Summary Recommendations to the GoK 10 Methodology 10 International Legal Framework 11 The avoidance of statelessness 12 Prohibition of discrimination 13 Prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality 13 The right to an effective remedy and fair trial 14 Cascading violations of associated rights 14 Exclusion of individual complaints procedure 15 Embedding discrimination against women through reservations to treaties 15 How the Government of Kuwait protects enduring discrimination by the use of reservations - the case of CEDAW 16 Kuwait’s persistent disregard - defiance? - for international human rights appeals, recommendations and warnings 17 Kuwait's heightened obligations as a Human Rights Council (HRC) member 18 D o m e s t i c L e g a l F r a m e wo r k 20 21 Kuwait's 1959 Nationality Law and amendments made in December 2024 and April 2026 The highly restricted scope for acquisition of Kuwaiti citizenship 22 Decree Laws 116/2024 and 158/2024: the first comprehensive limitations to the Nationality Law 23 TEXT BOX 1 TEXT BOX 2 25 Were revocation decisions made in advance of the formal announcement of Decree Law 116/2024 legal? Decree Law 52/2026: Kuwait’s new, restrictive citizenship framework 26 International human rights law violations in citizenship revocation and 2024/6 amendments 28 TEXT BOX 3 29 Sample selection of human rights violations arising from the GoK’s 2024-5 citizenship stripping campaign 30 Sample selection of human rights violations arising from the GoK’s 2024-5 citizenship stripping campaign 4