Rights Group: Kuwait deports arrested Islamists to Egypt

CAIRO – A leading rights group says Kuwait has deported eight arrested Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood group, convicted at home on terrorism charges.

Human Rights Watch says Monday the eight were “unlawfully returned”, “despite the serious risk of torture and persecution they face in Egypt.”

Kuwait last week said it detained members of the Brotherhood, with some sentenced in Egypt to 15 years behind bars. The country’s state-run KUNA news agency said Sunday authorities deported “the wanted Egyptians.”

Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch said “it’s horrendous that Kuwait is acting at the behest of abusive Egyptian security agencies and returning dissidents to face torture and persecution.”

Kuwait, unlike Egypt and Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, hasn’t branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.