PLO Says Kuwaitis Killed and Tortured Many Palestinians
A PLO spokesman Friday accused Kuwaitis of killing 210 Palestinians and torturing hundreds more, including children, in Gulf War reprisals in the emirate.
The Palestine Liberation Organization said the 210 Palestinians had been tortured to death or executed by firing squad or hanging.
Bassam abu Sharif, senior political adviser to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, said Kuwaiti police had tortured several hundred other Palestinians, including children under 16, and that parts of the Mubarak hospital in Kuwait city were used for torture sessions. He said the dead were buried in mass graves.
Kuwaitis are angry over the PLO’s support for Iraq’s invasion and occupation of the emirate.
Human rights workers and witnesses said dozens of Palestinians, Iraqi civilians and Jordanians have been beaten, tortured and in some cases shot dead in a wholesale crackdown on suspected collaborators since Gulf allied troops entered Kuwait.
The Palestinian community in the emirate has reportedly dropped to about 170,000 from 400,000 before Iraq’s invasion.
Abu Sharif called on President Bush to apply human rights principles to the Gulf and criticized U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar for what he called silence on the issue.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
