Eleven Iraqis and three Kuwaitis are due to appear before the State Security Court on 5 June 1993 on charges of plotting to assassinate the former United States (US) president George Bush during his visit to Kuwait in April 1993. Twelve of the defendants could face the death penalty if convicted. At a press conference on 16 May, Kuwait’s Public Prosecutor announced that the defendants had “confessed” to acting on behalf of the Iraq Government. There is concern that the necessary measures to protect the defendants from torture or ill-treatment during interrogation may not have been taken, and that “confessions” extracted under duress may later be used to convict them.
