(Washington, D.C., April 14, 2026) – In response to the six-week detention of Kuwait-American journalist of Palestinian descent Ahmed Shihab-Eldin in Kuwait without charges, DAWN issues the following statement:
"Six weeks in prison for sharing publicly available footage of a war is censorship, not national security," said Omar Shakir, DAWN's executive director. "Kuwait should immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed Shihab-Eldin."
"Kuwait's friendly fire took down U.S. jets. Now it is apparently locking up a U.S. citizen for talking about it," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's advocacy director. "Just as the Trump administration zealously campaigned for the release of unlawfully detained Americans across the globe, they should designate Ahmed Shihab-Eldin as wrongfully detained under U.S. law and use all their leverage to press Kuwait to release Ahmed Shihab-Eldin."
"Detaining a journalist for six weeks without charge and with limited access to legal counsel for their reporting should alarm everyone who cares about freedom of the press," said Omid Memarian, Communications Director at DAWN. "Kuwait's actions undermine basic due process and human rights guarantees and send a chilling signal to journalists and the public alike, especially amid a war when access to reliable information is so critical."
