Kuwait

While Kuwait's often contentious parliamentary politics remained stable in 2015, the government intensified its crackdown on opposition figures and those most critical of the regime. Prominent dissidents, including former parliamentarian Musallam al-Barak and activist Saleh al-Saeed, were sentenced to prison during the year over their criticism of the government. Others, such as legislator Abdulhamid Dahsti, were threatened with prosecution. The authorities also continued harassing critical media, including the newspaper Al-Watan and a number of associated entities.

The Sabahklatura that runs the Kuwait government is immensely wealthy, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, derived from tax/'royalty' loot extracted from oil producers simply because the Sabah tribe claims 'sovereignty' over that valuable chunk of desert real estate. The Sabah tribe has no legitimate claim to the oil revenue; it did nothing to homestead or mix its labor or any other resource with the crude oil.