Kuwait is not the worst violators of human rights in the Middle East and does not hold a candle to neighbor Saudi Arabia. In fact, of all Arab governments - excluding Iraq - Kuwait is the most democratic. Although it only gave women the right to vote about 4 years ago, it is progressive in many other ways.

It has a freely elected parliament that appoints a prime minister who then is the head of government, and he has real - albeit limited - power. Kuwait also has a vibrant, though not interesting or influential, press corps.

But there are certain arenas where Kuwait is still very dogmatic and abusive: criticisms of the royal family, the al-Sahabs.

Kuwait’s criminal court sentenced an Australian mother of Arab origin to two years in jail on Monday for allegedly insulting the emir, her lawyer said.

This women is a bidouns Arab which makes her situation even more oppressive in this discriminatory state:

Previously they lived in Kuwait among the some 100,000 bidouns, or stateless Arabs.

Bidouns have no right to work, obtain a birth certificate for their babies or even get their marriage certificate attested.

Some Kuwait nationalists like to brag that their country is the best in the way of democracy in the region, one Kuwait actually told me with a straight face that Kuwait is more democratic than Turkey. In his dreams.

Kuwait is not bad, but it still has a way to go.