THEY are Kuwaiti citizens. Many played a heroic role in resistance efforts against the Iraqi occupation. Some even died for their bravery.

They are active in nearly every sphere of the life of their country. They have a strong presence in most professions. Some occupy offices as high as ambassador, university rector, and ministry under-secretary.

Yet they are prohibited from taking part in the elections for Kuwait's parliament, or National Assembly, which take place today - because they are women.

Since the assembly was founded in 1963, women's rights campaigners have been demanding the right to vote. This time, they are determined to persuade the incoming parliament that women can exercise their democratic rights at the next elections, due in 2000.

Kuwaiti women enjoy more freedom and a more liberal culture than elsewhere in the Gulf Arab states, and their country is alone in this region in having an elected legislative assembly.

Equality of men and women is enshrined in the constitution but the electoral law contradicts this by restricting the vote to certain categories of the male population.

Islamic holy law, too, demands justice and equality. Yet it was an Islamic movement within the assembly which recently promoted a Bill to segregate male and female students at Kuwait University, in line with the practice in state schools. It is questionable whether this move, to be phased in over five years, will ever come to pass. University authorities have dismissed it as unfeasible. Either way, the fact that the assembly passed such a Bill has outraged the women's movement.

Many candidates in the current elections, including some of the Islamic politicians, made similar noises in the run-up to the last poll in 1992. However activists say change is in the air.

The movement is gathering momentum. For weeks, many women - and some men - have been wearing a blue ribbon to declare their support. Eight days ago about 300 women staged a strike and rally. Further protests are planned for today.

Among the younger activists who are playing a growing part in the campaign is Lubna Saif Abbas, who has a high-profile job in marketing and public relations with a state television station.

She said: ``A lot of young people are still facing the challenge of dictating the agenda. They don't feel they have that ability when in fact they do. We must focus on getting more of them involved.''

Candidates are being more open about supporting women's rights this time, she believes. ``I think they are anticipating something. They want to be labelled as pro-women before women get the vote. They know we won't vote for them otherwise.

``I think change is imminent. The receptivity is much higher than it ever was. It was not like this four years ago.''

The significance of the seven-month occupation of 1990-91 is highlighted by a seasoned campaigner, lawyer and lecturer Dr Badria al-Awadi. ``Women had a leading role. A lot of them were tortured and killed, and some are still prisoners of war in Iraq. The theory that women were not equal was completely demolished.

``We thought that after liberation, the attitude of men would be different, but unfortunately we were disappointed.''

The resistance of men to enfranchising women is not because of Islam, she believes, citing several Muslim countries where women participate fully in politics, but rather because of cultural tradition.

However she is optimistic about the new parliament changing the law. ``You cannot postpone it more. We are coming to the year 2000 at the next elections. Internationally, for the reputation of Kuwait, the present situation is not correct. What we have here is a minority democracy. It is bad for Kuwait as a whole, not just for the women.''

Voting rights aside, the law in Kuwait discriminates against women in many other ways. For example, the children of a Kuwaiti woman married to a foreign national are not considered Kuwaiti citizens.

A look at the foreign population itself raises more questions on human rights.

Kuwait's official citizenship of only 700,000 is outnumbered by a foreign population of more than one million, many of whom do all the lower-status work.

Many enjoy the welfare benefits granted to Kuwaiti citizens. Indeed, Kuwaiti officials will tell you that is why many came here. But they do not have anything like the same rights, even if they have lived here a long time.

The ``foreign'' population includes 120,000 Bedouins, or ``stateless'' Arabs, some of whom have lived here for generations. One of the election issues is whether they should be granted citizenship. The Government has urged them to register for identity cards as the first stage in a plan to decide who might be granted Kuwaiti nationality.

Another human rights issue is, of course, the more than 600 Kuwaitis and others still missing or being kept prisoners-of-war by Iraq since the occupation.

Efforts to persuade the Iraqis to reveal their fate, and return them dead or alive, are led by a committee whose director, Mr Duaje al-Ennizi, said: ``We feel obligated to see that the whole world is backing us on this humanitarian issue. We are confident that our people are still alive but the Iraqis keep moving them from one prison to another.''

No-one can fail to feel for the plight of the families of the missing and PoWs. Nor could anyone feel anything but horror at the infamous atrocities committed by Iraqi troops against civilians young and old during the occupation.

However Kuwait's own record on human rights, in the immediate aftermath of the occupation and since, is hardly exemplary.

In a vengeful backlash during the period of martial law, many foreign residents deemed to have been collaborators were tortured and executed by Kuwaiti security forces and vigilantes, according to Amnesty International which has also protested at ``manifestly unfair trials'', some of which have since resulted in judicial executions.

It has also voiced concern that Kuwait expelled hundreds of people, mostly Iraqis, Palestinians, and Bedouins, after the end of the occupation. Many were sent to Iraq, and many expulsions were summary, with individuals denied any right to seek asylum.

Since then, hundreds of others are believed to have been either deported or detained.

An Amnesty report earlier this year noted that Kuwait had embarked on political and human rights reforms since 1991.

However it added: ``Although the human rights situation has now improved considerably, the fundamental rights, usually of foreign nationals and stateless persons, continue to be violated.''