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Kuwait’s DNA Act required all citizens, residents, and visitors to submit DNA samples, but was ruled unconstitutional in 2017. Human rights advocates say DNA databases can be effective but must be tightly regulated.
Kuwait introduced Law No. 78/2015 in response to a 2015 suicide bombing at a mosque that killed 27 people and injured 227 others. It required all Kuwaiti citizens, foreign residents and visitors to submit DNA samples and imposed a prison sentence of one year and a fine of 10,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($33,000 USD) for anyone who refused. The legislation, known as the DNA Act, was designed to protect the country’s citizens, but it didn’t last long. In 2017, Kuwait’s high court ruled that the law violated articles in the Kuwaiti constitution that protect personal liberty and privacy. The sentence was considered final, with no possibility of appeal.
Too broad and too invasive:
“The law was too broad a bludgeon that lacked basic safeguards or restrictions and opened the door for government abuse,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
DNA harvesting databases are not inherently illegal and can be effective investigative tools, rights advocates say, but they must be tightly regulated, narrow in scope, and meet a legitimate security objective.
Had the law been fully enacted, Kuwait would have been the first country in the world to require the mandatory collection of DNA samples from all of its citizens.
