Kuwait is about to become the first country to require all citizens, expatriates, residents and visitors to provide a DNA sample to the government database.
The law, that is expected to go into effect in November, was ratified in 2015, a week after the suicide bombing of the Shiite Imam Al-Sadiq mosque in Kuwait. The law should increase national security and help solving crimes.
Political activist Marzouq Al-Khalifa now pointed out „this law was passed on the sideline of the parliamentary session and the Parliament took advantage of the Imam AL-Sadiq incident.“ He added that the government wanted to adopt this law since 2007 but at that time it was rejected by the Parliament. Al-Khalifa urged the government of Kuwait to shut the doors to the DNA database program.
Recently, national and international pressure against the controversial law is rising. Constitutional Law expert Dr Muhammad Al-Faili said the law violates constitutional rights and that concern of misuse and restriction of personal freedom is growing. Meanwhile, local attorney Adel Abdulhadi personally decided to challenge this law (Read more). Moreover, the UN Human Rights Committee, Human Rights Watch and the European Society of Human Genetics, have reached out to Kuwait’s government to amend or cancel the law.
Source: Arab Times