Kuwaiti lawyer Adel Abdulhadi has filed a “formal constitutional challenge” of the country’s 2015 counter-terrorism legislation that requires citizens, travelers and expatriates to provide the government with a DNA sample for a database, The International Business Times reports. The globally first-of-its-kind law is set to go into effect in November, the report states. Abdulhadi says the legislation is an affront to “fundamental human rights and personal freedoms protected and sacred by the Kuwait Constitution” and that “compelling every citizen, resident and visitor to submit a DNA sample to the government is similar to forcing house searches without a warrant.” While the Kuwaiti government has emphasized that the law is solely to curb terrorism and not an infringement of privacy, those who refuse to participate could face prison or a $33,000 fine, the report states.
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