3.1.2 Right to peaceful assembly and association Despite the recommendations it accepted during the last UPR16 and the fact that these rights are enshrined in the Constitution,17 Kuwait continued to restrict, during the reporting period, freedom of peaceful assembly and association both in law and practice. Decree Law No. 65 of 1979 on Public Meetings and Gatherings prohibits gatherings without prior licence and punishes anyone who participates in, calls for, or organises such gatherings with up to six years of imprisonment and a fine.18 The law further prohibits the participation of non-nationals in public gatherings.19 During the reporting period, the Court of Appeals convicted more than 60 people for their participation in the 2011 demonstrations at the Kuwaiti parliament.20 Furthermore, the authorities have failed to investigate the excessive use of force by police and security forces in the dispersal of past peaceful protests and prosecute the perpetrators, despite the recommendations made by the HRCttee in 2016.21 With regard to freedom of association, Law No. 24 of 1962 on Clubs and Public Welfare Societies continues to provide the Kuwaiti authorities with broad powers to unduly restrict the work of civil society in the country. The law requires any newly established civil society organisation to register with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, and it also strictly regulates their fundraising activities and bars them from any political or religious engagement. Recommendations: • Amend Decree Law No. 65 of 1979 on Public Meetings and Gatherings and Law No. 24 of 1962 on the Clubs and Public Welfare Societies to ensure they respect and 16 Supported: 157.173 (Australia); 157.182 (France); 157.183 (Uruguay). Available at: https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Kuwait_1992.pdf?lang=en (accessed 16 July 2019), articles 42 and 43. 18 Available at: https://menarights.org/sites/default/files/2016-12/KWT_PublicGatheringsLaw_651979_AR.pdf, (accessed 16 July 2019), articles 16-20. 19 Ibid, article 12. 20 In November 2017, the Court of Appeals sentenced 67 people to prison terms ranging between one and nine years for their participation in the 2011 demonstrations at the Kuwaiti parliament. 65 of those convicted were sentenced for charges of participating in an unlicensed public assembly or gathering. For more, see: Human Rights Watch, Kuwait: Mass Convictions for 2011 Protest, 18 December 2017 https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/18/kuwait-mass-convictions-2011-protest, (accessed 10 July 2019). Only 44 of them were released on bail in February 2018. For more, see: Human Rights Watch, Kuwait Releases Protesters on Bail, 21 February 2018, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/21/kuwait-releasesprotesters-bail, (accessed 10 July 2019). In July 2018, the Court of Cassation upheld the convictions of 16 members of the opposition, human rights defenders and peaceful demonstrators for their participation in the 2011 protests. For more, see: Human Rights Watch, World Report 2019 - Kuwait, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/kuwait, (accessed 11 July 2019). 21 HRCttee, Concluding observations on the third periodic report of Kuwait, CCPR/C/KWT/CO/3, 11 August 2016, para. 43. 17 7 UPR KUWAIT