A/HRC/43/41/Add.1 She was pleased to learn that forced sterilization of women with disabilities is prohibited by law. Nevertheless, she was informed that non-Kuwaitis with disabilities have access to medical care and medication of a lower quality than Kuwaiti nationals, or else they have to resort to private health care at their own expense, which many are unable to afford. 61. The Government provides some assistive devices based on the technical decision of the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs. However, the list of available devices is limited to hearing aids and only a few categories of wheelchair. As part of its efforts to implement Sustainable Development Goal 3, which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, the Special Rapporteur encourages Kuwait to incorporate the Priority Assistive Products List of the World Health Organization (WHO) through the development of a national assistive technology policy responding to the needs of the diversity of persons with disabilities. 62. In the area of mental health, the Special Rapporteur was informed about ongoing efforts to transition from institutional care to community-based mental health care, which is a positive development. However, during her visit to the Kuwaiti Centre for Mental Health, she noted that 46 persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities had been locked in the institution’s wards for “chronic patients” for more than 10 years, in overcrowded rooms that had little ventilation or natural light, and where residents appeared to engage in few daily activities. In the children’s ward, she was concerned to see that children as young as 11 years old were receiving strong antipsychotic medication and electroconvulsive therapy. She was also concerned to learn that many children and adults with psychosocial disabilities at this Centre receive psychiatric care based on consent provided by their relatives, including for the administration of medication and electroconvulsive therapies. The Special Rapporteur urges Kuwait to take immediate action to close the five wards for chronic patients at this Centre (97 beds in total) and to ensure that all health-care interventions are provided on the basis of the free and informed consent of the persons concerned. In January 2019, the parliament passed Law No. 9/2019 on mental health, which reportedly requires the Ministry of Health to set up residential mental health centres and grant licences to private mental health centres. The Special Rapporteur expresses concern about this new Law and recommends instead implementing supported housing programmes that ensure the right of all persons with disabilities to live independently in the community. J. Denial of legal capacity 63. Equal recognition of the legal capacity of persons with disabilities is a core obligation under article 12 of the Convention, which covers both the capacity to be a rights holder and to act in accordance with the law. Kuwait introduced an interpretative declaration on article 12 (2) of the Convention stating that the enjoyment of legal capacity shall be subject to the conditions applicable under Kuwaiti law. 64. The Special Rapporteur noted with concern that article 107 of the Civil Code restricts the legal capacity of persons with disabilities and appoints a guardian, called judicial assistance, to those who “suffer from severe physical incapacity, particularly if deaf and dumb, deaf and blind, or blind and dumb”. Furthermore, article 109 stipulates that “if a person cannot, due to physical condition or illness, conclude a disposal even with judicial assistance, the court may permit the judicial assistant to conclude it unilaterally, on that person’s behalf, if failure to conclude would threaten the person’s interests”. Similarly, she was informed that blind persons must be accompanied by a third person to act as a witness when they carry out certain commercial transactions, such as opening a bank account, which limits those persons’ capacity to act on their own. Among its competencies, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the “receipt and management of legacies that go to Kuwaiti minors and incompetent persons, taking care of their affairs in accordance with the provisions of law”. 5 65. The Special Rapporteur would like to stress that, far from being protected, persons placed under this regime are deprived of the legal capacity to exercise their rights, and are at risk of abuse and segregation. In Kuwait, it is normally the relatives and extended family 5 Kuwait, Ministry of Justice, “Competencies of the Ministry of Justice”. Available from www.moj.gov.kw/en/pages/02.aspx (accessed on 12 April 2019). 13