RES/32/5 Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality

GE.16-12198(E)

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Human Rights Council Thirty-second session

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 30 June 2016

32/5. Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the purposes, principles and provisions of the Charter of the United

Nations,

Guided also by article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according

to which everyone has the right to a nationality and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of

his or her nationality,

Reaffirming its resolutions 7/10 of 27 March 2008, 10/13 of 26 March 2009, 13/2 of

24 March 2010, 20/4 of 5 July 2012, 20/5 of 16 July 2012 and 26/14 of 26 June 2014, and

all previous resolutions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on the issue of

human rights and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality,

Reaffirming also its resolution 19/9 of 22 March 2012, in which it took into

consideration the fact that persons without birth registration may be vulnerable to

statelessness and associated lack of protection,

Recognizing the authority of States to establish laws governing the acquisition,

renunciation or loss of nationality in accordance with international law, and noting that the

issue of statelessness is already under consideration by the General Assembly within the

broad issue of State succession,

Reaffirming the importance of the Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and

the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness as a means of preventing and reducing

statelessness and ensuring the protection of stateless persons,

Recalling the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular its articles 3, 7 and

8, which recognize the principle of the best interests of the child and guarantee the right of

the child to be registered immediately after birth and to acquire nationality,

Noting the provisions of other international human rights instruments and

international instruments on statelessness and nationality recognizing the right to acquire,

change or retain nationality or prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of nationality, inter alia,

article 5, paragraph (d) (iii), of the International Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Racial Discrimination, article 24, paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, articles 1 to 3 of the Convention on the Nationality of Married

Women, article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women, article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the

Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention relating to the Status of

Stateless Persons, as well as relevant regional instruments,

Noting also general recommendation No. 30 (2004) of the Committee on the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination,

Recalling that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality are protected by

international human rights and refugee law, as well as by instruments on statelessness,

including, with respect to State parties, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless

Persons and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto,

Stressing that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and

interrelated and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair

and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 70/135 of 17 December 2015, in which the

Assembly, inter alia, urged the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees to continue its work with regard to identifying stateless persons, preventing and

reducing statelessness and protecting stateless persons,

Welcoming the launch in November 2014 by the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees of the 10-year global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness,

Mindful of the endorsement by the General Assembly, in its resolution 41/70 of 3

December 1986, of the call upon all States to promote human rights and fundamental

freedoms and to refrain from denying them to individuals in their populations because of

nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or language,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions on the issue of the nationality of natural

persons in relation to the succession of States, in particular resolutions 55/153 of 12

December 2000, 59/34 of 2 December 2004, 63/118 of 11 December 2008 and 66/92 of 9

December 2011, in which the Assembly invited States to take into account the provisions of

the articles on nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States prepared

by the International Law Commission in dealing with issues of nationality of natural

persons in relation to the succession of States,

Recalling also the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,1 and recalling further

its goal 16, target 9, to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration,

Acknowledging that the principle of non-discrimination applies to the interpretation

and realization of the right to nationality,

Recognizing that the arbitrary deprivation of nationality disproportionately affects

persons belonging to minorities, and recalling the work done by the Special Rapporteur on

minority issues on the subject of the right to nationality,

Expressing its deep concern at the arbitrary deprivation of persons or groups of

persons of their nationality, especially on discriminatory grounds such as race, colour, sex,

language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or

other status,

1 General Assembly resolution 70/1.

Acknowledging that incidents of discriminatory deprivation of nationality, including

without a clear legislative basis or for which a legislative basis was exceptionally created,

have been a source of widespread suffering and statelessness in the past,

Noting that some of the situations mentioned above remain unresolved to this day

and have led to intergenerational statelessness, which affects the children and grandchildren

of those originally deprived of their nationality,

Recalling that arbitrarily depriving a person of his or her nationality may lead to

statelessness, and in this regard expressing concern at various forms of discrimination

against stateless persons that may violate the obligations of States under international

human rights law,

Emphasizing that the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons whose

nationality may be affected by State succession must be fully respected,

1. Reaffirms that the right to a nationality of every human person is a

fundamental human right enshrined in, inter alia, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights;

2. Stresses that the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, especially on

discriminatory grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other

opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status, including disability, is a

violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

3. Emphasizes that the statelessness of a person resulting from the arbitrary

deprivation of his or her nationality cannot be invoked by States as a justification for the

denial of other human rights;

4. Calls upon States to refrain from taking discriminatory measures and from

enacting or maintaining legislation that would arbitrarily deprive persons of their

nationality on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,

national or social origin, property, birth or other status, including disability, especially if

such measures and legislation render a person stateless;

5. Urges States to adopt and implement nationality legislation with a view to

avoiding statelessness, consistent with the principles of international law, in particular by

preventing the arbitrary deprivation of nationality and statelessness as a result of State

succession;

6. Encourages States to grant their nationality to persons who had habitual

residence in their territory before it was affected by the succession of States, especially if

those persons would otherwise become stateless;

7. Notes that the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms

of an individual might be impeded as a result of the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, and

that such individuals are placed in a situation of increased vulnerability to human rights

violations;

8. Expresses its concern that persons arbitrarily deprived of nationality may be

affected by poverty, social exclusion and limited legal capacity, which have an adverse

impact on their enjoyment of relevant civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights,

in particular in the areas of education, housing, employment, health and social security;

9. Reaffirms that every child has the right to acquire a nationality, and

recognizes the special needs of children for protection against arbitrary deprivation of

nationality;

10. Also reaffirms that the primary purpose of protecting the right of every child

to acquire a nationality is to prevent a child from being afforded less protection because he

or she is stateless;

11. Reiterates that the right to identity is intimately linked to the right of

nationality;

12. Urges States to register every child’s birth, regardless of the child’s or the

child’s parents’ nationality, statelessness or legal status, and to ensure that proof of identity

is available to all children;

13. Calls upon States to observe minimum procedural standards in order to

ensure that decisions concerning the acquisition, deprivation or change of nationality do not

contain any element of arbitrariness and are subject to review, in conformity with their

international human rights obligations;

14. Urges States in regulating loss and deprivation of nationality to ensure

incorporation in their domestic law of safeguards to prevent statelessness;

15. Calls upon States to ensure that such safeguards are implemented and access

of persons arbitrarily deprived of their nationality to effective remedies, including, but not

limited to, restoration of nationality, is provided;

16. Also calls upon States to consider whether loss or deprivation of nationality is

proportionate to the interest to be protected by the loss or deprivation, including in the light

of the severe impact of statelessness, and to consider alternative measures that could be

adopted;

17. Urges States to refrain from automatically extending the loss or deprivation

of nationality to a person’s dependents;

18. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the Human Rights

Council in accordance with its resolution 26/14,2 and the conclusions and recommendations

contained therein;

19. Stresses that the arbitrary deprivation of nationality places children in a

situation of increased vulnerability to human rights violations;

20. Urges States to ensure that children deprived of nationality enjoy fully their

human rights, including the rights to an identity, education, health, an adequate standard of

living, family life and freedom of movement;

21. Also urges States to ensure that children deprived of nationality are protected

at all times against all human rights violations, including exploitation, trafficking, torture or

other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the arbitrary deprivation of liberty;

22. Encourages States to consider acceding to the Convention relating to the

Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction on Statelessness if they

have not already done so;

23. Welcomes the ongoing efforts made in the field of reduction of statelessness

and combating arbitrary deprivation of nationality by different United Nations bodies and

entities and human rights treaty bodies;

24. Urges relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms and appropriate

treaty bodies, and encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees, to continue to collect information on the issue of human rights and arbitrary

2 A/HRC/31/29.

deprivation of nationality from all relevant sources, and to take account of such

information, together with any recommendations thereon, in their reports and activities

conducted within their respective mandates;

25. Encourages States to cooperate fully with such international initiatives as the

global #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness, and to respect their commitments under

the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including goal 16, target 9, which relates to

the provision of legal identity for all, including birth registration;

26. Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its

programme of work.

42nd meeting

30 June 2016

[Adopted without a vote.]