Citizenship and Equality in Practice: Comments on the Right to Nationality Submitted to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

In November 2005, the Open Society Justice Initiative submitted comments and recommendations to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to Resolution 2005/45 of the United Nations Human Rights Commission regarding the right to nationality and the right to be free from arbitrary deprivation of nationality enshrined in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Today, the international community is confronted with an acute crisis of statelessness as contemporary state practice reveals increasing violations of clear international legal prohibitions against discrimination, arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, and statelessness. The Justice Initiative's submission urges the international community to develop a comprehensive strategy to resolve statelessness.