19. In 2024, South Sudan acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, marking an important step in strengthening its international legal commitments in this area.7 20. In the same year, South Sudan also acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).8 These instruments include provisions relevant to the right to a nationality and nondiscrimination, including Article 24(3) of the ICCPR, Articles 2(2) and 3 of the ICESCR, and Article 18 of the CRPD. 21. Further, the Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure provide important guidance on the question of deprivation of nationality. They consolidate international law and legal standards under the UN Charter, treaty law, customary international law, general principles of law, judicial decisions and legal scholarship, and regional and national law and practice. They restate and reflect the international law obligations of States when taking or considering taking steps to deprive nationality as a national security measure.9 22. According to the analysis of international law standards presented in the Principles, state discretion in relation to deprivation of nationality is subject to the individual right to nationality, the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, the prohibition of discrimination and the obligation to avoid statelessness. Furthermore, the impact of nationality deprivation on the enjoyment of other human rights, humanitarian and refugee law obligations and standards must be taken into consideration when assessing the legality of citizenship deprivation. These include the right to enter and remain in one’s own country, the prohibition of refoulement, the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the liberty and security of the person the right to private and family life, legal personhood and the rights of the child. Any measures to deprive nationality must also comply with due process safeguards.10 Regional Legal Framework 23. At the regional level, South Sudan is a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Articles 5 and 6), the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Article 6), and the 1969 OAU Convention governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. 24. South Sudan signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2013 but has not yet ratified it. While signature entails an obligation not to defeat the object and purpose of the treaty, ratification is required for its provisions to become legally binding. This is particularly significant as Article 6 guarantees every child the 7 ‘UNHCR welcomes South Sudan’s accession to two UN Statelessness Conventions’, November 2024, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/unhcr-welcomes-south-sudans-accession-two-un-statelessness-conventions. 8 UN Treaty Body Database, ‘View the ratification status by country or by treaty’, available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=215&Lang=en. 9 Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, March 2020, available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES.pdf. 10 Ibid. 4