indefinite detention”. 7. The prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality is set out in Article 15(2) UDHR and is subsequently enshrined in different international and regional legal instruments. Article 18(1)(a) CRPD obliges States Parties to ensure that persons with disabilities “have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of disability”. Article 9(1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also provides that “States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force upon her the nationality of the husband”. Article 7 CRC sets out children’s right to acquire a nationality, and Article 8(1) provides that States “undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, […] without unlawful interference”. The UN General Assembly has reiterated the importance of the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality by noting that it constitutes a “fundamental principle of international law”. Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights has held that arbitrary denial or revocation of nationality might, in certain circumstances, raise an issue under Article 8 of the ECHR because of the impact of such a denial on the private life of the individual.10 8. The principle of prohibition against torture or other inhuman and degrading treatment, as established in the Convention against Torture, is also enshrined in the UDHR (Article 5), the ICCPR (Article 7), the CRC (Article 37(a)), the ECHR (Article 3), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 4), and the Geneva Conventions (Common Article 3). The Committee against Torture also states that the prohibition against torture is a fundamental principle of customary international law.11 Previous recommendations by human rights bodies 9. Belgium was previously reviewed during the 11th, 24th and 38th sessions of the Universal Periodic Review, in 2011, 2016 and 2021 respectively. In the second cycle, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recommended that Belgium should (i) adopt a specific, accessible, fair and effective procedure for the recognition of statelessness, or improve the existing procedure, in accordance with the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (“1954 Convention”) and the guiding principles of UNHCR, (ii) grant a residence permit to recognised stateless persons in Belgium, (iii) grant a temporary residence permit to applicants pending the statelessness determination procedure, and (iv) issue travel documents to all stateless persons lawfully residing in Belgium.12 10. In 2019, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed Belgium’s efforts to accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (“1961 Convention”).13 The E.g. European Court of Human Rights, Ramadan v. Malta, application no. 76136/12, judgment of 21 June 201; Ghoumid and others v. France, applications no. 52273/16, 52285/16, 52290/16, 52294/16 and 52302/16, judgment of 25 June 2020; K2 v. the United Kingdom, application no. 42387/13, decision of 7 February 2017. 11 UN Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of article 2 by State parties, 2008, CAT/C/GC/2, para. 1. 12 UNHCR, Submission for the universal periodic review of Belgium, 2nd cycle, 24th session, p. 15, available at https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=2427&file=EnglishTranslation. 13 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth reports of Belgium, 1 February 2019, CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6, para. 3 at https://undocs.org/CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6. 10 3