of their parents or who have become Belgian nationals at birth.38 20. Article 2(2) of the Convention against Torture emphasises that ‘no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as justification of torture’. The Committee against Torture identifies threats of terrorist acts or violent crime to be among these exceptional circumstances that cannot constitute justification of torture.39 By depriving persons of their nationality, States may violate the absolute and customary prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. 21. In practice, in Belgium, deprivation of nationality is a discriminatory measure as it does not apply to birthright citizens but is limited to naturalised citizens, including persons with a migrant heritage who are more likely to belong to ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities. In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism has stated that: “States' obligations to ensure equality and non-discrimination with regards to the enjoyment of nationality apply with regard to all citizenship deprivation decisions, not only in cases where deprivation of citizenship might result in statelessness.” 40 Recommendations: 5) Protect everyone’s right to a nationality and amend national laws to comply with international obligations which prohibit the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and discrimination, while ensuring the avoidance of statelessness. 6) Amend the Belgian Nationality Code to bring provisions on deprivation of nationality in line with best practice, international standards and the principle of non-discrimination. ISSUE 3 – Statelessness determination and the rights of stateless persons in Belgium 22. As mentioned above, stateless people face a heightened risk of arbitrary and lengthy detention, particularly where statelessness is not identified and the specific vulnerabilities of stateless people are not addressed. Identifying stateless people in the country and determining their statelessness is therefore the first step to providing adequate protection and enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the 1954 Convention. The co-submitting organisations recommend that this is best fulfilled through a dedicated statelessness determination procedure, in line with UNHCR’s guidelines.41 For more information, visit the Statelessness Index on Belgium: http://index.statelessness.eu/country/belgium. Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2: Implementation of article 2 by State parties, 2008, CAT/C/GC/2, para 5. 40 UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, ‘Amicus Brief before the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service’, 23 October 2018. 41 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/uk/protection/statelessness/53b698ab9/handbook-protection-stateless-persons.html 38 39 8