Stripping foreign fighters of their citizenship: International human rights and humanitarian law considerations International human rights law12 This brief part will look at the legality of deprivation of nationality under international human rights law. The measure has an impact on a crucial right, namely the right to nationality, as can be found in various international and regional human rights treaties.13 The famous philosopher Hannah Arendt referred in her The Origins of Totalitarianism to “the right to have rights”,14 which clarifies immediately how serious the impact of deprivation of nationality can be. For this reason alone, it has been argued that the measure can never be in compliance with modern international human rights law.15 It is submitted that this is indeed correct. According to Article 8, paragraph 1 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, “[a] Contracting State shall not deprive a person of its nationality if such deprivation would render him stateless.” However, this rule is not the only element to consider. The basic rule of the recent publication Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, which was developed after two and half years of research, involving more than 60 international experts and synthesizing all relevant international standards, reads that “States shall not deprive persons of nationality for the purpose of safeguarding national security.”16 The Principles then explain that if this happens nonetheless, “the exercise of this exception should be interpreted and applied narrowly, only in situations in which it has been determined by a lawful conviction that meets international fair trial standards, that the person has conducted themselves in a manner seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the state”.17 Moreover, this exception is further limited by other international law standards, including not only the just-mentioned avoidance of 12 This part is based on C. Paulussen, “Towards a Right to Sustainable Security of Person in Times of Terrorism? Assessing Possibilities and Limitations Through a Critical Evaluation of Citizenship Stripping and Non-Repatriation Policies”, Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Vol. 26, Issue 1 (Spring 2021), available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcsl/kraa022, Section 2.B. 13 See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 15, para. 1; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Art. 5, para. d(iii); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Art. 9; Convention on the Rights of the Child, Arts 7 and 8; American Convention on Human Rights, Art. 20; European Convention on Nationality, Art. 4 (a); Arab Charter on Human Rights, Art. 24; Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam, Art. 7; ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, Art. 18; CIS Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Art. 24. See Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Draft Commentary to the Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, 2020, available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES_ Draft_Commentary.pdf, pp. 27–28. 14 See H. Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, Penguin Classics, Random House UK, London, 2017, pp. 388 and 390. See also L. Faghfouri Azar, “Hannah Arendt: The Right to Have Rights”, Critical Legal Thinking, 12 July 2019, available at: https://criticallegalthinking.com/2019/07/12/hannah-arendtright-to-have-rights/. 15 See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amicus Brief, Presented by the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Before: The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, 23 October 2018, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Racism/SR/Amicus/DutchImmigration_Amicus.pdf, para. 25. 16 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, February 2020, available at: https://www.institutesi.org/year-of-action-resources/principles-ondeprivation-of-nationality, p. 9. 17 Ibid. 609