Report on Citizenship Law: Afghanistan children’s citizenship. If one of the parents abandons Afghan citizenship while the other maintains it, their children retain their Afghan citizenship. For married women and men the law indicates that they can maintain their citizenship unless the law of the spouse’s nationality does not let him or her maintain it. Article 28 stipulates that “if an Afghan marries a foreigner, he or she maintains his or her Afghan citizenship.” Afghanistan is party to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the citizenship law therefore follows the ‘Independent Citizenship Principle.’ Whether an Afghan man marries a foreign woman or a foreign man weds an Afghan woman, the marriage does not affect his or her citizenship. Afghan citizens who abandon their citizenship have to sell their real estate. Article 29 stipulates that “Anyone abandoning the Afghan nationality is bound to sell his or her unmovable property within the country. If he or she fails to sell his or her property within one year of the approval of his or her request to abandon his or her nationality, the government will sell his or her property and assets and the money will be paid to him or her.” Under article 15(2) of the UDHR, “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality nor denied the right to change his or her nationality.” The principle of prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of citizenship is respected in Afghan laws and Afghans cannot be deprived of their citizenship except in the cases mentioned in the law. Article 4 of the constitution stipulates that “no individual of the nation of Afghanistan shall be deprived of citizenship.” Deprivation of citizenship only happens if citizens are engaged in activities which pose a threat to the national security of Afghanistan or commit treason. According to Article 31 of the law on citizenship, a person’s citizenship can be forfeited in the following cases: 1) if they are involved in treachery against the country and the nation; or 2) if they serve in the army of a government engaged in war against Afghanistan. In 1979, the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan released a decree (‘decree (5)’) which negated the citizenship of 23 people, including members of Nader Khan’s family, their brothers and affiliated persons, and particularly the previous king of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, due to their cooperation with aliens, foreign enemies of the regime, treason against national independence, sovereignty and national interests, and for misusing public properties.20 The king and his family could not travel to Afghanistan and therefore stayed in Italy until the international intervention in Afghanistan in 2001. However, decree (5) was abolished when Dr. Najeebullah, President of the Republic of Afghanistan, gained power in 1992. The President released another decree in relation to the revocation of decree (5).21 This new decree indicated that in consideration of the necessity of national unity, ending the conflict and bloodshed and accepting that Afghans could contribute to the reconstruction of their country, decree (5) was abolished and the citizenship of king Mohammad Zaher Shah and the members of his family and affiliated persons was restored. 20 Decree (5) of the Revolutionary Council of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1979) in relation to involuntary renunciation of the citizenship by betrayers of the country. 21 Decree of the President of the Republic of Afghanistan (1992) in relation to revocation of decree (5) and restoration of citizenship. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/9 - © 2017 Author 11