to nationality,18 the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, 19 the prohibition of discrimination20 and the obligation to avoid statelessness.21 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.22 Any measures to deprive nationality must also comply with due process safeguards and the right to a fair trial. 23 19. Contestations around migration in Assam have resulted in a distinctly stringent citizenship regime, oriented towards the detection, detention, and deportation of “foreigners”. Politicisation of and anxieties surrounding large-scale migration can be traced back to colonial land re-settlement policies; transportation of indentured labour; and, later, the 1971 war in Bangladesh, which saw the arrival of Bengali refugees. “Antiforeigner” agitation in Assam from 1979-1985 saw significant levels of violence, notably including the Nellie massacre in 1983 which saw almost 2,000 Bengali Muslims murdered in one day. 24 This period of agitation ended with the signing of the Assam Accord and the CAA 1985. 20. Quasi-judicial Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) have been established under this regime to undertake citizenship determination and detect “illegal migrants” in Assam. The rules governing these bodies are a legacy of colonial-era legislation, the Foreigners Act, 1946. Crucially, they impose a reverse burden of proof on individuals, requiring them to verify their citizenship if questioned in any proceeding. 25 There is no legal threshold for claiming “suspicion” concerning a person’s citizenship status and therefore initiating a case against them. At least 125,333 persons in Assam have had “doubtful” inserted against their names in electoral rolls, resulting in the suspension of their voting rights and a requirement to prove their Indian citizenship before a FT. 26 Analysis of documents which precede the designation of an individual as a “doubtful” voter reveal a number of problems with corresponding inquiries, including incomplete forms, incorrect information about the person in question, and the absence of any recorded statement by them.27 This appears to be a feature rather than an unintended shortcoming of this 18 Human Rights Council Resolution 7/10, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/7/10 (27 March 2008); Human Rights Council Resolution 10/13, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/10/13 (26 March 2009); Human Rights Council Resolution 13/2, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/13/2 (24 April 2010); Human Rights Council Resolution 20/4, The right to a nationality: women and children, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/20/4 (16 July 2012); Human Rights Council Resolution 20/5, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/20/5 (16 July 2012); Human Rights Council Resolution 26/14, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/26/14 (11 July 2014); Human Rights Council Resolution 32/5, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/32/5 (15 July 2016). 19 Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, March 2020. Available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES.pdf., Principle 7. See also, the Draft Commentary to the Principles, available at: https://files.institutesi.org/Principles_COMMENTARY.pdf. 20 Ibid Principle 6. 21 Ibid Principle 5. 22 Ibid Principle 9. 23 Ibid Principle 8 24 Makiko Kimura, ”The Nellie massacre of 1983: Agency of rioters“ 7 (New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2013) ; Surabhi Chopra, Archives of Violence: Seeking and Preserving Records of Mass Sectarian Attacks in India, 28 NLSI Rev. 61 (2016) 25 Section 9 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 26 Assam State Legislative Assembly, Reply to Unstarred Question No. 152 on 12 February 2018, available at https://cjp.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Assam-Legislative-Assembly-Foreigners-Tribunal-12-02-2018.pdf 27 Based on interviews of lawyers practicing in Foreigners Tribunals and at the Gauhati High Court 6