A/HRC/10/34
page 8
Guatemala
25. The Government of Guatemala stated it has ratified the Convention Relating to the Status
of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Government has
also withdrawn all reservations and declarations to the Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees and its Protocol. Article 144 of the Guatemala Constitution indicates that Guatemalan
citizens may not be deprived of their nationality. Guatemalan citizens who obtained their
Guatemalan citizenship at birth may not be deprived of their nationality even when a second
nationality has been acquired, except when renunciation of Guatemalan nationality is
compulsory in order to obtain the nationality of the other State. In those cases, persons with a
legal domicile in Guatemala may request that their Guatemalan nationality be subsequently
reinstated.
26. The Government indicated that during the internal armed conflict certain municipalities’
archives were burnt, thus leading to the loss of relevant identification documents. Due to the lack
of adequate access to certain parts of the country, a number of persons have never registered
their children, leaving them without any valid identification. The Government stated that more
than 1 million citizens do not have personal identification documents, a situation that affects the
exercise of citizens’ rights, particularly the right to a nationality. Efforts have been made to
include persons on electoral lists, particularly women, to guarantee the exercise of their political
rights. In 2005, the Government of Guatemala created the National Registry of Persons, which
began to function in 2007. Its objective is to organize and keep a unified registry of identification
of all persons. The Government also indicated that another challenge is to convince all persons to
register, particularly in light of the cost of obtaining personal documentation, including
transportation to registration offices.
Iraq
27. The Government of Iraq stated that, according to its Constitution, every Iraqi citizen has
the right to a nationality. Article 15 of Law No. 26 of 2006 indicates that persons may be
deprived of Iraqi citizenship if they carry out acts that are dangerous to the safety and security of
the State and if, when submitting an application for naturalization, they provide false information
about themselves or members of their families.
Islamic Republic of Iran
28. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that article 41 of the Constitution
indicates that all Iranians have the right to Iranian citizenship. The Government may not deprive
Iranians from their citizenship unless persons request it or if they acquire the citizenship of
another country. Article 42 of the Constitution establishes that foreign nationals may apply to
acquire Iranian citizenship. These persons may be deprived of their citizenship only if another
State agrees to accord them its citizenship, or if they voluntarily renounce Iranian citizenship.
The Government stated that the latest amendment to the State Civil Code of September 2006
indicates that children born in Iran of a marriage between Iranian women and foreign men may
apply for Iranian citizenship after reaching 18 years of age. Applicants will be granted Iranian
citizenship provided that they have no criminal or security record and that they renounce their
non-Iranian citizenship. From the date of the adoption of the law, those persons who are born in
Iran of a marriage between an Iranian woman and a foreign man, and when the marriage has