92 | Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic regulated in the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention to Reduce the Number of Cases of Statelessness, and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. 207. Within the Inter-American Human Rights System, the right to nationality was first recognized in Article XIX of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. Thereafter, Article 20 of the American Convention on Human Rights also recognized the right to nationality. It reads as follows: 1. Every person has the right to a nationality. 2. Every person has the right to the nationality of the state in whose territory he was born if he does not have the right to any other nationality. 3. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality or of the right to change it. 208. Under Article 20 of the American Convention, every person has the right to acquire, retain and change one’s nationality. The right of every person to keep his or her nationality follows from the Convention provision that absolutely prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of nationality. 214 The importance that the American Convention attaches to the right to nationality is corroborated by the fact that it is among the Convention’s non-derogable rights, which means that it is one of the rights that, under its Article 27(2), cannot be suspended in case of war, public danger or other emergency that threatens a State’s independence or security. 215 209. The American Convention upholds the right to nationality in two respects: in the sense of entitling the individual to a minimum of legal protection in human and other relations by establishing that individual’s connection to a given State, and in the sense of protecting the individual from being arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality because if the individual were to lose his or her nationality, he or she would be deprived of all political rights and those civil rights that are based on one’s 213 214 215 women; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 18; and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Article 29. See, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Article 6; the Arab Charter of Human Rights, Article 29; the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam, Article 7; the European Convention on Nationality, Article 4; and the Commonwealth of Independent States Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 24. In its resolution 50/152, the United Nations General Assembly also recognizes how essential the prohibition banning arbitrary deprivation of nationality is. For its part, in its resolution A/HRC/RES/10/13, the United Nations Human Rights Council recognizes that the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, especially on discriminatory grounds such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, is a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. I/A Court H.R., Case of the Girls Yean and Bosico v. Dominican Republic. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 8, 2005. Series C No. 130, par. 136. Here, the Inter-American Court has recognized those rights that cannot be suspended as a core of nonderogable rights. Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of January 31, 2006. Series C No. 140, par. 119; and Case of González et al. (“Cotton Field”), par. 244. See in this regard, Habeas Corpus in Emergency Situations (Arts. 27(2), 25(1) and 7(6) American Convention on Human Rights). Advisory Opinion OC-8/87 of January 30, 1987. Series A No. 8, para. 23. Organization of American States | OAS

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents