161. In addition to the international (human rights) law standards mentioned above, the principle on
the right to liberty and security of the person is also contained in other international and regional
instruments, including the CRC (Article 37), the CMW (Article 16(1)), the CRPD (Article 14), the
ECHR (Article 5), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Article 6), the ACHR(Article 7), the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Article 1), and the ACHPR (Article 6).
162. The right to liberty and security of the person is composed of two separate rights, where the
former concerns “freedom from confinement of the body, not a general freedom of action and
the latter concerns “freedom from injury to the body and the mind, or bodily and mental
integrity .277 This right extends to everyone, including, but not limited to, “girls and boys, soldiers,
persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, aliens, refugees and
asylum seekers, stateless persons, migrant workers, persons convicted of crime, and persons who
have engaged in terrorist activity .278 The right to liberty and security is, however, not absolute.279
It has been recognised by the HRC, and is also implicit in Article 9 of ICCPR, that detention may,
in certain instances, be justified. This is the case, for example, where concerns the enforcement
of criminal laws. According to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the prohibition of
arbitrary detention is, however, a “non-derogable norm of customary international law, or jus
cogens .280 The requirement of non-arbitrariness is absolute, and arbitrary detention cannot be
justified on grounds of national emergencies, maintaining national security or controlling the
movements of immigrants or asylum seekers. States must thus not arbitrarily detain a person.
This means that detention may only be justified when the principles of legitimacy of purpose,
legality, necessity, proportionality, and due process are respected.281 Furthermore, it is essential
that anyone deprived of their liberty has their right to bring proceedings before a court, so that
the court may decide on the lawfulness of the detention.
163. Those deprived of their nationality, regardless of whether or not they have been left stateless as
a result, are at a higher risk of arbitrary detention. According to the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, detention during the period when attempts are being made to establish the identity
or nationality of a person or to secure their deportation can result in prolonged detention.282 This
is particularly the case when the country of origin (or of the second nationality) is unable or
refuses to cooperate in the determination (of nationality) or expulsion proceedings, which
prevents the completion of such proceedings and may even result in indefinite detention. Such
prolonged or indefinite detentions are clearly arbitrary. Those left stateless as a result of
deprivation of nationality, or persons deprived of nationality with a presumed second nationality
that is not recognised by that State or is refused readmission, are even more likely to be detained
arbitrarily.283 The ECtHR held that stateless persons are highly vulnerable to be “left to languish
277
Human Rights Committee, ‘General Comment No. : Article Liberty and security of person ’
CCPR C/GC/35, para 3.
id.
279
ibid, para 10.
280 UN Human Rights Council, ’Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’ A HRC
December
, on Deliberation No. 9 (p.
16), para 51.
281 This is in accordance with Principle 7 on arbitrary deprivation of nationality. See also, Equal Rights Trust, Guidelines to Protect Stateless
Persons from Arbitrary Detention (June 2012), available at: https://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/guidelines%20main.pdf,
Guideline 25, p. 16 (Guidelines with Commentary: https://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/guidelines%20complete.pdf, Guideline
25 w commentary, p. 76.]
282 UN Human Rights Council, ‘Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the
Right to Development: Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’, A HRC
, para .
283
European Network on Statelessness, 'Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: An Agenda for Change' (April 2017), available at:
https://www.statelessness.eu/resources/protecting-stateless-persons-arbitrary-detention-agenda-change, p. 7.
278
79
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