Statelessness in Southern Africa contains strong anti-discrimination measures, but it reflects continuing unease among some AU member states about gender equality in matters of nationality, and in fact contradicts both the Charter and CEDAW in its provisions. It allows national law to override the non-discrimination presumptions of the treaty in relation to passing citizenship to children, and it does not provide for the right of a woman to pass citizenship to her husband.11 By October 2011, 30 countries had ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and another 19 had signed it.12 Racial discrimination is also prohibited by all the major human rights treaties, and in particular the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Under Article 5 of CERD, States Parties undertake to eliminate racial discrimination in the enjoyment of other rights, including the right to nationality. All southern African countries except Angola are parties to CERD. A prohibition on racial discrimination is also now regarded by lawyers as forming part of jus cogens international law, a “peremptory norm” that all states must respect. One of the most recent UN human rights treaties, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability in relation to the acquisition, deprivation and use of nationality in its Article 18 on Liberty of movement and nationality. Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia are parties to this Convention, and Mozambique and Swaziland have signed it. Naturalisation of refugees and stateless persons Under international law, states have a duty to promote local integration of refugees where repatriation is not possible within a reasonable time. The 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees provides (Article 34) that states parties “shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees” by such measures as expediting proceedings and reducing the costs of naturalisation. The 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa requires (Article II.1) that countries of asylum should use their best endeavours to “secure the settlement” of refugees who are unable to return home, which in the long term would need to include citizenship rights. Both Conventions require countries of asylum to issue travel documents to refugees. Almost all African countries are parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention,13 and the great majority to the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention.14 The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons similarly requires states to “as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless persons”, especially by expediting and reducing costs of proceedings (Article 32). African Commission jurisprudence Although the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights has no explicit provision on nationality, the African Commission has found that the provision of Article 5 of the Charter, that “Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status”, applies specifically to attempts to denationalise individuals and render them stateless, in light of the consequences that flow from statelessness. 11 Article 6 (g): a woman shall have the right to retain her nationality or to acquire the nationality of her husband; (h) a woman and a man shall have equal rights with respect to the nationality of their children, except where this is contrary to a provision in national legislation or is contrary to national security interests. 12 The parties are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, DRC, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The countries taking no action were Botswana, Egypt, Eritrea, and Tunisia. See status list available at http://www.au.int/en/treaties/status, accessed on 28 October 2011. 13 Excluding only Comoros, Eritrea, Libya, and Mauritius. Several countries have entered reservations to Article 34 of the UN Refugee Convention, including Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique, indicating that they did not accept any obligation to grant more favourable naturalisation rights to refugees than to other foreigners. 14 Excluding Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Somalia, and São Tomé & Príncipe, as well as the SADR. 3