A/HRC/19/43 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 13/2 on human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the impact that arbitrary deprivation of nationality may have on the enjoyment by persons of their human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and to present it to the Council at its nineteenth session. 2. In the present report, it is recalled that States are bound to respect the human rights of all persons in their territory or under their jurisdiction, irrespective of their nationality or lack thereof. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among others, declares that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration. Other international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (arts. 2, para. 1, and 26); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2, para. 2); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 1, para. 1); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 1); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 2, para. 1), also provide that the human rights contained therein should be enjoyed by everyone without discrimination. This has been confirmed in relation to specific human rights by United Nations treaty bodies, including the Human Rights Committee in its general comments No. 15 (1986) on the position of aliens under the Covenant, No. 18 (1989) on non-discrimination, No. 23 (1994) on the rights of minorities and No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant; the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its general recommendation No. 30 (2004) on discrimination against non-citizens; the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its general comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights; and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Human Rights Committee, for instance, stated in its general comment No. 31 that the enjoyment of the rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is not limited to citizens of States parties but must also be available to all individuals, regardless of nationality or statelessness, who may find themselves in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of the State party (para. 10). 3. As recognized in the Guidance Note of the Secretary-General on the United Nations and Statelessness (June 2011), international human rights law reserves a very limited set of rights to citizens, in particular in relation to political rights, right to freedom of movement, and economic rights. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has stated that differential treatment based on citizenship or immigration status will constitute discrimination if the criteria for such differentiation are not applied pursuant to a legitimate aim, and are not proportional to the achievement of this aim. 1 4. States may limit the enjoyment of certain human rights to nationals, but any such restriction must nevertheless meet stringent conditions so as to comply with the principle of non-discrimination.2 For example, the Human Rights Committee has stated that although 1 2 General recommendation No. 30, para. 4. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 15, paras. 2 and 7. 3