2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(2) of members from Romani communities. 66 It recommended in a similar manner on the acquisition of citizenship of former Soviet citizens in the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, many of whom were rendered stateless after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 67 Public Emergency and Terrorism In recent years there has been a trend among a small but growing group of states to use revocation of citizenship as a counter-terrorism measure, either based on existing laws or through new legislation. 68 On the relation between such measures and human rights obligations, art 4(1) of the ICCPR prescribes that ‘in time of public emergency … States Parties … may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant’. Such emergency could be a legitimate justification for states to limit certain rights when facing a serious threat, provided that it does not result in ‘discrimination on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin’. 69 The 1961 Convention stipulates that ‘inconsisten[cy] with [someone´s] duty of loyalty to the [state]’ could be a justification for revocation of nationality. 70 However, it should be noted that the threshold for such a justification is very high, subject to the necessary procedural safeguards and other principles. 71 On national security in this context, the Committee suggest that states ‘ensure that measures taken in the fight against terrorism do not discriminate’ and that ‘non-citizens detained or arrested in the fight against terrorism are properly protected’. 72 If one of the measures taken by the state includes to revoke the nationality of a suspect of terrorism on the basis of one of the protected grounds under art 1(1), this measure is a potential violation of art 5(d)(iii), especially if it leads to statelessness. The Committee raised its concern on Qatar, stating that ‘reported cases of citizens being deprived of citizenship in the State party, which 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations on the Combined Eighth to Eleventh Periodic Reports of Slovenia, 88th sess, UN Doc CERD/C/SVN/CO/8-11 (11 January 2016) [12]–[13]. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Consideration of the Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention: Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Russian Federation, UN Doc CERD/C/RUS/CO/19 (22 September 2008) [23]; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Consideration of the Reports, Comments and Information Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention: Concluding Observations in the Fifth to Seventh Periodic Reports of Kyrgyzstan, UN Doc CERD/C/KGZ/CO/5-7 (1 March 2013) [17]; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention: Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Georgia, UN Doc CERD/C/GEO/CO/4-5 (20 September 2011) [3]. ISI Draft Commentary (n 47) 5–6. ICCPR (n 7) art 1. See also Committee on Civil and Political Rights, General Comment No 29: Article 4: Derogations during a State of Emergency, UN Doc CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.11 (31 August 2001). Moreover, there are a number of rights in the ICCPR (n 7) that are ‘nonderogable’ and that may under no circumstances be limited upon, such as the right to life (art 6), the right to prohibition against the retrospective operation of criminal laws (art 15) and the right to recognition before the law (art 16). 1961 Convention art 8(3)(a). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines on Statelessness No 5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5–9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, UN Doc HCR/GS/20/05 (May 2020) [64], [66]. See also ISI Draft Commentary (n 47) [75]. GR 30, UN Doc CERD/C/64/Misc.11/Rev.3 (n 13) [10], [20]. 232