the rights of stateless persons on the basis of other UN and regional treaties to which it is a party. These include, among others: 10 • • • • • • • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (see article 24.3) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see articles. 2.2 and article 3) Convention of the Rights of the Child (see articles 2, 3, 7 and 8) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (see article 9) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (see article 5(d)(iii)) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (see article 18) International Convention for the Protection of All persons from Enforced Disappearance (see article 25.4). Switzerland has also ratified the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Furthermore, the right to a nationality is included in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. 9. Under the Council of Europe, Switzerland is also a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (see article 8). 10. In 2008, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted with concern “the fact that the cantons and communes may introduce stricter conditions than the Confederation on naturalization matters, may infringe upon the right to private life, and that the lack of definition of integration criteria in the naturalization process could lead municipal assemblies to adopt inconsistent standards and decisions.”11 On the basis of article 5(d)(iii) under the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee recommended that Switzerland “adopt standards on integration for the naturalization process, in conformity with the Convention, and to take all effective and adequate measures to ensure that naturalization applications are not rejected on discriminatory grounds throughout the territory of the State party.”12 11. In 2014, the Committee expressed concern “at initiatives calling for stricter criteria for naturalization” including criteria which stipulate that “recipients of welfare benefits cannot become naturalized citizens.” 13 The Committee noted its concern that the political climate “may lead to a more discriminatory system of naturalization.” 14 Accordingly, on the basis of articles 1 and 5 of the ICERD, the Committee recommended Switzerland “ensure that any revision of the Swiss Citizenship Act does not have a disproportionate and discriminatory impact on certain groups.”15 It also reiterated its prior recommendation that Switzerland “adopt uniform standards on integration for the naturalization process, in conformity with the Convention, and take all effective and adequate measures to ensure that naturalization applications are not rejected on discriminatory grounds,” including by “establishing an independent and uniform appeals 10 For more information, see: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ParticipationStatus.aspx?clang=_en. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ‘Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’, CERD/C/CHR/CO/6, (23 September 2008), para. 18. 12 Ibid. 13 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ‘Concluding observations on the combined seventh to ninth periodic reports of Switzerland’, CERD/C/CHE/CO/7-9, (13 March 2014), para. 13. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 11 3