A/HRC/13/34 citizenship and that no one should be arbitrarily deprived of their citizenship or of the right to change it. 17. The above-mentioned human rights legal framework is complemented by the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which deal specifically with the issue of statelessness. In particular, articles 1 and 4 of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness provide that States parties should introduce safeguards to prevent statelessness by granting their nationality to persons who would otherwise be stateless and are either born in their territory or are born abroad to one of their nationals. The Convention also requires States parties to prevent statelessness upon loss or deprivation of nationality. Under article 32 of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, States should, as far as possible, facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless persons. 18. It should be noted also that the principle of non-discrimination is a common feature applicable to the context of international human rights instruments. For instance, the principle of non-discrimination is foreseen in, inter alia, article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; articles 2 and 3 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; and article 1 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The principle of nondiscrimination implies that States are under the obligation to respect and ensure to all individuals the rights recognized in the relevant conventions, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. III. Right to a nationality, in particular the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality 19. While acquisition and loss of nationality are essentially governed by internal legislation, their regulation is of direct concern to the international order. In this respect, in its draft articles on nationality of natural persons in relation to succession of States, the International Law Commission indicated that “the competence of States in this field may be exercised only within the limits set by international law”.1 For example, article 1 of the Convention on Certain Questions relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws of 1930 provides that “it is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals. This law shall be recognized by other States insofar as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom, and the principles of law generally recognized with regard to nationality”. The International Law Commission also recalled that this provision follows the reasoning of the Permanent Court of International Justice in its advisory opinion No. 4 on the Nationality Decrees Issue in Tunis and Morocco, in which the Court indicated that the question whether a matter was solely within the jurisdiction of a State was essentially a relative question, depending on the development of international relations. It also held that, even in respect of matters that in principle were not regulated by international law, the right of a State to use its discretion might be restricted by obligations 1 GE.09-17512 Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1999, vol. II (2), p. 24. 5

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