A/HRC/RES/20/5
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
16 July 2012
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Twentieth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council
20/5.
Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the purposes, principles and provisions of the Charter of the United
Nations,
Guided also by article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according
to which everyone has the right to a nationality and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his or her nationality,
Reaffirming Human Rights Council resolutions 7/10 of 27 March 2008, 10/13 of 26
March 2009 and 13/2 of 24 March 2010, as well as all previous resolutions adopted by the
Commission on Human Rights on the issue of human rights and the arbitrary deprivation of
nationality,
Reaffirming also Human Rights Council resolution 19/9 of 22 March 2012, in which
the Council took into consideration the fact that persons without birth registration may be
vulnerable to statelessness and associated lack of protection,
Recognizing the authority of States to establish laws governing the acquisition,
renunciation or loss of nationality in accordance with international law, and noting that the
issue of statelessness is already under consideration by the General Assembly within the
broad issue of State succession,
Noting the provisions of international human rights instruments and international
instruments on statelessness and nationality recognizing the right to acquire, change or
retain nationality or prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of nationality, inter alia, article 5,
paragraph (d) (iii), of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, article 24, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and
GE.12-15311
The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of
the Council on its twentieth session (A/HRC/20/2), chap. I.