Request for a Thematic Hearing on Statelessness and Nationality in Uruguay
Today I filed a request for a thematic hearing on behalf of Somos Todos Uruguayos. The request, submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, seeks to bring together state, non-state, and civil society actors to review the current Uruguayan implementation of the statelessness conventions and the denial of nationality to Uruguayan legal citizens. If granted, the hearing will occur at the 189th Period of Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from February 26 to March 7, 2024.
Somos Todos Uruguayos is a Uruguayan civil association representing over 30,000 individuals. It seeks the thematic hearing on Uruguay's adherence to commitments to end statelessness as implemented through domestic law and to address human rights concerns related to the denial of Uruguayan nationality to naturalized citizens, termed "legal citizens" in Uruguay.
An executive summary and extended legal and factual brief were submitted, highlighting the urgent need for a hearing. The request focused on Uruguayan Law No. 19.682, which addressed statelessness but failed to grant nationality to those found stateless. Alternatively, if the law does provide nationality, then Uruguay’s refusal to acknowledge the Uruguayan nationality of all legal citizens is incorrect. The failure of Law No. 19.682, or at least the fact that it is contradictory, raises questions about Uruguay's policies on nationality and citizenship, particularly as Uruguay considers and classifies legal citizens, the highest status attainable by stateless individuals or immigrants, as non-nationals with limited rights compared to nationals.
The proposed thematic discussion aims to resolve these inconsistencies, review the arbitrary revocation and denial of the nationality of Uruguayan legal citizens, present alternative constitutional legal theorists and approaches to the denial of Uruguayan nationality for legal citizens, and potentially avoid the need for a request for precautionary measures or a formal complaint filed first with the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights The discussion was intended to clarify positions and enable civil society, the state, and international actors to progress, either collaboratively or in conflict.
Somos Todos Uruguayos makes clear that it is prepared to proceed with an emergency request and a formal complaint on behalf of the human rights violations to which Uruguayan legal citizens are subjected.
A full copy of the request for a thematic hearing is available for download.
