47
wrote that “the right to identity is consubstantial to the attributes and human dignity. Consequently it is an
enforceable basic human right erga omnes as an expression of a collective interest of the overall
international community that does not admit derogation or suspension in cases provided in the American
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Convention on Human Rights.”
225.
For its part, the European Commission on Human Rights has written that “[a] State’s
denial of citizenship combined with the issuance of an expulsion order may create a presumption that the
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purpose of the denial was to achieve the expulsion of a citizen.”
226.
Finally, on the subject of the right to equality and non-discrimination, the Commission and
the Inter-American Court have repeatedly maintained that the right to equality and nondiscrimination is
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the central, basic axis of the inter-American human rights system.
The Commission has observed that
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there are a number of concepts of the right to equality and non-discrimination.
One concept is the
prohibition against an arbitrary difference in treatment –with difference in treatment understood as
203
distinction, exclusion, restriction or preferencewhile another concerns the obligation to create
conditions of real equality for groups that have been historically excluded and are at greater risk of
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becoming victims of discrimination.
The Commission understands that although both views may be
present in certain cases, each warrants a different response from the State and different treatment under
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the American Convention.
To this must be added the fact that under the different concepts of the right
to equality, a State’s actions and omissions may be with respect to rights recognized in the American
Convention or they may be with respect to any undertaking of the State that does not affect the
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enjoyment of Convention-protected rights.
227.
The Commission has written the following with respect to the principle prohibiting an
arbitrary difference in treatment:
While the doctrine of the inter-American human rights system, like that of other human rights
regimes, does not prohibit all distinctions in treatment in the enjoyment of protected rights and
freedoms, it requires at base that any permissible distinctions be based upon objective and
reasonable justification, that they further a legitimate objective, regard being had to the principles
which normally prevail in democratic societies, and that the means are reasonable and
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See, inter alia, OAS, “Inter-American Program for a Universal Civil Registry and “the Right to Identity.” Resolution
AG/RES. 2286 (XXXVII-O/07) of June 5, 2007; resolution AG/RES. 2362 (XXXVIII-O/08) of June 3, 2008, and resolution AG/RES.
2602 (XL-O/10) of June 8, 2010 on the follow-up of the program. Here, the Inter-American Juridical Committee observed that while
the American Convention on Human Rights does not establish a right to identity by that name expressly, as has been pointed out, it
does protect the right to a name, the right to nationality and the right to protection of the family. See in this regard, Inter-American
Juridical Committee, Opinion “on the scope of the right to identity”, resolution CJI/doc. 276/07 rev. 1 of August 10, 2007,
paragraphs. 11.2, 12 and 18.3.3, ratified by resolution CJI/RES.137 (LXXI-O/07) of August 10, 2010.
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European Commission on Human Rights, X v. Federal Republic of Germany, Appl. 3745/68, 31 Collection of
Commission’s Decisions 107, 110.
201
IACHR, Application filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and Daughters v. Chile,
September 17, 2010, paragraph 74.
202
See, inter alia, IACHR, Application filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and
Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, paragraph 80.
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See, inter alia, UN, General Comment No. 18, General Comments adopted by the Human Rights Committee, Nondiscrimination, 37th session, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.7 at 168 (1989), paragraph 7; I/A Court H.R., Juridical Condition and Rights
of Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003. Series A No. 18, paragraph 92; IACHR, Fourth
Progress Report of the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families in the Hemisphere, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.117,
Doc. 1 rev. 1, Annual Report of the IACHR 2002, March 7, 2003, paragraph 87.
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See, inter alia, IACHR, Application filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and
Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, paragraph 80.
205
See, inter alia, IACHR, Application filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and
Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, paragraph 80.
206
See, inter alia, IACHR, Application filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and
Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, paragraph 80.