National Institution for Human Rights – Kingdom of Bahrain that “Perpetrators and instigators of terrorist crimes should be deprived of their Bahraini nationality”. 8. Concerning the same issue, NIHR observed that a number of human rights international organizations and bodies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed their deep concern of the decision to deprive 31 citizens of Bahraini nationality, and warned of the consequences of arbitrary deprivation of nationality. 9. Back to the Ministry of Interior statement about revoking the citizenship of 31 citizens, NIHR found that it did not specify the legal instrument under which these citizens are deprived from their Bahraini nationality. Article 10 of the Bahraini Citizenship Act of 1963, as amended, provides that: “Citizenship of Bahrain may be forfeited by order of His Majesty the Governor from whoever enjoys such nationality on the following cases: a. If he enters in military service of a foreign country and keeps on service despite an order issued by His Majesty the Governor ordering him to leave such service; b. If he helps or engages in service of an enemy country, or c. If he causes harm to the security of the State”. These conditions are exclusive in which the Bahraini citizenship may be forfeited by order of the His Majesty the Governor and no one else. 10. NIHR attended one of the hearings held on December 23, 2013 before the Supreme Administrative Court to consider the case of one of the persons whose Bahraini nationality has been forfeited. During the hearing, NIHR observed that the State agencies refused to give the plaintiff a copy of the decision forfeiting his citizenship. It is incumbent on the Ministry of Interior to enable the persons whose nationality has been forfeited to obtain copies of these resolution, in order to be able to challenge these resolutions before the competent court and prepare their defense pursuant to their rights thereto. Not presenting copies of these resolutions to the defendants renders the case null and void. 11. Accordingly, NIHR believes that the State’s right to drop the nationality is legitimate and is a practice adopted in all legislation and legal systems in order to maintain the security, safety and interests of the country. However, the exercise of such right must not lead to the emergence of statelessness phenomenon. In all cases in which citizenship is forfeited, the procedure should be conditional upon a set of legal guarantees that determine the forfeiture expressly and clearly. In addition, the public authority should take transparent procedures in this regard, and nationality should not be forfeited except under a court judgment that grants the person whose citizenship is forfeited the right to effective judicial appeal from this decision. 12. In a statement released on July 28, 2013 in this regard, NIHR appreciated the recommendations made by the National Council in its extraordinary session based on its belief in the responsibility to maintain the capabilities, achievements and the future of this country. Nonetheless, NIHR stressed the need not to encroach upon the commitments of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its international obligations and to respect human rights. NIHR further asserted the need to observe the provisions of the law and to ensure its implementation in line with the constitutional and legal safeguards. 13. In order to identify the number of persons who have been granted the Bahraini nationality during 2011-2013, and the number of persons whose citizenship has been forfeited, and indicate the reasons for these measures, NIHR contacted the Ministry of Interior, but no response was received. 58