Citizenship as a Bill of Attainder: the supreme Human Rights Violation

Current practices in municipal law, as orchestrated by UN conventions and doctrine in international law proclaim that nearly every person is born with citizenship. However, instead of serving as an individual claim of right, governments use the label of citizenship to extract labor, wealth, and compel obedience under threat of imprisonment or death. Because States define each natural-born citizen as a debtor at birth, said States declare these persons as subject to punishment for accidents of birth and geography. In effect, States attaint people with the obligations of citizenship and de jure slave status without due process – a supreme human rights violation. This paper will detail the historical roots of the concept of citizenship and demonstrate the evolution of legal thought that supports slavery in the form of citizenship.