Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations non-religious belief. For example, Article 1(2) of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief of 1981 states that: “No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his choice.”326 Protection from coercion implies that people shall not be subjected to penalties or disadvantageous treatment on account of their religious or other beliefs, or a lack thereof. The ICCPR outlines a person’s right “to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice” (Article 18(1)) and to be free from coercion in so choosing (Article 18(2)). The rights of religious minorities to profess and practise their religion also receive specific recognition in the ICCPR.327 If a state were to close its armed forces to certain religious or belief groups or to restrict their opportunities for promotion, this would constitute discrimination. At the same time, insisting that enlisting service personnel swear an oath with a particular religious or nonreligious component to the head of state or the constitution, for example, may equally amount to compulsion in matters of religion or belief. Such practices may exclude nonbelievers, or those of other religions or, indeed, those who object to swearing oaths for religious reasons. Aspects of external freedom of religion or belief may conflict with the disciplined nature of life in the armed forces. These mostly concern positive aspects of this freedom, where the exercise of certain rites or practices is limited in the interests of daily military routines, manoeuvres, campaigns or the like. However, negative aspects can also be at stake in certain situations, such as if service personnel are required to participate in a religious ceremony.328 The positive aspects of freedom of religion or belief may impose challenges on the armed services as an employer, such as the need to free up times or places for believers to pray, to ensure access to spiritual counsellors or chaplains of various religions, to provide burial rites in different religious traditions, to allow time off for holy days, to vary uniform or catering regimes or to facilitate fasting (see Box 9.2). In these instances, the question is essentially one of proportionality, where the right to manifest and exercise one’s freedom of religion or belief needs to be weighed against the military’s interest in neutrality, order, discipline and the safety of service personnel.329 The manner in which such conflicts are resolved depends on the nature and priorities of an army, and essentially on how it sees itself. The issue can be seen clearly in the example where service personnel in the United Kingdom are permitted to wear religious headdress, depending on the circumstances (see Box 9.7). 326 UN General Assembly, “Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief”, Resolution A/RES/36/55, 25 November 1981. 327 See Article 27: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.” ICCPR, op. cit., note 16. 328 Nolte, op. cit., note 8, pp. 88-89, citing disciplinary requirements in the United Kingdom and in Italy. 329 In this context, both Article 18 of the ICCPR and Article 9 of the ECHR allow this right to be limited in the interests of public safety, public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, 145