Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel Box 9.4: The UN Human Rights Committee on freedom of religion or belief349 The UN Human Rights Committee has stated the following with respect to the freedom to manifest religion or belief under Article 18(1) of the ICCPR: “The freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching encompasses a broad range of acts. The concept of worship extends to ritual and ceremonial acts giving direct expression to belief, as well as various practices integral to such acts, including the building of places of worship, the use of ritual formulae and objects, the display of symbols, and the observance of holidays and days of rest. The observance and practice of religion or belief may include not only ceremonial acts but also such customs as the observance of dietary regulations, the wearing of distinctive clothing or headcoverings, participation in rituals associated with certain stages of life, and the use of a particular language customarily spoken by a group.” Limitations on freedom of religion or belief States may limit the right to manifest religious belief under Article 18 of the ICCPR and Article 9 of the ECHR. Such limitations are permissible if they follow the requirements set out in the respective articles, namely, if they are prescribed by law, pursue one of the specified legitimate aims, are necessary and proportionate to achieve these aims, and are not imposed for discriminatory purposes or applied in a discriminatory manner. 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, but not in the interests of national security (unlike, for example, Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the ECHR; see Box 4.3 in “Chapter 4: National Protections for the Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel”). As the approach of the European Court of Human Rights shows, armed forces may legitimately limit the right to manifest religious belief in ways that reflect military discipline for reasons of public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.350 In part, in the case of regular (non-conscripted) service personnel, limits may already result from an individual’s decision to enlist and to submit to military life. In general, the European Court of Human Rights has noted that interference with freedom of religion 150 349 UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 22, op. cit., note 278, Art. 18. For a discussion on the Committee’s interpretation of Article 18 of the ICCPR, see: Martin Scheinin, “The Human Rights Committee and Freedom of Religion or Belief”, in Lindholm et al., op. cit., note 308; and Paul M. Taylor, Freedom of Religion: UN and European Human Rights Law and Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). 350 See: Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4, op. cit., note 26, para. 40, which states that specific limitations may be placed on the exercise of the right to freedom of religion or belief “within the constraints of military life”.