A/HRC/31/18 communicative interaction with others through any media which they see fit for those purposes. Here again, legal protection is not directly accorded to certain opinions, ideas or expressions as such, which may be very diverse and frequently irreconcilable. Instead, the focus lies on the freedom that individuals and groups of individuals have to hold and exchange opinions and ideas. 16. It should be furthermore emphasized that the two rights under discussion here are rights of “everyone” and thus held by all human beings who should be able to exercise them free from fear and free from discrimination. Freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression are not only rights to freedom, but also epitomize the principle of equality which underpins the human-rights approach as a whole — in “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” as stressed in the first sentence of the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2. Unconditional respect for the forum internum 17. Articles 18 and 19 of the Covenant show strikingly similar legal formulations, the most salient common feature being the conceptual distinction drawn in both articles between the forum internum and the forum externum. This conceptual distinction appears nowhere else in the text of the Covenant. While the wordings used to define the specific protection of the forum internum within article 18 and article 19 are slightly different, the basic content is identical. In both articles the protection accorded to the inner dimension of a person’s thoughts, opinions or convictions (religious or otherwise) is strictly unconditional. 18. Article 18 (2) of the Covenant demands that “no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”. Similarly, article 19 (1) of the Covenant provides for the “right to hold opinions without interference”. The Human Rights Committee has clarified that the non-coercion and noninference provisions both have the status of unconditional normative requirements. In paragraph 3 of its general comment No. 22 (1993) on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the Committee points out that article 18 does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, and that those freedoms are protected unconditionally. In paragraph 9 of its general comment No. 34 (2011) on freedoms of opinion and expression, the Committee likewise states that article 19 (1) is a right to which the Covenant permits no exception or restriction. Such unconditional guarantees are rare in international human rights law. 19. A main function of both articles is to protect every individual’s inner faculty of forming, holding or changing, inter alia, opinions, ideas, conscientious positions, religious and non-religious convictions against coercion and interference. Exposure to coercion in this inner nucleus, for example, by being forced to conceal one’s true position or conviction or to feign a belief that is not authentic, can mean betraying oneself. If this happens repeatedly or over a long period, it can undermine the preconditions for developing a stable sense of self-respect. That experience warrants an interpretation of articles 18 (2) and 19 (1) of the Covenant in close analogy to the unconditional prohibition of slavery7 and the equally unconditional prohibition of torture.8 While legal restrictions against external manifestations originating from a person’s conviction (i.e., the forum externum) may be justifiable in certain situations (provided those restrictions fulfil strict criteria), coercive 7 8 6 See article 8 (1) of the Covenant. See article 7 of the Covenant.