A/HRC/34/50 especially since the right to freedom of religion or belief is not contingent upon recognition or registration by the State. 26. Although international law does not provide a definition of what a religion is, the scope of what is protected by the right to freedom of religion or belief must be construed broadly, covering theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. It is, therefore, not limited to traditional, mainstream or “recognized” religions and practices. 27. There cannot be a meaningful right to freedom of religion or belief unless it includes the freedom to change one’s religion or belief. Although the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief are less explicit than article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in endorsing the right to change one’s religion, the Human Rights Committee provided greater clarity in its general comment No. 22 (1993). In particular, it stressed that the right to “have or to adopt” a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief. This language – “including the right to change one’s religion or belief” – is also consistently reflected in resolutions on freedom of religion or belief adopted by consensus by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.5 The Special Rapporteur notes that this provision refers specifically to the internal dimension of freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief (often referred to as forum internum), which enjoys unconditional and unqualified protection and cannot be restricted, limited, interfered with or derogated from under any circumstances, including during times of public emergency. 28. Policies or practices that do not, prima facie, target the adoption of a particular religion or belief may still amount to a violation of article 18 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights if they are intended to impair an individual’s ability to freely hold, adopt or change their religion or belief, or if they have such an effect. Examples of indirect yet impermissible restrictions on the forum internum could include limitations on access to education, medical care or employment, or family law matters, such as custody of children, which have the ultimate effect of impairing the individual’s ability to freely hold, adopt or change his or her religion or belief. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, that such determinations are highly fact-specific and must be determined on a case-by-case basis so as to not vitiate substantive provisions of article 18 of the Covenant. 29. The right to freedom of religion or belief encompasses all aspects of religious or belief-related life, including protections for religious and non-religious convictions, conscience-based positions and manifestations of the beliefs and practices related to them. This spectrum, in turn, includes the right to freely, and without undue burden or unreasonable interference, develop religious or belief-related identities, to bear witness to one’s beliefs by freely communicating with fellow believers or non-believers, to organize and enjoy community life based on common or shared beliefs, formal and informal education related to the transmission of one’s belief system to members of the community (particularly children) or others, and the management of institutions, such as charitable organizations, related to these beliefs. 30. While international human rights law allows, with high thresholds, for certain restrictions related to the manifestation of one’s religion or beliefs (often referred to as 5 10 See General Assembly resolutions 62/157, 63/181, 64/164, 65/211, 66/168, 67/179, 68/170, 69/175, 70/158 and 71/196; and Human Rights Council resolutions 16/13, 19/8, 22/20, 25/12, 28/18 and 31/16.