14 B. The right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination (Article 24 of the American Convention) read in conjunction with the obligations to respect and ensure rights and adopt domestic legal measures (articles 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention) 56. Article 1(1) of the American Convention reads as follows: The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms recognized herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition. 57. Article 2 of the American Convention provides as follows: Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in Article 1 is not already ensured by legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their constitutional processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms. 58. Article 24 of the American Convention states that All persons are equal before the law. Consequently, they are entitled, without discrimination, to equal protection of the law. 59. Regarding these principles, the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court” or “the Court”) have repeatedly held that the right to equality and nondiscrimination is the central, basic axis of the inter-American human rights system.26 The Commission has also pointed out the various conceptions of the right to equality and nondiscrimination.27 One conception is related to the prohibition of arbitrarily different treatment —with different treatment understood as meaning distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference28— and another is related to the obligation of ensuring conditions of true equality for groups that have historically been excluded and are at greater risk of discrimination.29 60. The Inter-American Court has stated that “the notion of equality springs directly from the oneness of the human family and is linked to the essential dignity of the individual. That principle cannot be reconciled with the notion that a given group has the right to privileged treatment because of 26 See, IACHR, Application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, par. 74; I/A Court H.R., Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003. Series A No. 18, par. 173.5. 27 See, inter alia, IACHR, Application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, par. 80. 28 See, inter alia, UN, Human Rights Committee, General Comment 18, Non-Discrimination, 11/10/89, CCPR/C/37, paragraph 7; I/A Court H.R., Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003. Series A No. 18, par. 92; IACHR. Fourth Progress Report of the Rapporteurship on Migrant Workers and Their Families, OEA/Ser. L/V/II.117, doc. 1 rev. 1, Annual Report of the IACHR 2002, March 7, 2003, par. 58. 29 See, inter alia, IACHR, Application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Karen Atala and Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, par. 80.