29 characters presented in this artistic work does not adjust to standards that, in their opinion, should have been taken into account to describe them”. This constitutes an unlawful interference in the right to maintain or change one’s own convictions or beliefs and affects, per se, the right to freedom of conscience of the people who it is alleged were wronged by the prohibition; g. The Convention not only establishes the right of the individual to maintain or change his religious beliefs, but also to maintain or change any type of belief; and h. Since the decision of the Supreme Court deprived the alleged victims and society as a whole of access to information that could have allowed them to maintain, change or modify their beliefs, there has been a violation of Article 12 of the Convention in the instant case. The statements of the witnesses, Ciro Colombara and Matías Insunza, provide evidence of this, when they indicate how the censorship affected their freedom of conscience. The State’s arguments 75. The State argued that: a. The rights embodied in Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention are absolutely autonomous in nature; b. The conduct that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion recognize is that of maintaining one’s religion, changing it, professing it and disseminating it. None of these behaviors is endangered when a person is prohibited from seeing a film; c. There is complete religious freedom in Chile; and d. It requested the Court to declare that Chile has not violated the freedom of conscience and religion embodied in Article 12 of the Convention. * * * Considerations of the Court 76. Article 12 of the American Convention establishes that: 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and of religion. This right includes freedom to maintain or to change one’s religion or beliefs, and freedom to profess or disseminate one’s religion or beliefs, either individually or together with others, in pubic or in private. 2. No one shall be subject to restrictions that might impair his freedom to maintain or to change his religion or beliefs. 3. Freedom to manifest one’s religious and beliefs may be subject only to the limitations prescribed by law that are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals, or the rights or freedoms of others. 4. Parents or guardians, as the case may be, have the right to provide for religious and moral education of their children or wards that is in accord with their own convictions.