can be lawful to waive your right to a public hearing in the context of the right to a fair trial,104 this is not considered lawful under the ICCPR.105 Negative and positive obligations 31. Human rights treaties, such as the ICCPR, require States to ‘respect and to ensure’ the rights in the Covenant.106 32. The obligation to ‘respect’ requires the State to refrain from interfering with human rights.107 The obligation also requires States to adopt legislative and other measures to fulfil their obligations in the treaty.108 33. The Human Rights Committee has interpreted ‘ensuring’ as necessitating ‘specific activities by the States parties to enable individuals to enjoy their rights’.109 This imposes a positive duty on States. The extent of this obligation will vary according to such factors as the nature of the right at issue and the importance of the right for the individual.110 34. A positive obligation according to the Inter-American Court ‘implies the duty of the States Parties to organize the governmental apparatus and, in general, all the structures through which public power is exercised, so that they are capable of juridically ensuring the free and full enjoyment of human rights’.111 Prohibition of the abuse of rights and duties and responsibilities 35. Rights, such as freedom of expression, cannot be exercised to destroy the rights of others.112 The general purpose of this principle is to prevent totalitarian groups from exploiting in their own interests using the principles enunciated by human rights treaties. Therefore, religious assemblies are also protected by the right to manifest religious belief and privacy rights probably protect private assemblies, i.e. family and friends. Protesters, however, cannot rely upon their right to peaceful assembly in order to destroy the rights of others. 104 European Court, H. v Belgium 30 Nov 1987, para 54. Communication 215/1986, Van Meurs v the Netherlands, 13 July 1990, para 6.1. 106 Article 2(1) ICCPR; States are to ‘ensure’ the rights without distinction under Article 3(1) of the Arab Charter. 107 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.31, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 13, para 6. 108 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.31, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 13, para 7. 109 General Comment No.3, HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. I) p.174 (1981), para 1. See also Article 1 ACHR; African Commission, Communication No.231/99 Avocats Sans Frontières (on behalf of Gaëtan Bwampamye) v. Burundi, 23 October – 6 November 2000, para. 31; European Court, McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom, 27 September 1995, para. 161. 110 European Court, Platform Arzte fur das Leben v Austria, 21 June 1988. 111 Velásquez Rodríguez v Honduras, judgment of July 29, 1988, Series C, No. 4, pp. 151-152, para. 166. 112 This is contained in Article 5, ICCPR; Article 43, Arab Charter; Article 30 UDHR, Article 27(2) ACHPR, Article 17, ECHR. See also European Court, Glimmerveen and Hagenbeek v Netherlands, 1 Oct 1979. 105 38