Ambassador Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa
In an intellectual contribution examining the reality of human rights and the main challenges that hinder their consolidation and protection, Ambassador Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa, a member of the Committee of Peace Ambassadors of the International Union of Arab Journalism and an adviser and media professional with Free Press, highlights a number of factors that he considers genuine obstacles to respecting human rights and promoting justice and development.
Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa believes that weak social awareness of rights, laws, and the mechanisms available to protect them is among the foremost obstacles. A lack of knowledge about individual and collective rights makes people less capable of claiming those rights or confronting violations they may face, while also limiting their ability to make use of the legal and institutional mechanisms available for their protection.
He also points out that authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, together with the absence of democracy, pluralism, and effective oversight institutions, constitute a fundamental obstacle to protecting rights and freedoms. In his view, weak oversight and the absence of a balance among the branches of authority may create room for power to be exercised arbitrarily, away from legal and institutional safeguards.
In the context of armed conflicts, Ambassador Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa draws attention to the seriousness of violations affecting civilians, particularly when residential areas and vital facilities become targets. Among the gravest practices he identifies are the targeting of civilians, genocide, and forced displacement, as well as the targeting or raiding of health and educational facilities, inhabited homes, and water and energy sources.
He also considers the imposition of sieges on civilian populations and the blocking of access to essential necessities, including food, water, medicine, and shelter, to be serious violations, given the direct threat they can pose to the lives and human dignity of civilians.
Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa also addresses the situation of activists and human rights defenders, noting that many of them in different parts of the world face various forms of repression, ranging from harassment, threats, and defamation to arrest, arbitrary detention, torture, and assault, and in some cases even killing and execution.
According to this perspective, restrictions are not limited to security-related measures but may also extend to freedom of movement and expression, the formation of associations, the organization of gatherings, and the establishment of institutions dedicated to defending human rights. Such restrictions weaken the ability of civil society to perform its role in monitoring and defending rights and freedoms.
The contributor concludes that protecting human rights requires building social awareness capable of recognizing and defending rights, alongside strong and independent oversight and judicial institutions, the consolidation of democracy and pluralism, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the provision of necessary protection for human rights defenders.
Contribution by: Ambassador Dr. Amer Abdelrazak Al-Sheikh Issa, Member of the Committee of Peace Ambassadors of the International Union of Arab Journalism, and Adviser and Media Professional with Free Press.
