Since the early dawn of life, freedom and right to option God Almighty bestowed upon Adam and Eve have been of the most important options that have determined the human person's relation with God and with others, and have determined as well the main features and methodology Adam and his descendants have followed to consolidate and safeguard human rights throughout ages.
The divine religions have been revealed to lay down a life system, and to regulate relations among individuals, with each other on the one hand, and with the ruler on the other, on the basis of justice, mercy, cordiality, cooperation and equality. They have been also revealed to renounce discrimination among human beings on the basis of interest, benefit, gender, sex or colour, calling for dialogue with the other and respect for all human values.
The US Declaration of Human Rights (1766) and The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) are the first charters that have enlisted these rights in national declarations, expressing special experiences of these peoples.
The outbreak of disputes all over the world together with the ensuing world wars and violations of human and peoples' rights led to the emergence of the International Committee of Red Cross to protect the human being during the time of armed conflicts and provide aid to victims of wars. Moreover, the League of Nations stood against the problems of minorities and the white slave trafficking, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), have been defending for workers' rights.
By the end of World War II, the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which acknowledges individuals' rights, were issued. The march to boost human rights has proceeded as several international and regional agreements, conventions and declarations were issued by UN and other organizations. Protection for human rights and freedoms has become a common responsibility of the international community, local societies, institutions of civil society, and organizations of human rights and the cultured public opinion at the international and domestic levels.
This book contains a brief outlook at the main sources from which the international agreements on protecting human rights emerged. It reviews the international and regional agreements and declarations, the international mechanisms, the divine religions and the positive beliefs as essential sources for human rights.
Within the Egyptian pioneering role in approving, consolidating and maintaining human rights, we shall expound the international and regional agreements Egypt has joined, the human rights-related articles provided in the Egyptian Constitution, the authorities and institutions in charge of supporting and protecting these rights in Egypt, and the role played by the Supreme Constitutional Court in interpreting and adopting these rights. The book also contains a brief outlook at the most important decisions of the Supreme Constitutional Court and the role of the civil society institutions in development, reform, and the awareness and consolidation of human rights, in addition to the role of the National Council for Human Rights from a scientific and legal perspective.
Moreover, we touch upon Egypt's keenness on boosting the democratic course through introducing amendments into Article No. 76 of the Constitution and the ensuing multi-presidential candidate and parliamentary elections. The book reviews Egypt's efforts for enhancing the right to freedom of opinion and expression, safeguarding women's rights; including combating discrimination against her and empowering her to contribute to development as well as preserving child rights and the rights to clean environment and to education. Egypt has adhered to all these rights within the context of sustainable development and the political, economic, social and cultural reform.
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