Human Rights or Human Writes


Grant Cochrane-freedigitalphotos

As I was reading about human rights I came across this sentence:

the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.

—United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”

I think this right to water alone abolishes all the other rights to humans, mainly the right to life which says

“Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

—Article 6.1 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

If the access of water is a human right then what is man to do when the water starts to run out? I can see a few scenarios but eventually there can only be one ultimate scenario that in a way or another is inevitable.

Water Runs Out:

We are currently experiencing what is called “water crisis”. Millions of people, adults and kids, are dying every year of diseases primarily because they don’t have clean water to drink. Where is their right to life? Or do you mean to say they have chosen to be terminally ill and die? Where is their right to water? Or is it unspecified kind of water, thus saying they already have access to it? As long as no one has turned to those affected by this crisis, it may keep passing on unnoticed, and there will come a day where those affected people will revolt and wage a war or attack other nations therefore violating the “right to life” giving the defender all the right to annihilate the offender under the pretext of defense.

How does it end? It doesn’t. The water crisis will still be there.

Desalination:

In theory, it sounds like a great process, but how would it be different than the current oil concept?  Countries that have oil but not export any, will import as much as they can hoping that when oil runs out from the world they will have enough oil for a century to come, or until they come up with a new source. The same thing will happen with water. But let’s not forget, there are other factors that come into play here. Not every country is bordering a sea or an ocean, meaning some countries might not be able to build desalination plants and would be at the mercy of those that can. Keep in mind, there is also transportation; we now have to worry not only about desalination but also transportation of water. You can only imagine what the costs will be. Just like we monitor the price of a barrel of oil, we will start monitoring the price of a barrel of water. It gets even better, whoever controls the major hubs, and by hubs I mean desalination plants will be the ones to control the world or even earn the title of a superpower, because now they can control your “right to life” simply by controlling your “right to water”.  Countries bordering the seas, will have stronger military presence, those that are not will try to conquer weaker ones with water access thus taking away both rights given to you by the human rights.

How does it end? It doesn’t, it creates a regional war and eventually a world war.

People might wonder if there is a solution to all this? Of course there is.

Raghid Khalil

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2 thoughts on “Human Rights or Human Writes

  1. To add, in some parts of the world water is cheaper than oil.. and some other parts of the world water is at a much higher expense than oil.

    in other words, it cost sometimes more for a human being to drink water than a thirsty car for oil.

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