• Proposed and drafted amendments to the Jordanian Penal Code that made disability an aggravating condition in the event of committing crimes against a person with a disability, in cases of sexual assault, fraud, abandonment and neglect so that the most severe punishment for the crime is enforced. These amendments were adopted and approved by the Jordanian government and parliament in 2017.
• Contributed to the drafting of the position paper presented by the Jordanian National Committee for Women which was adopted by hundreds of civil society organizations and thousands of activists to abolish Article 308 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which exempted the perpetrator of rape from punishment if he married the victim. This article of the law was abolished in 2017.
• Prepared and drafted the Jordanian Draft Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities No. (20) for the Year 2017, which is considered the first anti-discrimination law in the Arab region. Dr. Al-Azzeh defended it before the Parliament until it was approved.
• Reviewed and drafted the Bill of Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan in cooperation with the following: CBM, organizations of persons with disabilities, civil society as well as official, judicial and legal bodies.
• Prepared draft ministerial decisions for the rights of persons with disabilities to work with the Ministry of Labor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Prepared the first shadow report that monitored the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Jordan in 2012.
• Supervised the preparation and editing of national strategies for education, accessibility, independent living and diagnostic criteria in Jordan.
• Prepared the first legal terminology guide related to language that should be used in dealing with issues of persons with disabilities in the media through the “Say this and Don’t Say that” list that was approved by Al Jazeera Network offices around the world and by media and national institutions in various Arab countries.
• Helped prepare position papers with a group of experts and human rights defenders related to the rule of law, women’s rights and the independence of the judiciary.
• He was the first member in the history of the Jordanian Senate to contravene and vote against constitutional amendments when the amendment of some articles of the Jordanian constitution was proposed in 2014. He was also the first member whose discussions with the government were described as “parliamentary accountability.” His writings in daily print media and electronic newspapers tackle issues of public affairs, especially political issues and human rights. His assumption of a government position did not prevent him from criticizing the government on several occasions, as he did when he wrote about the government shaving the hair of a group of young people because they gathered in the Dead Sea contrary to quarantine instructions for those arriving from travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also criticized the Greater Amman Municipality for removing banners on Independence Day because they showed phrases from the Bible. This is in addition to his extensive writings on the process of political reform and criticism of extremist thought.
• He evaluated many projects implemented in the field of human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities locally, regionally and internationally.
• He prepared several training materials on human rights and prepared monitoring reports on international conventions and covenants. These trainings were directed towards judges, employees in the diplomatic corps, employees of government institutions and civil society organizations.
• He was the first to prepare and present a series of radio programmes of about 30 episodes on the human rights approach to issues of persons with disabilities through Radio Farah Al-Nas, and then by participating in a weekly segment in a new programme on Jordanian TV on specific topics related to human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities.
Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh 