MFA
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Foreign Ministry gives Nowak response
AMMAN, February 1 (Petra) — The Foreign Ministry
on Wednesday said Jordan will give its response to a final report by a UN human
rights investigator on torture in the country.
The 38-page report by UN special rapporteur for torture Manfred Nowak is to be
examined by the UN Human Rights Council. The 47-member state forum opens its
next four-week session in Geneva on March 12.
Head of the legal department at the ministry, Mahmoud Al Hmoud said Jordan was
the only country in the Middle East that gave Nowak free access to all
[rehabilitation and correctional] facilities and institutions. Last year, the
government said the UN rapporteur met with a cross-section of officials and
heads of departments that facilitated his visits to the different rehabilitation
centers — “which was a positive sign and showed transparency”.
Hmoud said Nowak held a press conference during his visit to Jordan before
completing his report and prior to his submitting his final report to the HRC.
He added Nowak's 2006 statements on torture were about “isolated cases that he
generalized” and contradicts reality especially that Jordan ratified and signed
more than sixteen international agreements, treaties and declarations on human
rights.
Hmoud said with regards to the Jafr prison, it was ordered closed and
transformed into a vocational training centre by King Abdullah in December. The
King also directed authorities to accelerate their plans to improve the
infrastructure of correctional and rehabilitation centers.