Jordan Times
Monday, February 18, 2008
Human rights, liberties protected - gov’t
AMMAN (JT) - Jordan on Sunday rejected as “baseless, contradictory and partial” a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the situation of public freedoms and human rights in the Kingdom.
A government statement made available to The Jordan Times said Jordan “regrets the accusatory language” in the report and the “uncalculated judgements” made against the country.
“Rights and freedoms protection has not declined as claimed by the report, which made groundless judgements,” said the statement.
On the contrary, it added, Jordan has recently witnessed developments, accomplishments and measures that enhanced respect for human rights, noting that the Kingdom has a plan to achieve more in this field, which includes broad socio-economic changes.
The HRW report, “Democracy Charade Undermines Rights”, released late January, included Jordan among countries that allegedly held “dubious elections” in an attempt to pose as real democracies.
The government statement stressed that the current Elections Law aptly represents the spectrum of the Jordanian society, adding that all the necessary measures were taken to ensure free and fair elections, including an electronic connectivity grid and cutting the corner of the ID card to prevent multiple voting.
The New York-based group, which surveys the human rights situation in more than 75 countries, criticised Jordan for alleged violations related to freedom of speech, arrest procedures, the Public Assembly Law, the Political Parties Law, the NGOs Law, Iraqi “refugees” and treatment of foreign labour in industrial estates.
“Such criticism is not supported by facts,” the statement said, detailing responses to each of these allegations.
The government said that arrests are always based on a warrant issued by judicial authorities.
It underlined that HRW failed to refer in the report to amendments made to Article 208 of the Penal Code prohibiting all kinds of torture in detention centres, including those at the General Intelligence Department (GID), which have been inspected by prosecutors, the National Centre for Human Rights, the International Red Cross and even HRW itself.
The statement added that all detainees at the GID facilities are kept in custody upon orders of the State Security Court as they are implicated in crimes against national security. They are ensured the right to appoint a lawyer and their families are allowed to visit them, the government said.
The statement added, meanwhile, that there are only eight women kept in custody upon orders by district governors. The procedure is taken “upon their request to protect them from their families”, pending success in efforts to make sure that they will be safe when released.
The statement also pointed out that the Public Assembly Law excludes eight types of meetings from the requirement to obtain prior permission from authorities, including meetings of political parties, NGOs and professional associations.
Banning rallies and protests that do not meet this condition is only aimed to “ensure the safety of the participants themselves”, the statement said.
On freedom of speech, the government underlined the fact that the new Press and Publications Law prohibits detaining journalists for charges related to performing their job.
The statement also noted that the Political Parties Law was the outcome of a nationwide debate, pointing out that the provision stipulating a minimum of 500 founding members from at least five districts is meant to encourage wider political participation. Besides, it said, it was Parliament that raised the number of founding members from 250, as suggested in the draft law, to double the figure.
As for Iraqis in the country, “the report, regrettably, overlooked the major role Jordan played in hosting 700,000 Iraqis, and the economic, financial and security burden entailed” in this situation, according to the statement.
As for foreign workers in the Qualifying Industrial Zones, the document referred to measures taken by Jordanian labour authorities to protect the rights of these guest labourers and prevent abuse in their places of work.