• Jordan: Drop Charges for ‘Undermining Royal Dignity’
    Press release
    Jan 19, 2012

    Jordan’s military prosecutor should drop charges of “undermining his majesty’s dignity” against a youth who burned the king’s image on January 11, 2012. Although prosecutions for general criminal damage of other people's property may be permissible, criminalizing insults against a head of state is not compatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of expression.

  • UK: European Court Ruling Sends Mixed Message on Torture
    Press release
    Jan 18, 2012
    The European Court of Human Rights ruling on January 17, 2012, against the deportation of a Jordanian national from the United Kingdom could have serious consequences for human rights protection in Europe, said three nongovernmental organizations that intervened in the case.
  • Letter to Prime Minister Urging Inquiry into Death in Custody
    Letter
    Dec 20, 2011
    Human Rights Watch urges you to set up an independent inquiry into the death of Najm al-Din Ahmad Ali ‘Azayiza (al-Zu’bi), a 20-year-old man from Ramtha, when in detention at the Military Intelligence offices in the Rashid Suburb area of Amman, on November 16, 2011.
  • The Flaws of Jordan’s Largest Terrorism Trial
    Commentary
    Nov 21, 2011

    The trial of 150 Jordanians on charges of terrorism is the largest of its kind in Jordan’s recent history and shows exactly what is wrong with the State Security Court. The acts in question stem from an April 15 brawl among government supporters, opponents, and police in Zarqa’, an impoverished town northeast of Amman. Only members of the opposition face prosecution. The trial, taking place inside a corridor of Muwaqqar 2, Jordan’s maximum security prison in the desert east of Amman, is seriously flawed. It singles out Islamists on charges of terrorism and casts doubts on the kingdom’s path towards genuine political reform, its commitment to the rule of law, and its stated desire to protect the rights of freedom of expression and assembly.

  • Migrant Domestic Workers in Jordan
    Commentary
    Oct 12, 2011

    The fate of millions of migrant workers in the Middle East has been all but forgotten amid the Arab Spring. Migrant domestic workers, the nannies and housekeepers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, desperately need another revolution.

  • Migrant Domestic Workers in Jordan: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
    Commentary
    Oct 12, 2011

    The fate of millions of migrant workers in the Middle East has been all but forgotten amid the Arab Spring. Migrant domestic workers, the nannies and housekeepers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, desperately need another revolution.

  • Jordan: Domestic Worker Protections Ineffective
    Press release
    Sep 27, 2011
    Jordan needs to enforce the legal protections for migrant domestic workers it has put in place over the past three years, Human Rights Watch and the Tamkeen Center for Legal Aid said in a joint report issued today. New laws and regulations since 2008 give domestic workers the right to regulated working hours and a weekly day off, and criminalize people trafficking, but enforcement remains negligible, the organizations said.
  • Letter to Jordanian Chief Judge on Freedom of Expression in Terrorist Financing Case
    Letter
    Sep 7, 2011
    Human Rights Watch writes to draw your attention to a recent case related to terrorism in which the State Security Court’s judges used vague and overbroad elements of article 118 in the penal code to convict four defendants.
  • Jordan's Assault on Free Speech
    Commentary
    Aug 3, 2011

    Character assassination is a hot topic in Jordan these days as thousands of demonstrators, riding the winds of the ‘Arab Spring’, call for reform and accuse government officials and business leaders of abuseof power and corruption. Asking judges to put critical journalists behind bars is also popular among a ruling class that feels threatened by the sudden surge in revelations pouring out on the street and from the media.

  • Jordan: Letter with Recommendations for Constitutional Revisions
    Letter
    Jul 5, 2011
    The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights welcome King Abdullah's initiative to form a royal committee to revise the constitution, in order to move towards a rights-respecting democracy. Our organisations urge the royal committee to pursue its efforts in a broadly inclusive manner, including in consultation with civil society, and on the full range of issues.