• Human Rights in Jordan
    Jordanian authorities increasingly resorted to force, arrests, and politicized charges to respond to continuing demonstrations demanding political and economic reform. The fifth prime minister to serve since the protests started in January 2011, Abdullah Ensour, took office in October 2012. Parliamentary elections took place in January 2013, under a 2012 electoral law that opposition groups complain favors loyalist candidates. The Muslim Brotherhood-led opposition boycotted the election.
  • Jordan: Students Accused of ‘Devil Worship’
    Jordanian authorities should immediately charge or release five Al al-Bayt university students detained since March 12, 2013, after other students alleged they had desecrated a Quran and engaged in “devil worship” . The students, who deny the accusations and have neither been charged nor taken before a judge, were assaulted by a crowd of other students, and their attackers should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said.
More news »

Featured Content

Subscribe to content feed

Reports

  • Domestic Plight
    How Jordanian Laws, Officials, Employers, and Recruiters Fail Abused Migrant Domestic Workers
  • Slow Reform
    Protection of Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia and the Middle East
  • Stateless Again
    Palestinian-Origin Jordanians Deprived of their Nationality
More >>

Jordan

  • Jordan: Students Accused of ‘Devil Worship’
    Mar 26, 2013
    Jordanian authorities should immediately charge or release five Al al-Bayt university students detained since March 12, 2013, after other students alleged they had desecrated a Quran and engaged in “devil worship” . The students, who deny the accusations and have neither been charged nor taken before a judge, were assaulted by a crowd of other students, and their attackers should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said.
  • Jordan: President’s Visit Shouldn’t Ignore Refugees in Peril
    Mar 22, 2013

    During his visit Friday to Jordan, there’s little doubt President Obama will praise it for its hospitality toward some 350,000 Syrian refugees. While praise and support for Jordan’s reception of many Syrian refugees is deserved, the president should not give Jordan a free pass when it comes to its forcible returns of Palestinian refugees to Syria.

  • Jordan: Obama Should Press King on Asylum Seeker Pushbacks
    Mar 21, 2013
    Jordan is routinely and unlawfully rejecting Palestinian refugees, single males, and undocumented people seeking asylum at its border with Syria, said Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic (the Harvard Clinic).
  • Saudi Arabia: Disclose Whereabouts of Jordanian Activist
    Mar 8, 2013
    Saudi authorities should immediately disclose the whereabouts and condition of the Jordanian activist Khaled al-Natour, and free him or charge him with a recognizable criminal offense.
  • Letter to the Saudi Interior Ministry Regarding Khaled al-Natour
    Mar 8, 2013
    We write to request information on the whereabouts and condition of Khaled al-Natour, 27, a Jordanian citizen whom Saudi authorities detained at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh on January 6, 2013. According to information we have received, he has been held incommunicado since that date and authorities have not released any information regarding the reasons for his arrest or his whereabouts. We call on you to release him without delay or for the appropriate authorities to charge him before a court of law if there is evidence that he is responsible for any criminal offense.
  • Jordan: End Protester Trials in State Security Courts
    Nov 30, 2012
    Jordanian authorities should stop using state security courts to try civilians, including for participating in peaceful protests. Protests have intensified following an announcement by the government on November 14, 2012, that it would end fuel subsidies.
  • Iraq/Turkey: Open Borders to All Syrian Refugees
    Oct 14, 2012
    The Iraqi and Turkish authorities should immediately re-open border crossings where more than 10,000 Syrians have been stranded for weeks and allow all those wishing to seek asylum to cross without delay.
  • Jordan: Arrest Wave Signals Growing Intolerance for Dissent
    Sep 14, 2012
    The arrest by security forces of well over a dozen peaceful reform activists since September 7, 2012, signals the government’s toughening stand toward demands for political reform in the kingdom. The authorities should release all of those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to expression, association, and assembly.
  • Jordan: A Move to Censor Online Expression
    Sep 10, 2012
    A proposed law requiring electronic publications to obtain a license and granting executive authorities the power to close down unlicensed sites threatens freedom of expression online. The government on August 22, 2012, sent the draft amendments to the Press and Publications law to parliament for approval.
  • Syria Neighbors: Keep Borders Open for Refugees
    Aug 29, 2012
    Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon have mostly opened their borders to more than 200,000 refugees from neighboring Syria, but in the past week some officials in these countries have said they are reaching their limit and may soon close their borders.
more documents on this topic »