Introduction
Since 7th October 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, protests have escalated in Jordan. Several protests have been staged outside the Israeli embassy to call out Jordan’s ongoing cooperation with Israel. Around fifty percent of the Jordanian population is of Palestinian origin. 2.2 million of them are registered as refugees by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees with the United Nations.
Authorities have responded to protests through detentions, excessive use of force, intimidation and harassment. Several activists and journalists have been targeted under the broadly worded Cybercrimes law, which came into effect in September 2023. The escalating protests in Jordan come as smaller and persistent protests have been staged throughout the country against the government and its policies, in light of unemployment, inflation and political repression.
Peaceful Assembly
Since 7th October 2023, protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people and with Gaza have taken place across Jordan. However, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented how Jordanian authorities have arrested thousands, often under the Cybercrimes law, for their role in protests and for advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people. According to Amnesty international, the Jordanian authorities have arrested at least 1,500 people, including about 500 people who have been detained since March following mass protests outside the Israeli Embassy in Amman. In several cases, protesters were asked to sign a pledge to refrain from protesting again. Under international law and standards, the authorities may not require “pledges” from individuals not to organise or participate “in future assemblies”. In particular, several people have been targeted for social media posts (see more under expression).
Targeting activists before and after protests
People have been targeted before and after Palestine solidarity protests. In late October 2023, the authorities arrested three young men who were leaving a protest and accused them of “resisting police officers, inciting rioting, and disturbing public peace during an unregistered protest.” While they were released on bail, they were later detained again, with the Amman governor’s office ordering them to sign pledges to refrain from protests and pay 150 Jordanian dinars each (about US$211) for bail. The case against the protesters was later dismissed due to lack of evidence.
On 8th February 2024, Khaled Al-Natour, one of the leaders of a popular movement supporting the Palestinian cause, was arrested shortly before a scheduled protest targeted a bridge that transports goods from Jordan to Israel. According to Euro-Med Monitor, the authorities prevented protesters from entering the area where the protest was meant to take place by “blocking roads” and “erecting make shift checkpoints”.
Ahead of calls for a protest on the 24 March 2024 (to commemorate the first Jordanian sit in during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising), authorities arrested and raided the homes of several activists. On 26th March 2024, security officers in plain clothes arrested activist Ibrahim Shdeifat while he was on his way to a protest outside the Israeli embassy in Amman.
Excessive use of force and vilification of protesters
Police have used disproportionate force to disperse Palestine solidarity protests. For example, on 27 October 2023, during a protest several blocks away from the Israeli embassy, police charged at protesters and fired tear gas into the crowd. On 15th March 2024 a protest was staged near the Israeli embassy following Israel’s assault on Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Police used violent force to break up the protest, which resulted in injuries and damage to personal belongings. Several activists and journalists were arrested. In a statement, the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies confirmed that over 116 protesters were arrested. While some were released, others were charged under the Cybercrimes law or for unlawful assembly or resisting law enforcement officers. On 18th March 2024, several protesters were beaten and arrested as they tried to break a heavy police cordon around the Israeli embassy. On 24th March 2024, police fired tear gas, arrested several demonstrators and beat others as they attempted to cross the tight security cordon around the Israeli embassy. On 25th, 26th and 27th March the authorities intervened in protests using tear gas, batons and physical force to disperse protesters. On the 31st March 2024, authorities kettled protesters around the embassy to prevent them from gathering and imposed a midnight curfew. It is also reported that several women protesters were targeted.
On 26 November 2023, Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh said that “there has been no arrest of any person for practicing the right to peaceful expression.” He added, “those detained and who remain under arrest do not exceed 24 people because they assaulted policemen, destroyed property, or tried to produce gatherings that have no relation to Gaza.” In addition, official news agencies, online news sites and government officials have vilified protesters as “vandals, criminals and individuals who aim to destabilise the country”.
Furthermore, authorities have also censored protest signs and symbols, violating freedom of expression. Amnesty International reports that authorities banned the participation of children younger than 18 years old and prohibited the continuation of protests after midnight.
University students targeted
Students who have been protesting in solidarity with Palestine have also been targeted. In a statement, DAWN MENA raised concerns over arrests, expulsions, harassment, and intimidation of university students for their peaceful activism and called on institutions to reinstate students. Since October, at least nine students have been arrested from the University of Jordan for protesting and were only released after they signed pledges to not participate in protests. At least five students from the World Islamic Sciences and Education University (WISE) and Applied Science University have been expelled. In addition, Al al-Bayt University issued warnings against three students citing "bad behaviour" in connection with their participation in Palestinian solidarity protests. In one case documented, student Ahmad Haider was expelled by the Applied Science University in December 2023 for violating unspecified university by laws. Just one month earlier, Haider was detained for criticising the Jordanian governments’ policies toward Palestine and only released after signing a pledge.
Expression
Cybercrime law used to crackdown on dissent
Despite mass opposition by civil society and freedom of expression groups, including a letter by 18 CSOs to the King of Jordan, the Cybercrimes law came into effect in September 2023. Amendments to the 2015 Cybercrimes law, broadened the scope of criminal offences for “spreading fake news”, “inciting morality”, “online assassination of personality”, “provoking strife”, “threatening societal peace” and “contempt for religions.” These broad and vague provisions give the authorities broad powers to crackdown on freedom of expression and are in violation of line international standards of necessity and proportionality.
Since then, Jordanian authorities have charged several human rights defenders using the law as a tool to silence dissent.
In late October 2023, police detained a 38 year old activist two days after she attended a protest and posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, which documented how police forcibly dispersed the protest. She was questioned by the authorities about her post and instructed to take it down. Despite complying with this request, she was held for eight days without access to her family and medication. Following an online court hearing, a judge ordered her release pending trial under the Cybercrimes law. However, she remained in detention due to a summons from Amman’s governor. During a meeting with the Governor, he asked the activist: “Is Gaza worth all of this?” She was released after the meeting but still faces charges.
On 5th November 2023, activist Anas al-Jamal was detained under the Cybercrime law in relation to three tweets during October 2023 related to the protests. Al-Jamal was convicted to three months in jail and 5,000 Jordanian dinars (about US$7,000), without access to adequate legal representation. He was prosecuted under article 24 of the Cybercrime law, which criminalises publishing the names or pictures of law enforcement officials online, or new information about them that may offend or harm. On 13th January 2024, Al-Jamal was released after payment of bail through crowdfunding. However, he faces a travel ban.
An online activist was interrogated about his social media activity, including calling for a general strike in support of Gaza, and threatened with a six-month prison sentence and 50,000 Jordanian dinars (about US$70,000) fine under the new Cybercrimes law. He was released on condition that he sign a pledge to no longer attend protests or share protest-related content on social media. In early November 2023, a 27-year-old activist was summoned and interrogated by police about her social media posts and attendance at several protests. She was threatened with a 15-year prison sentence and released after signing a pledge to no longer attend protests.
Amnesty international noted how governors have also used the Crime Prevention Law to harass and intimidate activists. The law enables governors to detain people without charge or trial by administrative order with limited judicial review, circumventing fair trial safeguards normally afforded in criminal proceedings guaranteed by Jordanian law. For example, in December 2023, activist Majd al-Farraj was summoned for questioning over his Palestine solidarity slogans posted on social media. He was charged under the Cybercrimes law and later acquitted, only to be re-arrested at a protest on 19th March 2024. He was held in administrative detention for 40 days.
Crackdown on journalists covering Palestine solidarity protests
There have been cases of reporters covering protests in solidarity with Gaza, being subject to detentions.
* A 25-year-old journalist known by the pseudonym of Charbel al-Disi reporting for the 7ibernews site was arrested on 30th March 2024 while covering a protest near the Israeli embassy.
* Abdul Jabbar Zeitoun, an independent photo-journalist and documentary filmmaker was also arrested on 21st March 2024 while covering one of these anti-war protests and released on 28th March 2024.
* Arabic Post’s Khair Al-Jabri was arrested while covering a similar demonstration on 26th March 2024 and was held for three days on the grounds that he did not have a press card.
Responding to these arrests, Jonathan Dagher, Head of RSF’s Middle East desk said:
Covering a demonstration is not a crime. The treatment to which journalists in Jordan were subjected for doing their job to report the news is unacceptable. These detentions restrict press freedom and deter reporters. We call on the Jordanian authorities to put an immediate stop to this intimidation and to release the journalist who is still detained.
- https://rsf.org/en/reporters-covering-protests-against-gaza-war-increasingly-harassed-jordan