Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04AMMAN7959
2004-09-23 15:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

DEATH OF PRISON INMATE AND RELATED ABUSE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KMPI JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007959 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2014
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KMPI JO
SUBJECT: DEATH OF PRISON INMATE AND RELATED ABUSE
ALLEGATIONS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

-------
SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007959

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2014
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KMPI JO
SUBJECT: DEATH OF PRISON INMATE AND RELATED ABUSE
ALLEGATIONS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) A report on abuses in Jordanian prisons, including
the alleged beating death of an inmate, has prompted
government and press inquiries. End Summary.

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DEATH AT AL-JUWEIDEH
--------------


2. (U) On September 19, the Jordanian press made public a
report by the Jordanian National Center for Human Rights
(NCHR) claiming "serious human rights violations" at some
Jordanian prisons. The report, given earlier in the month to
the GOJ, highlighted the death of a prisoner at the
Al-Juweideh Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre (notorious
for housing some of Jordan's most violent detainees)
following a severe beating by prison guards during an inmate
brawl September 1. The report further claimed that inmates
at other prisons were being subjected to "beatings, lashings,
as well as suffering from other human rights breaches."


3. (U) Also on September 19, several GOJ ministers, NGO
representatives (including NCHR Commissioner Walid Saadi) and
other concerned parties met at the Public Security Department
(PSD) to discuss conditions at correctional facilities and
the inmate death referred to in the NCHR report. Justice
Minister Salah Bashir announced that a ministerial committee
had already been formed to probe prison conditions and that a
criminal prosecutor was working with police to file criminal
charges against those responsible for the inmate's death.
"Those found involved in this incident will be legally
prosecuted and the rule of law will apply to everybody
regardless of their status," Bashir pledged in a statement
quoted in the press. He added, however, that he did not
believe that there was a "systematic practice" of prisoner
abuse in Jordan and said that a series of surprise prison
visits during the year had all resulted in "clean reports."

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TOO MANY INMATES, TOO FEW CELLS
--------------


4. (U) Bashir acknowledged that most correctional facilities
in Jordan exceeded their capacity. He noted that while
Al-Juweideh was designed to house 1,072 inmates, 1,645
prisoners were at the facility when he and Interior Minister

Samir Habashneh conducted an inspection on September 17.
(NOTE: Around 30 prisoners staged a hunger strike in July
2004 in protest against overcrowding and food quality. Amman
Attorney General Naji Abdullah eventually convinced them to
end their strike.) According to Bashir, the new ministerial
committee on prisons was seeking to resolve this problem by
expanding prison capacity, speeding up court proceedings for
inmates jailed pending trial, and/or deporting foreign
inmates.


5. (U) On September 20, Habashneh announced that 200 inmates
detained for "administrative reasons" had been released from
Al-Juweideh to ease overcrowding. A first tranche of 38
foreign prisoners, some jailed for residing and working in
Jordan illegally, had been identified for immediate expulsion
to their countries of origin. Government Spokeswoman Asma
Khader stated September 21 that the GOJ was planning to
rehabilitate a building near Al-Juweideh to house inmates and
to construct two new prisons in the Muwaqar and Jerash areas.
She added that the government would seek to provide
vocational training to inmates, as well as psychological
treatment.

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HABASHNEH ON THE DEFENSIVE
--------------


6. (U) During a meeting with NGO representatives on
September 22, Habashneh criticized the NCHR report, claiming
that it "distorted facts and gave a brutal image of Jordan to
the world." He stated that his decision to release 200
detainees had put the police "on alert" since such
individuals "engage in fatal street fights and are ready to
be hired to hurt citizens in return for money." Earlier in
the week, Habashneh reminded reporters that prison security
was a serious issue as some inmates either smuggled weapons
into prisons or fashioned them inside to engage in violent
acts.


7. (U) Responding to Habashneh's statements, NCHR
Commissioner Saadi told the press that the report accurately
presented his organization's findings based on personal
interviews and prison visits, but said that the government
investigations "will have the final say." While he "did not
want to defend administrative detention," Saadi acknowledged
that some detainees "will commit crimes" when released and
that a fair balance needed to be achieved between people's
right to fair and speedy trials and society's right to live
in peace and security.

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PUBLIC REACTION
--------------


8. (U) Outside the GOJ, the NCHR report prompted a flurry of
public statements and press editorials. MP Mohammad Aqel
(West Banker, Balqa- 4th Dist.) told Arabic daily Al-Dustour
that he and other members of Parliament would press for the
issue to be dealt with in a firm and transparent manner.
Head of the Professional Association's "Freedoms Committee,"
attorney Samir Khurfan, called for the review and amendment
of the prisons law to help stop the harsh treatment of
prisoners. The prominent new Arabic daily Al-Ghad carried
critical commentaries by several jurists on a proposed new
government ban on corporal punishment, which noted that such
a ban already exists but lacks mechanisms for enforcement.



9. (C) Contacted by post, human rights activist Jamal Rifai
stated that the NCHR report was "fair" and obviously based on
proper field research. He disagreed that the report would
give Jordan a bad image, and said Habashneh should have
lauded, rather than criticized, the NCHR's efforts. Dr.
Fawzi Samhouri, another prominent activist, remarked that the
allegations in the NCHR report were "not surprising," and
that the GOJ needed to revise prison conduct regulations and
practice better oversight to improve conditions.

--------------
PRESS CLAMPDOWN
--------------


10. (C) The publisher of a major Jordanian daily told PAO
and IO September 23 that his and all other publications had
received a letter from the Ministry of Interior forbidding
further reporting on this issue. On a possibly related note,
the September 23 edition of prominent weekly newspaper
"Shihan" omitted any mention of the prison scandal, despite
the fact of its having been a front page story in each of the
dailies for several days running. Shihan is known as a
Mukhabarat-linked paper that reflects the views of Jordan's
East Bank security establishment.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


11. (C) Allegations of harsh prison conditions and prisoner
abuse are nothing new in Jordan, but the death at al-Juweideh
and the NCHR report have thrust the issue into the spotlight.
The GOJ appears to be taking the matter seriously and has
notably engaged civil society members; Habashneh's comments
and the media gag order, however, demonstrate the GOJ's
extreme sensitivity to the subject. The NCHR, derided by
some as a GOJ mouthpiece given its quasi-governmental status,
has gained new credibility and respect by its report, but may
likewise come under pressure to not further "embarrass"
Jordan on the world stage.
HALE