REVISED LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 AMMAN 001465

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV KDEM JO
SUBJECT: REVISED LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED BY
JORDAN'S PARLIAMENT

REF: A. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH - "SHUTTING OUT THE CRITICS"
(2007)

B. AMMAN 255

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Classified By: Ambassador David Hale
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Jordan's parliament will likely consider the
new draft of an associations law during a June extraordinary
session. The previous draft, widely criticized as too
restrictive, was withdrawn by the PM in January. As
currently written, the new law consolidates responsibility
for regulation of civil society in the Ministry of Social
Development, creates an oversight commission, legitimizes
foreign funding, and may offer tax breaks. It will also
expand the ability of the government to intervene in the
internal governance of NGOs, however. The Interior Ministry
is lobbying for a more restrictive law, and civil society is
hoping for one that will clarify red lines and cut out the
influence of security services. Building trust between the
two sides will be difficult. Minister of Social Development
Hala Lattouf is working to build the coalitions necessary for
the law's passage in parliament, but she will need strong
backing from the PM. End Summary.

A New Associations Law
--------------


2. (C) A new version of the associations law may be
presented to the parliament during an extraordinary session
which is expected to be convened by the King in June. This
session, which will likely last for around a month, will be
crammed with legislation which the parliament failed to
attend to in its previous sitting. Contacts tell us that
legislators and government departments are lobbying to get
their priorities on the agenda, lest they fall off of the
radar screen until the parliament's next regular session in
October. After the very public demise of the previous draft
law on associations, the new version is one law that is
competing for a spot at the top of the agenda. Prime
Minister Nader Dahabi told the Ambassador May 10 that the
associations law is on his agenda for the session and he
expected it to be addressed.


3. (C) Currently, the law is being re-formulated within the
Legislative and Opinion Bureau of the Prime Ministry - the
body which is constitutionally mandated with writing all of
Jordan's laws. Mohammed Alawneh, the head of the bureau (and
himself a former Justice Minister),told us that the new law,
received in draft form from the Ministry of Social
Development, is now in the initial stages of the process. It
is currently before a lower-level group of officials from
various ministries, which will offer him a consensus draft in
the near future. After Alawneh gives this draft the
once-over, it will be posted on the bureau's website for
public comment. Alawneh showed poloff the two inch thick
file of comments the bureau received from the public on the
previous draft of the law - 380 comments in total. He
expects that the amended version will receive even more
comments, which bureau staff will have to sift through and
incorporate, if necessary.


4. (C) MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a member of the committee in
the parliament that will likely be tasked with considering
the legislation, told Poloff that he has not seen a copy of
it yet, and has no indications from the leadership of
parliament that its introduction is imminent. Due to
procedural delays, Kharabsheh believes that two other
much-discussed laws on transportation and social security may
take precedence in parliament's deliberations despite the
government's wishes. Unless the parliament receives the law
from the Legislative Bureau soon, Kharabsheh believes that it
may be pushed into the October session.

Stepping Forward
--------------


5. (C) Sa'ed Karajah, the consultant hired to work with the
Ministry of Social Development to lead the drafting of the
new law, outlined the current directions the draft is taking
from his consultations with the Ministry. Note: The funding
for his efforts is provided by USAID, but this aspect is
being kept quiet due to sensitivities on all sides. Even
Karajah himself seems to be unaware of the USAID connection.
A lawyer, Karajah was involved in the drafting of several
previous iterations of the law on associations on behalf of
NGOs in Jordan. End Note. He believes that it is an
incremental step forward, and one that is ultimately more
realistic in terms of passage and implementation. While the
law is still under negotiation within the government, Karajah
says that "its spirit is very advanced" - a reflection of

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Jordan's current reformist government.


6. (C) The primary change from current practice will be the
consolidation of responsibility for civil society within the
Ministry of Social Development. At present, NGOs in Jordan
are regulated by the ministries whose expertise roughly
corresponds with their main topic of interest. This
situation creates confusion and inequities between NGOs of
different types, which end up being subject to widely
different regimes of regulation and oversight by the various
ministries. The new law would create a more predictable and
level playing field for all organizations within civil
society by consolidating the oversight function into one
ministry. Significantly, that ministry is not the Ministry
of Interior, which is much feared and distrusted within
Jordanian civil society due to its links with the security
services. According to Karajah, the transfer of oversight to
the Ministry of Social Development is actually a return to
the regime of the 1960s and 1970s, and therefore has a
precedent that should make it a slightly easier sell within
the government.


7. (C) According to Minister of Social Development Hala
Lattouf, Islamic foundations (Awqaf) will not be overseen by
her department. Since the infrastructure to support the
specialized needs of the foundations already exists in the
Ministry of Awqaf, it was decided to keep that category of
associations separate in the draft law.


8. (C) The current iteration of the draft law envisions a
commission which will be responsible for regulation and
oversight of civil society in Jordan. The commission will
organize a national registry of civil society organizations -
a provision that Lattouf sees as one that "might not go
through" due to its political sensitivity. Karajah says that
while the commission is currently envisioned as an
independent body, it will likely end up within the Ministry
of Social Development. Members of the commission will be a
mix of officials from various ministries, along with
outsiders who will likely be appointed by the King or the
Minister of Social Development from the ranks of civil
society, business, or the cadre of former ministers.


9. (C) Also under negotiation is an extension of tax breaks
or tax-exempt status for civil society organizations. While
certain kinds of NGOs are exempt from sales tax in Jordan,
they are subject to other taxes. Karajah sees the lowering
or elimination of these taxes as a carrot that the government
will use to reward NGOs that are true to their goals and
produce tangible benefits for Jordan's economy and society.
The details are still hazy on this point; how performance
would be measured and how benefits would be delivered are
still under discussion.


10. (C) One of the more criticized points of the law which
was withdrawn was a provision that would have allowed the
government to remove and replace board members under certain
circumstances. According to Lattouf, that provision has
survived the re-drafting process and was even expanded to
allow the government more leeway and time to intervene.
Lattouf described the provision as "necessary" to save
failing NGOs or those involved in corruption, but played down
the potential for use of the clause as a means to interfere
in politically active organizations.


11. (C) Foreign funding for Jordanian NGOs is a critical and
controversial issue in the new law. As it currently stands,
the law will allow Jordanian civil society to accept foreign
funds, but only if those funds are publicly declared.
Minister of Social Development Hala Lattouf says, "the
problem is that NGOs in Jordan have accepted foreign funding
under the table." The new law will legitimize foreign
funding in exchange for transparency, a move that civil
society has resisted in the past.

The Government's Red Lines
--------------


12. (C) Jordan's security services and the Ministry of
Interior are seen by many post contacts as the key roadblocks
to reform in the area of civil society regulation. In a
recent interview with London-based newspaper Al-Quds
Al-Arabi, Interior Minister Eid Al-Fayez summed up his view
on the issue of stability versus openness, which is key to
the debate over the new associations law: "Authority in our
country is a reflection of the structure of society. The
authority consists of citizens and human beings, and hence
there are mistakes and arbitrariness can happen in
implementing laws and regulations. I do not deny this. As
for security, it is a basic value that might take priority
over many requirements and needs. Security in Jordan is an

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issue that enjoys unanimity and priority."


13. (C) Nasser Ramadin, the designated foreign liaison at
the Ministry of Interior, told Poloffs that the ministry was
all too aware of the tradeoffs between stability and respect
for civil liberties in the process of drafting new laws on
associations and public gatherings. Acknowledging that these
laws are primary instruments of the ministry's ability to
manage dissent in Jordan, Ramadin said, "this law is very
important for us." He added that behind the scenes, the
ministry is advocating for more restrictive provisions -
statutes that would retain many of the tools that the
ministry uses to keep tabs on and influence over civil
society.


14. (C) Ramadin outlined some of the key red lines that the
ministry sees in the negotiations over the new law. He
stressed that the most important portion of the law on
associations that the ministry is seeking to retain is the
ability to examine the financial assets of civil society
organizations. Ramadin told us that the new law must contain
provisions for an audit bureau that would be able to trace
domestic and international transactions, primarily in order
to combat "foreign influence" in Jordan's NGOs and religious
organizations. "The soul of the associations law is that
organizations not be involved in political activity," Ramadin
asserted. "Without an audit bureau, who can monitor the
money?" He criticized a recent report by Human Rights Watch
(ref A) which faulted Jordan for its restrictions on the
financial independence of NGOs. Ramadin complained that
Human Rights Watch failed to understand the need for
stability that drives Jordan's tight regimen of control over
civil society activity.


15. (C) Minister of Social Development Hala Lattouf told us
that the Ministry of Interior has been surprisingly
supportive in her efforts to draft a compromise law. Even
so, she is clearly intent on cutting them out of the game of
regulating civil society as much as possible. "We don't see
the Ministry of Interior as having a role," she noted. The
problem Lattouf faces, she says, is that there are no models
within the Arab world which balance civil liberties and
government control in a way that Jordan sees desirable. Per
Lattouf, in the absence of a clear template, the Ministry of
Interior is defaulting to the system that it has relied upon
for decades. Changing that mentality may ultimately be the
most difficult part of the law's journey through the system.

Civil Society's Perspective
--------------


16. (C) Civil society leaders are hoping for a legal regime
that will empower them rather than create new limits on their
activities, but many of our contacts are not optimistic.
Fawzi Samhouri, a political activist who focuses on
Palestinian issues, says that, "first the mentality has to
change, then the law can change." Shaher Bak, the outgoing
chair of the National Center for Human Rights, said that he
expects a "more liberal" regime for civil society
organizations to emerge from the associations law, but
realizes from past efforts that it will face an uphill battle
in the parliament.


17. (C) Hani Hourani, head of the Al-Urdun Al-Jadid Research
Center, a prominent think tank, is skeptical that this
attempt at reform will move Jordan towards a system that
empowers rather than restricts civil society. He cites
multiple previous attempts by NGOs in Jordan to offer
alternatives to the outdated legislation that was in force -
all of which were essentially ignored by successive
governments. "There is no more need for discussion. It's
time to reform this reactionary law which is embarrassing for
Jordan," Hourani insists. He has been involved in some of
the discussions between the government and civil society
about the scope of the law, and credits Minister of Social
Development Hala Lattouf with doing so - even if her power is
limited by her status as a relative newcomer to the political
scene.


18. (C) Yet in the same breath, Hourani says that the
government is already well aware of what civil society needs
and wants. He is hoping for a law that will make
registration easier and cheaper. He wants the security
services to be cut out of the registration process, or
barring that, to at least have an official point of contact
so as to avoid misunderstandings. He wants more streamlined
paperwork (or no paperwork at all) for approval of foreign
funding; the current regime has made him essentially unable
to negotiate with some international partners who distribute
money on short timelines.


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Building Trust
--------------


19. (C) Karajah believes that both the government and civil
society will have to work on lowering their mutual antagonism
if agreement is to be reached on the framework for regulating
associations. "The relationship between civil society and
the government is filled with intimidation and doubt,"
Karajah asserts. That mutual suspicion is the result of
years of separation and absence of dialogue. Karajah
believes that only through the creation of relationships will
the government and civil society learn to respect and trust
each other enough to relax the regulatory regime.


20. (C) On the government side, Karajah has seen through his
work that association is not seen as a fundamental right by
regulating authorities in Jordan. "You can't believe how
absent this concept is from their minds," he notes. Rather,
governmental bodies see the ability to form associations as a
gift that only they can bestow - a game in which they must
set the rules. Karajah highlighted the fact that "in
accordance with the law" is often added to declarations of
fundamental rights in Jordan. To his mind, this phrase acts
as a thinly veiled code for "the government can restrict or
annul these rights at any time in the future." Looking back
at the legislative history of the law on associations,
Mohammed Alawneh of the legislative bureau admitted that
"times have changed" from the initial regulation of civil
society back in the 1970s, and that there were "many
mistakes" in implementing the previous law.


21. (C) On the NGO side, far from being the paragons of
virtue that they claim to be, Karajah calls civil society
organizations in Jordan "corrupt." In his interactions with
government officials, he has heard many tales of
misappropriated funds, personal fiefdoms gone astray, and
dubious foreign connections. While civil society leaders may
try to minimize these examples, Karajah believes that until
the internal accountability of civil society organizations in
Jordan is dealt with, building trust with the government will
be extremely difficult. "We have to respect the government's
experiences in these bad situations," he says. "Everyone in
civil society wants changes in the law, but nobody wants to
pay the price."


22. (C) For his part, Hani Hourani agrees that "the average
of transparency, democracy, and accountability in Jordanian
civil society is not good." Yet he believes that the
government is using scattered cases of mismanagement and
applying them unfairly to the entire sector. Hourani is
interested in a law that will "improve partnership and trust"
between the government and civil society, but recognizes that
both sides have a long way to go.

How Fast?
--------------


23. (C) Civil society's primary dilemma in dealing with the
new law will surround the risks it is willing to take on
behalf of change. Karajah sums up the primary question: "Do
we go for our best shot first? Do we try to get everything
we want at once?" For his part, Karajah believes that now is
not the right time for a far-reaching overhaul. From his
interactions with government officials, Karajah believes that
changing the mentality of control through building
relationships and demonstrating responsible action must come
before Jordan's bureaucracy will trust civil society to
exercise its rights responsibly.


24. (C) Karajah believes that civil society will have to
make the argument that it is in the Jordanian government's
interest to provide a clear framework for civil society to
carry out its duties. Karajah says that in a way, the
leaders of Jordanian civil society must invite regulators to
help them clean house - expelling the corrupt, ineffective,
and irresponsible actors and retaining the healthy
organizations that will benefit society. Only in this
environment of positive control will the government and
bureaucracy be willing to loosen its grip.


25. (C) From the civil society perspective, Hani Hourani is
waiting to see what the government will do before deciding
whether or not to muster his political weight against the new
law. He is realistic about the basic inability of Jordanian
civil society to influence legislation, and expects that a
public row over the content of the law could damage Jordan's
image and any small amount of trust that civil society has
earned. Yet Hourani also believes that Jordan's government
will eventually come around to the realization that civil
society has a necessary and productive role to play - one
that is not always adversarial. In this transitional period,

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he says, he is merely looking for an indication that progress
is being made.

Building Coalitions
--------------


26. (C) Karajah credits Minister of Social Development Hala
Lattouf with leadership in building a coalition that will
ensure broad acceptance of the new associations law in both
government and civil society. She has been holding meetings
with various stakeholders that are designed both to elicit
feedback on the expected content of the law and to build
support for its passage and implementation. Lattouf has met
with a wide variety of government officials, including
lower-level bureaucrats who will eventually implement the
law. She has invited civil society leaders to roundtables to
discuss their expectations surrounding the law. An
interesting (and innovative) strategic decision is that
Lattouf has also been meeting with former ministers - the
backbone of Jordan's cynical chattering classes whose
snickering from the sidelines has reportedly sunk previous
efforts. Karajah calls this real activism: "She's not
playing political games. She's looking for the best law for
the country. If there is a good law with no advocacy, you
lose. What she's doing is closer to the King's vision."


27. (C) In the past, parliament has been the key roadblock
in reform efforts pitting the security apparatus against
civil society. Karajah and his interlocutors (including
Lattouf) know that this is the case, but believe that the
current constellation of reformists in government and
parliament will be able to push the law through where others
may have failed. Karajah foresees the message to parliament
as "decent liberty for civil society, decent control for the
government" - a compromise that will appeal to Amman liberals
and rural conservatives alike. He sees the young,
business-oriented reformists in the parliament as the bill's
natural allies, and suspects that the Minister of Social
Development will use them to convince tribal conservatives
(including speaker Abdulhadi Al-Majali) that it is the most
workable option.


28. (C) MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh believes that his fellow
parliamentarians will look to the government for cues on how
to vote on the new associations law. If Lattouf and others
can convince PM Dahabi to actively support the new law rather
than watching its progress from the sidelines, Kharabsheh
believes that it will pass. "This parliament will do
whatever the government wants," he says. "They don't have
independent opinions on these issues." Lattouf is confident
that PM Dahabi is solidly behind the new law, and will
actively organize support for it in parliament. The fact
that it is being given priority within the crammed
extraordinary session is a sign of his support for the
measure, in her view.
HALE