HRW: Free speech muzzled in Jordan

Human Rights Watch published a report yesterday criticising the arrests made by the Jordanian government against political Islamic leaders and activists for speech-related offences.

The report considered such actions to be proof of Jordan’s determination to muzzle citizens who speak “freely”.

In the report published today from the organisation’s headquarters in Beirut, Sarah Leah Whitson, the organisation’s Middle East and North Africa director, stressed that the Jordanian authorities have broken reform promises by arresting and charging activists for speech-related offences, adding that “if Jordanian citizens can’t peacefully criticise policies in the region, what option do they have left to express their political views?”

The report noted that the security forces detained Zaki Bani Irsheid, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party in Jordan, Mohammed Sayed Bakr, a senior Brotherhood official, and Yousef Smadi, an independent activist. They were detained for expressing of their opinions and have been accused of what the report described as overbroad and vague legislation. They have been sent to the State Security Court, which HRW doesn’t considered to be independent of the executive authority.