Are these murders and executions justice or vengeance?

Following the horrific murder of Jordanian air force pilot Muadh Al-Kasasbeh by ISIS, the world is, rightly, convulsed with anger. There is growing disbelief at the depths of depravity to which the group has plunged; Kasasbeh was burned alive in a cage. There is no doubt that, like the beheading of previous hostages, this killing was intended to shock us all; it has. However, our revulsion should be targeted against ISIS and not used as an excuse to settle old scores. Unfortunately, it looks as if this is not the way that the Jordanian government is thinking.

It has been reported that in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday, Sajida Al-Rishawi was hanged by the Jordanian authorities. The execution was carried out just hours after the video of Kasasbeh’s terrible murder was released by ISIS. In numerous televised statements, Jordan vowed that the country would avenge his death, but rather than directing its anger at his killers, Jordan is taking it out on those already held within its justice system. The execution of Rishawi demonstrates weakness, not strength.

Before we applaud Jordan’s “firm” stance against ISIS terrorism, let us look at the facts. Rishawi was alleged to be one of several Al-Qaeda operatives who entered Jordan in late 2005 and used explosive vests in a series of suicide attacks against the Radisson Hotel in Amman and other targets. She survived because her vest apparently failed to detonate. Once caught, she was tried by a Jordanian military court. In a sick twist, the Jordanian authorities had her confess on camera whilst wearing an explosive vest, a confession that can best be described as medieval in its approach. This raises doubts about the validity of her confession, quite apart from the fact that Jordan’s legal system is not known for fair and transparent trials. The system has also been known to use torture to extract “confessions”, as does most of the Arab world.

Interestingly, after that television appearance Rishawi retracted her confession and began a long appeal process that has lasted for almost 10 years, only ending with her being dragged from her cell and executed in a fit of vengeful rage. During her time in prison she claimed consistently that she was forced to go along on the suicide mission and that she never intended to detonate the explosives strapped to her body. She even revealed that she and her husband, who blew himself up on the same operation, had only been married for a few days and the marriage was never consummated. It is odd that an “extremist Muslim” suicide bomber who is “assured” of paradise, would get married days before they plan to be “martyrs”. What use would she have had with a husband if she was about to enjoy paradise for eternity? It is entirely plausible that Al-Qaeda arranged the marriage in order to facilitate the movement of its operatives – married couples being less suspicious than single men – and Rishawi could well have been under duress as she claims.

As mentioned, Jordan’s human rights abuses are not exactly a secret. There are frequent round-ups of protesters, activists and opposition members who want to see reform and change in the Hashemite Kingdom. Torture is rife, and people are arrested arbitrarily and tried on bogus terrorism charges. A report in Arab media today confirmed that there are many on Jordan’s death row convicted on terrorism charges who have had their death sentences carried out in reaction to the murder of Kasasbeh. The relatives of some of those appealing against the death sentences have confirmed that they were told by the authorities that prisoners have been transferred to Sawaqa Prison, where executions are normally carried out, but they have not received any further information.

It looks as if Jordan is about to engage in an orgy of judicial violence and vengeance, but all that this demonstrates is the country’s intense frustration. Rather than taking it out on prisoners the government could have demonstrated greater strength by showing that it is not cut from the same cloth as ISIS. It could have made sure that all of those accused of terrorism received fair trials, and that the rule of law and the fundamentals of humanity applied in the kingdom. Justice should have been seen to be done as part of a proper system, not meted out as some kind of vengeance. Any need to satiate a lust for blood and revenge should have seen the Jordanian government redouble its military efforts against ISIS, including deploying its Special Forces in areas where ISIS is known to operate, and exacting a terrible price on its fighters. Instead, Jordan has opted for the route that shows not only a lack of moral fortitude but has also exposed further its inability to deal with such problems without external aid from more powerful allies.

What we can expect to be a glut of executions in Amman is not going to frighten ISIS. It does not even count as true vengeance, because Jordan is likely to be executing any number of people not even linked to ISIS, and could well be executing political prisoners. We must not be surprised to see an internal security operation in the coming days, weeks and months that will see any and all kinds of Islamists, from Salafists to the Muslim Brotherhood, rounded up and imprisoned. In doing so the government will dishonour the memory of Muadh Al-Kasasbeh, and use his tragedy to justify more oppression, more abuses and more executions. ISIS does not care. If it did care about human life, it would not act in the way that it is. Even if Jordan executes 1,000 alleged terrorists, ISIS will simply laugh in the face of King Abdullah’s flailing attempts to frighten the group.

Do not applaud the execution of Sajida Al-Rishawi. Do not fall into ISIS’s trap of turning us into them, and encouraging us to turn a blind eye to what could have just been a great miscarriage of “justice”. This is the perfect time to show ISIS that we are not like them, and never will be.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.