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THE HASHEMITE POLICE-STATE
STEPS UP REPRESSION AND CENSORSHIP
PROTEST LETTERS FROM TWO HUMAN RIGHTS
ORGANIZATIONS.
"...a disturbing pattern of
government efforts
to silence the press in Jordan."
"...blatant state interference
with the fundamental right
of a free press to eport the news..."
MER - WASHINGTON - 13 April:
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan renews the political trial of
Leith Shubeilat today in Amman. But it will all be done in secret
and without anything resembling rule of law. To enforce on
Jordanians the "peace process", a major wave of repression and
disinformation is underway in Jordan. And this comes on top of the
ever-present Muhabarat (the secret police) who have long threatened and oftentimes
tortured anyone who dares speak up against Hashemite rule in Amman.
In separate letters sent in recent days to Jordanian Prime
Minister Abd al-Salam Majali, the Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) and Human Rights Watch have strongly protested the sweeping ban that Jordanian
authorities have imposed on all press coverage of the case of Leith Shubeilat, a prominent
political opposition figure and former member of parliament.
We are well aware that these human rights organization are extremely
sqeamish about commenting on the underlying reasons for what is taking place. Human Rights
violations in the Middle East are derivative from major faults in the political and
economic arrangements in the region; and it is unlikely the situation will change in any
major way until these political and economic arrangements themselves are altered.
Consequntly these letters should be read in this overall context and the trial of Laith
Shubeilat should be clearly understood as a major political test of wills, not really a
normal human rights issue.
NOTE: Persons
forwarding and supporting MER in Jordan have been threatened and MER is oftentimes
censored from Jordan Net. As in
the past MER will protect the identifies of persons in Arab countries, including
Palestinians living under "Palestinian Authority" rule when they make contact
with or provide information to MER.
Shubeilat's trial in the state security court for inciting an
illegal demonstration in Ma'an is scheduled to resume on April 13. The letters say
that the press ban violates internationally recognized norms for freedom of expression and
constitutes outright censorship of the press.
"Banning coverage of such a high-profile case, and prohibiting
journalists from reporting news from the courtroom, send an ominous message. It can only
be viewed as blatant state interference with the fundamental right of a free press to
report the news, and the right of the public to obtain the news. The fact that this ban
comes in the context of a continuing clampdown on the press in Jordan makes it only more
worrying."
--Hanny Megally, executive director of
the Middle East division of Human Rights Watch.
"The media blackout follows a disturbing pattern of government
efforts to silence the press in Jordan. We urge the Jordanian government to end censorship
and the criminal prosecution of
journalists, which violate international press freedom standards."
--Chairman Gene Roberts, Committee to Protect
Journalists
In its letter, Human Rights Watch also criticizes the categorical
ban
on all public demonstrations that went into effect in Jordan on February 10, at a time
when many Jordanians were deeply concerned about the prospect of a U.S.-led military
strike on Iraq. It says that a ban on peaceful demonstrations cannot be justified if its
intent is to silence opposition voices and suppress freedom of expression. It also
expresses deep concern that Leith Shubeilat is
being prosecuted in the state security court because he exercised his right to freedom of
expression, and urged others to express their
views in a public manner. "No one should be subjected to criminal
prosecution for expressing opinions privately or publicly that are critical of the state's
domestic or foreign policies," said Megally.
"And no one should be put on trial for urging others to protest government policies
through peaceful means."
Both letters to Prime Minister Majali follow:
April 9, 1998
His Excellency Abd al-Salam al-Majali
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Amman, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to strongly
protest the government-imposed media ban on coverage of the case of Leith Shubeilat, a
leading political opposition figure and former member of parliament, who is currently
standing trial in the state security court.
In a March 19 letter to the Jordanian press, Press and Publications
director Bilal al-Tal informed newspapers that they could not publish
any information about the case of Shubeilat, who has been charged
with inciting an illegal demonstration in the southern town of Ma'an
in late February. Mr. al-Tal's letter was accompanied by a separate
letter from state security court prosecutor Mamoun Khaswaneh
requesting that the media refrain from publishing any "news or
commentary" about the case. Mr. Khaswaneh cited Article 42 of the
Press and Publications Law (1993) as the basis for the ban. Article
42 states: "The publication of proceedings of any case pending before the Courts
prior to the pronouncement of a final ruling shall be prohibited, unless the court
sanctions publication."
Authorities issued subsequent warnings after several newspapers
ignored the media blackout and published criticisms of the ban. On
March 26, Mr. al-Tal sent a second letter to newspapers, also with a
letter from Mr. Khaswaneh, reiterating the ban and warning that
violators would be subject to prosecution. He sent a third letter on
March 30, accompanied by a letter from Yousef al-Fa'oury, a military
judge at the state security court, again warning publications against
violating the ban. Reports from Jordan indicate that the ban has
resulted in a total blackout of coverage of the case in recent days.
CPJ has written to Jordanian authorities on numerous occasions
expressing our concern about increasing state interference with the
print media in Jordan. We have noted specific examples of attempts by authorities to
silence independent journalism, including the arrest
and criminal prosecution of journalists for alleged publications
offenses and government censorship of foreign publications entering Jordan. The media
blackout in the case of Leith Shubeilat appears to be yet another disturbing infringement
on the rights of journalists to report news and opinions freely.
CPJ, a nonpartisan organization of journalists devoted to upholding
press freedom worldwide, views the government-imposed ban as a
flagrant violation of the most fundamental right of journalists the
right to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers," as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. We call on the Jordanian government to immediately rescind the ban on
coverage of Leith Shubeilat's case and to guarantee the internationally protected right of
journalists to publish news and opinions freely, without reprisal.
We thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look
forward to a reply at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Gene Roberts
Chairman
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9 April 1998
His Excellency Abd al-Salam Majali
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Amman, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Your Excellency:
Human Rights Watch is writing to protest the sweeping ban that
Jordanian authorities have imposed on press coverage of the case of Leith Shubeilat, the
prominent political opposition figure and former member of parliament whose trial in the
state security court is scheduled to resume on April 13, 1998. We are also troubled by the
categorical ban on all public rallies and demonstrations that was
issued by Interior Minister Nadhir Rashid on February 10, in the wake of mounting public
concern in Jordan about the prospect of a U.S.-led military strike on Iraq. In our view,
both bans violate the
internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and
assembly.
Mr. Shubeilat, whose trial began last month, has been charged with
inciting an illegal demonstration. He was arrested on the night of
February 19-20 as he was returning to Amman after speaking that
evening at a mosque in Ma'an, in southern Jordan. According to the
prosecutor's charge sheet, Mr. Shubeilat was highly critical of the
government and urged the audience in Ma'an to demonstrate publicly to express support for
Iraq. Pro-Iraq demonstrations erupted in Ma'an after Friday noon prayers on February 20.
Demonstrators clashed with security forces, who intervened to enforce the ban on
demonstrations. One resident of Ma'an was shot and killed in disputed circumstances, which
prompted additional unrest and clashes between residents and riot police. Army units were
dispatched to restore order and conduct house-to-house searches for weapons. The city was
placed under curfew for six days, and scores of people were reportedly arrested. Your
Excellency charged on February 22 that Mr. Shubeilat was responsible for the disturbances,
and accused him of "instigating people to protest against the government which
[Shubeilat] described as Zionist and hostile to Iraq."
Human Rights Watch takes the position that the right of peaceful assembly includes
the right of citizens to express freely through peaceful means their views about issues of
national and international concern. The imposition of a categorical and open-ended ban on
all forms of peaceful public assembly violates this right. The burden is on the state to
justify the necessity of restrictions on freedom of assembly for reasons such as national
security, public safety, or public order. A ban on peaceful demonstrations cannotbe
justified if its intent is to silence opposition voices and suppress freedom of
expression. We are deeply concerned that Leith Shubeilat is being prosecuted in the state
security court because he exercised his right to freedom of expression, and urged others
to express their views in a public manner. No one should be criminally prosecuted for
expressing
opinions privately or publicly that are critical of the state's domestic or foreign
policies. Similarly, no one should be tried for urging others to protest government
policies through peaceful means.
Human Rights Watch also finds that the subsequent ban on all press
coverage of the Shubeilat case, including but not limited to the proceedings of his public
trial in the state security court, violates internationally recognized standards for
freedom of expression and unnecessarily restricts the press from reporting news, views and
other information to the public. According to Jordanian journalists, the first
announcement of the ban came in a letter dated and delivered on March 19 from Bilal
al-Tal, director of the press and publications department of the ministry of information.
Mr. al-Tal requested that newspapers refrain from publishing any information about the
Shubeilat case. He referred to a letter from the state security court prosecutor, Mamoun
Khaswaneh, also dated March 19 and included as an attachment, which requested that
newspapers withhold from publication "any news or commentary" about the case.
The prosecutor cited Article 42 of the 1993 press and publications law as the legal basis
for his directive. Article 42 states: "The publication of the proceedings of any case
pending before the Courts prior to the pronouncement of a final ruling shall be
prohibited, unless the Court sanctions publication." Journalists were troubled
because the broad language of the prosecutor's ban exceeded the provisions of Article 42.
They stressed that while the law prohibits publication of the actual proceedings in the
trial, it does not specifically ban news and analysis about a trial that is in progress,
nor does it prohibit other reporting about a defendant and his or her case.
Following the receipt of the letters on March 19, Jordanian newspapers published stories
about the ban, and opinion pieces about its legality, including a critical statement
issued by Hussein Mjalli, the head of the Jordanian Bar Association and one of Mr.
Shubeilat's lawyers. Mr. Mjalli argued that the prosecutor's directive had "no legal
grounds, should not be considered, and its contents should be disregarded." He added:
"The decision to ban printing news pertaining to the defendant is considered an
infringement on public freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and it strengthens the
government's hand in suppressing freedom of the press."
According to journalists, authorities were "furious" about this
coverage, and additional written warnings were issued. On March 26, Mr. al-Tal sent a
second letter to the newspapers, which was
accompanied by another letter from the state security court prosecutor, also dated March
26. Mr. al-Tal reiterated that "no press reports or commentaries" about the
Shubeilat case could be published.
The accompanying letter from the prosecutor stated that the stories
that had appeared concerning aspects of the Shubeilat case since March 19 were
"illegal," and warned that violators would be subject to criminal prosecution.
The state security prosecutor's letter, which
was addressed to Mr. al-Tal, asked the press and publications department take legal action
against any violator.
On March 30, the day before Leith Shubeilat's trial began in the state security court,
newspapers received a third letter from Mr. al-Tal. He attached a letter from the military
judge who heads the security court, Yousef al-Fa'oury. The judge's letter to Mr. al-Tal
stated that the court "has decided in its consideration of Case No. 145/98 against
the suspect Leith Shubeilat to ban publication of any details concerning the court
proceedings, or commentary on [the proceedings], under the legal responsibility spelled
out in the laws in effect. Please take action and request newspapers to implement this
decision and abide by Article 42 of the press and publications law."
Jordanian journalists emphasized to Human Rights Watch that the ban on coverage
represented another serious setback for press freedom. They said that the ban was first
communicated to newspapers well in advance of the beginning of the trial, indicating to
them that the intent of the authorities was to silence the press and enforce a complete
media blackout on any coverage of Mr. Shubeilat -- including news, background information,
analysis, and opinions. Journalists also acknowledged the intimidating effect of the
threat of prosecution. "This is a clear violation of the ethics of journalism and not
just the law," an editor at a weekly newspaper said, adding that the ban was
indicative of a "martial law mentality" that restricts freedom of expression in
Jordan. "Our duty is to report, but this puts us in chains. I could be charged and
brought before the court for writing anything about Shubeilat. The military prosecutor
should not be giving me orders about what to publish. I am a civilian and a
journalist.," he told Human Rights Watch. The editor at a daily newspaper agreed:
"This [ban] is against the law and democracy. We are threatened with being taken to
court and maybe to prison."
The blanket ban on press coverage of the Shubeilat case is a violation of Article 14 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Jordan has
ratified. Article 14(1) of the ICCPR permits exclusion of the public and the press
"from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or
national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of
the Parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court
in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice."
To our knowledge,
authorities have provided no justification of why the Shubeilat court proceedings meet
this test and why journalists should be prohibited
from reporting about the trial. In the absence of such justification, the ban contravenes
Jordan's international obligations in relation to freedom of expression and should be
revoked. We are further concerned that the ministry of information and the state security
court prosecutor overstepped the provisions of Article 42 of the press and publications
law by barring newspapers from publishing commentary or other information about Mr.
Shubeilat's case. Their written directives constitute outright censorship of the press, in
violation of Article 19 of the ICCPR which guarantees the right to freedom of expression.
Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned about the continuing pattern of restrictions on
freedom of assembly and expression in Jordan, and we urge the government to reverse this
worrying trend. Thank you for your attention to these important matters, and I look
forward to a reply at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Hanny Megally
Executive Director
Middle East and North Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
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