Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. Annual Report. 2004
Published July 2005

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Jordan

 Capital : Amman
Date of Independence : 25/5/1946
Area : 89,213 Km
Population (in millions) : 5.7 (est. 2005)
Rate of Population Increase : 2.56% (est. 2005)
Ethnic Groups : 98% Arabs, 1% Circassians, 1% Armenians
Religious Groups : 92% Muslims (Sunna), 6% Christians, 2% others
Illiteracy : 9%
No. of Provinces : 12 governorates
Polity : Traditional Monarchy
Head of State : King Abdallah II
No. of Political Parties : 20
GDP (in millions)ppp : $25,500 (2004)
GDP per Capitappp : $4,500 (2004)
 

Overview
 

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was established by a league of Nations mandate in 1921, and remained a British protectorate until it gained its independence in 1946. The first King Abdullah ruled until his death in 1951. He was succeeded briefly by his unstable eldest son Talal, who was soon replaced in 1953 by his son Hussein. Hussein ruled for 46 turbulent years in which his country and the entire Middle East witnessed many dramatic events. The 1948 Arab-Israeli war caused a massive influx of Palestinians into Jordan, who now comprise about 60% of the Jordanian citizens. The Arab defeat in the 1967 war led to Jordan losing control of the West Bank which it was administering on behalf of the Palestinians since the end of 1948 war, in the wake of which Israel was established as a state. Throughout the 1950s and up to the end of the 1980s, the King ruled absolute over the polity. During that period, an emasculated parliament existed in some periods and was suspended in others, and political and civil liberties were severely restricted. In 1989, however, difficult economic conditions provoked widespread rioting which raised urgent demands for greater freedom and better representation. This led the government to rapidly take some liberal steps, including the scheduling and implementation of free elections later that year. By the time Hussein died in 1999, Jordan was facing deep economic problems. This prompted the young new King Abdullah II to launch economic reforms in order to attract foreign investments, but Jordanians remained disillusioned by the 1994 peace treaty with Israel when the promised prosperity which they were told would ensue from it did not materialize.

In September 2002, the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza causing enormous repercussions in Jordan given the Palestinian majority of its citizens. The destabilizing effect of the Intifada caused the King to suspend parliament and rule by decree, issuing tens of “emergency laws”, many of which restricted freedoms of expression and association and weakened due process protections. The suppression of civil liberties intensified in 2002 with the intensification of anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments among the population.
 

1. Political Rights and Civil Liberties.

1. The Executive, Political Parties and Elections. Executive power is invested in the King who has discretionary power to dismiss the cabinet, the upper house, and the parliament, and the authority to establish public policy by decree. The legislature is composed of a 55-member Senate (upper house) appointed by the King and a popularly elected 110-member Chamber of Deputies (lower house). In 2002, a new law allowed the King to appoint up to 50% of the mayors and the members of municipal councils. Some 20 political parties are operating in Jordan but the electoral law of 1993 which required a single member per district has worked in favor of traditional elites over party candidates, thus weakening the representation of parties in the National Assembly. The national elections held on 17/6/2003 were free and fair. They produced an overwhelming 81% majority composed of traditional tribal chiefs, and conservative elements, mainly former military officers, businessmen, and former top bureaucrats. Another important outcome was that the Islamist parties won only 19% of the seats, and no woman of the 54 who ran was elected. Both the national election and the municipal elections were free and fair.

2. The Judiciary, Trials, and Detention. While the Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, it remains in practice subject to executive pressures and interference via the Ministry of Justice and the Higher Judicial Council whose members are appointed by the King. The Council was given in 2001 greater independence and jurisdiction over the judicial branch while limiting the Ministry of Justice’s control over judges. The judicial system includes the usual criminal and civil court levels plus state security courts (SCC), which try cases of sedition, insurrection, financial crimes, drug trafficking and offenses against the Royal Family. SCC may have on their panel military judges who seemingly have received adequate training in civil law. Trials are open and due process is usually observed. Shari’a Courts apply family law to Muslims, while Christians have separate family law courts.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions are prohibited by law but this is not always observed in practice. In particular, leaders of the Muslim Brothers are sometimes subjected to arrest and harassment, and by years end some 60 of their members had been arrested. Authorities frequently hold the accused for long pretrial detention periods during which they are denied legal counsel until just before the trial date. In November 2003, the domestic press reported that the King ordered the release of 245 detainees deemed to constitute no threat to public security. The government uses the threat of arrest and detention to encourage journalists to practice self-censorship. Jordanians, in general, have little protection from arbitrary arrests and detentions which can be, by law, up to 15 days without charge.

3. Civil Society and the Freedom of Association. Non–governmental organizations (NGOs) of various political and social orientation are routinely licensed provided they do not engage in political activities. There are currently 136 NGOs including several human rights organizations. In 2003, NGOs succeeded in pressuring the government to modify the restrictions it had intended to introduce in the law governing professional syndicates and the law relating to the licensing of associations in civil society. Freedom of assembly, however, remains heavily restricted. Demonstrations are banned by law unless prior permission is obtained from the government. However, permits are not often denied, and even protests which the government finds objectionable are usually allowed but only after extensive negotiations with the organizers. Workers in the private sector, and in some public sectors also, have the right to form unions. About 30% of the workforce is organized in 17 unions, all of which must join the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions, which is subsized and monitored by the government. Labor laws do not protect foreign workers, which leads to widespread abuse, specially of South Asian domestic servants.

4. Freedom of Speech and the Media. Though guaranteed in the Constitution, freedom of expression is restricted in practice. The Press and Publications Law (PPL) and the Press Association Law impose severe restrictions on the operation of newspapers and magazines, all of which require prior licensing. The government buy a large share of the stock of major newspapers in order to further increase its influence on what is published. Simultaneously it also resorts to intimidation of journalists to pressure them into practicing self-censorship. Citizens criticize the government openly, but may be prosecuted for slandering the Royal Family, or the government or foreign leaders; or for “sowing sedition within society.” The PPL grants the government wide discretionary powers to impose fines, withdraw licenses, shut down newspapers and control their content. This power has been attenuated somewhat by referring some decisions to the judiciary.

Free speech is further restricted by amendments that added vague undefined criminal offences to the Penal Code that permit prosecution of citizens guilty of publishing, writing or airing materials that “could be construed to harm or incite to harm or insult” individuals, or negatively affect “the state’s reputation and dignity,” or “propagate false rumors,” or “destabilize society through the encouragement of deviation and immorality.” The strong Islamist presence in Jordanian society has tended to restrict freedom of speech, and their members in parliament pressure the government to ban activities that are not compatible with Shari’a. On 17/2/2003, three journalists were sentenced to prison terms from two to six months for “insulting the dignity of the state” and “blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed” in a published article. The newspaper was also shut down for two months. The same year, Jordanian poet Moussa Hawamda was sentenced to three months imprisonment for “insulting religions.”

The broadcast media, being completely state-owned, is more regulated than the press. But in 2003, the government, for the first time, allowed the opposition access to the television in the days before the national elections on 17/5/2003. The government has also encouraged the establishment of private radio and TV stations. By 8/9/2003, the government had received applications for several radio and three TV stations. The Muslim Brothers have also expressed their intention to apply for starting their own stations.

5. Freedom of Religion. According to the Constitution, Islam is the religion of the state. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion provided that religious practices are “compatible with public order and morality.” All persons are free to practice their faith openly, but proselytizing Muslims to abandon Islam is prohibited. The government subsidized part of the running costs of mosques and other Islamic institutions. Non-Muslim religious institutions receive no such subsidies but are tax-exempt. Not all Christian denominations have been legally recognized, nor are the Druze and Baha’i faiths recognized. However, there is no record of any religious group being banned from practicing its faith The Shari’a courts handle all family concerns for Muslims, while non-Muslims are governed by special courts that apply the laws of their faith. There exists some discrimination against adherents of unrecognized religions.

6. Women and the Marginalized. The law provides for equality between men and women and prohibits bias or discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. Yet in practice women and some minorities suffer from discrimination in employment and other areas. Women have not always enjoyed equal pay for equal work, and social pressures have tended to discourage women from pursuing a career. Women enjoy equal political rights but face discrimination under Shari’a in family matters, such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody, as well as in regard to pensions and social security benefits. Men are accorded lenient treatment in so-called “honor” crimes against women for alleged sexual misconduct. Women presently constitute 50% of university students but only 14% of the workforce but the government is exerting efforts to recruit women into the civil service. In February 2003 the government included a six-seat quota for women in the Chamber of Deputies. In a step to involve women in public life the government has appointed one woman to each municipal council in which no woman candidate won a seat through election. There are three female ministers, seven women in the Senate, and six in the Chamber of Deputies. Of the 110 seats in the lower house, nine are reserved for Christians, nine for Bedouins, and three for either Circassian or Chechen minorities. In general, one of the major impediments to the emancipation of women is the resistance put up by the Islamists. Thus in June 2004 a bill allowing women equal right to divorce was defeated in Parliamanet largely as a result of Islamist pressures in coalition with traditional tribal opposition.

The Palestinians constitute about sixty percent of Jordan’s citizens. Their representation in the government is 7 ministers in the 21-Cabinet, 7 in the 55-member Senate, and 16 in the 110-member Chamber of Deputies. Palestinians who sought refuge in Jordan in the wake of the 1948 war were granted full citizens, but those who fled Gaza―which was under administrative Egyptian authorities―after the 1967 war were denied citizenship and only granted a 3-year passport for travel purposes. The tiny Circassian and Chechian minorities are granted, together, a quota of three seats in Parliament.

Prospects for Democratic Change

Although many problems still remain, respect for human rights has of late shown significant improvement. The opening of the doors to political participation by Islamic groups has attenuated their rhetoric to a large extent, and their inclusion in the political game as legitimate players must be counted as a step that enhanced democracy in Jordan. On the other hand the entrance of the Islamists in parliament has worked to suppress bills submitted by the government to amend family law in ways that would have given women greater equality. Also on the debit side is the geo-political situation of Jordandue to its contiguous proximity to Iraq and both Israel and Palestinewhich causes popular sentiment to be much more deeply engaged with the Iraqi and the Palestinian-Israeli problems rather with the expansion of democratic institutions. However, the strong cordial relations between Jordan's Kind Abdullah and the United States permits one to expect that American friendly prodding will eventually lead Jordan's regime to take some serious initiative to institute democratic changes.