International reporting
When opposition is suppressed in Jordan
Audio 02:17
Women walk past a poster of Jordan's King Abdullah II on a street in the capital Amman on April 6, 2021, after a security crackdown exposed tensions in the monarchy.
(Illustrative image) AFP - KHALIL MAZRAAWI
By: Hermine Le Clech
3 mins
A year ago, on April 4, 2021, Prince Hamza, half-brother of the King of Jordan, was arrested for plotting a coup.
In the process, the authorities announced the modernization of the Jordanian regime.
But a year later, it is quite the opposite that the opposition denounces.
Political activists and NGOs warn of the authoritarian attitude of power and the almost systematic repression of journalists and opponents of the regime.
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Installed in his office north of Amman, Jamil Al-Hajaj talks about his last arrest, dated March 24.
That day, this Jordanian movement activist was trying to get to a rally in memory of the spring 2011 protests.
“
I was coming back from work and men in civilian clothes stopped near my car.
They surrounded me on both sides, opened the doors and took me to the police station.
I asked them why I was wanted, but I got no answers.
Nobody knew where I was, they didn't tell me anything and they held me for 12 hours for no reason.
»
Sitting next to him, Omar Abu Rassa, also an activist, agrees: “
They surround us a little more each day.
It has become part of my daily life and it is more and more worrying, because they take us away before we have even started the gatherings
.
The idea is to stop all opposition activity and to scare others, to say if you follow these activists and if you are going to express your opinion outside, you will have problems.
»
The authorities justify these arrests by resorting to anti-terrorism or cybercrime laws.
But for this political activist, who prefers to remain anonymous, these legal proceedings are only pretexts to harass the opposition.
"
I'm being sued for everything I write on social media and where I express my opinion.
I let you imagine the effort, the time it takes to go to court so regularly, to have to hire lawyers, and all the money that represents.
»
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To read also: Wave of arrests of opponents of the regime in Jordan
A masked repression
In January, the regime also presented a constitutional reform, supposed to modernize the Kingdom.
But for the opposition, the latter only strengthens the powers of the monarch.
A double discourse explained by Camille Abescat, doctoral student in political science at the French Institute of the Near East.
“
We have a discourse of political modernization and at the same time a centralization of political power with in particular the creation of a security council, where all the members are appointed by the king,
specifies Camille Abescat
.
This body further empties Parliament of any political role.
Whereas before it took 10 deputies to ask for a vote of confidence in Parliament, now it takes at least 25%.
»
Among the reasons for the Kingdom's tension: the fear of a return to the popular movements of 2011 or 2018 which had brought together several thousand Jordanians in the street.
Today, the regime finds itself again in a weak position, according to Sarah Leah Whitson, head of the NGO Democracy for the Arab World.
"
The instability of the regime exploded in Jordan because of the revelations of corruption of the royal family in the case of the Credit Suisse or the Pandora Papers, but also after the threat of the coup attempt of Prince Hamza the last year.
All this while the people are suffering and prices and unemployment are rising.
»
Repression is also intensifying against the press.
In March, six Jordanian journalists were prosecuted and arrested for spreading false news.
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