
While popular protests continue to take place denouncing the war on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, reliable local sources have confirmed that the Jordanian authorities continue to follow systematic repressive policies that include targeting participants in these peaceful protests and seeking to confiscate public freedoms in the country.
Administrative detention of protesters by executive authorities
The Jordanian Crime Prevention Law of 1954 gave administrative governors the right to detain people by administrative order, with limited ability to challenge the detention, allowing governors to bypass the judiciary and the criminal justice system.
This law gives them the power to impose bail, detain or restrict the freedom of people who are found to have committed acts that require punitive measures to be taken against them. Executive officials arbitrarily use this law to detain peaceful protesters and civil society activists.
Widespread arbitrary arrests of innocent citizens
In an exclusive statement to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), one of the women protesters said, “The security forces were working to tighten the noose around the participants in the demonstrations by using spiral barriers to prevent the crowds from moving.” She explained, “These methods contribute to arousing the anger of the protesters and creating a state of panic, especially among women and the elderly.”
Recent weeks have witnessed a large wave of arrests exceeding 2,500 citizens who have been arrested since October 2023, most of whom are peaceful protesters, internet activists, civil society activists and political activists, in addition to some passers-by. A large number of them were released after being threatened by the authorities not to engage in any significant activity online or offline.
Maysara Malas

Among those released was trade union activist and engineer Maysara Malas, who was released on 16 May 2024, according to a statement issued by the Jordanian Engineers Association. His colleagues confirmed that after they were informed about the investigation, there was no legal justification for his arrest, and he denied all the charges attributed to him, noting that his participation in peaceful activities was within the law. Also, on the same day, the authorities released Jerusalem affairs researcher Ziad Ibhais. GCHR documented their arrest, which took place on 30 March 2024, after which they spent 47 days in prison.
Hiba Abu Taha

On 13 May 2024, security forces arbitrarily arrested journalist Hiba Abu Taha, in the Ain Al-Basha area in Amman, due to a complaint filed against her by the Amman Public Prosecutor in the name of “public law.” The next day, the Public Prosecutor decided to detain her for a week pending investigation in Juwaida Prison, based on the Cybercrimes Law of 2023. The Public Prosecutor rejected her lawyer’s request to release her on bail. Local sources confirmed that the background to the case against her is related to a report filed by the Media Authority.
Fatima Shubilat

On 17 April 2024, peaceful demonstrator Fatima Shubailat, who is the 45-year-old daughter of the late political oppositionist Laith Shubailat, was arrested while she was in a commercial market in the Marj Al-Hamam suburb, east of the capital, Amman. The next day, she was presented to the Public Prosecutor, who decided to arrest her for a week, but he later released her on bail. She was surprised to find a second case filed against her by the Anti-Cybercrime Unit of the Public Security Directorate. A decision was then issued to detain her for a week, which was extended again after the Public Prosecution charged her with allegedly participating in an illegal assembly, resisting security personnel, and insulting them. Her arbitrary arrest is linked to her participation in popular protests, and her rejection of the security forces’ use of violence against and arresting protesting women. On 30 April 2024, the Amman Court of First Instance decided to release her.
In a statement, her family denounced the authorities’ failure to release her immediately on bail as her address was known and said, “Her arrest and refusal to bail her is a violation of the presumption of innocence of the accused and their freedom of movement and a violation of the law carried out by state agencies… and to terrorise citizens [to prevent them] from demonstrating and exercising the freedoms guaranteed to them by the Constitution”
Ibrahim Al-Shadefat and his brother Seraj Al-Din Al-Shadefat

On 16 April 2024, the governor of Amman decided to release two young internet activists, brothers Ibrahim Al-Shadefat and Serag Al-Shadefat. Both of them use their accounts on X to support popular protests and demand the release of detained protesters. They were arrested on 26 March 2024 by plainclothes security officers while on their way to participate in protests in solidarity with Gaza. They were kept in detention because they refused to allow security forces to access data stored on their mobile phones. Their family confirmed that they were placed under administrative detention in Marka prison after they refused to sign pledges stating that they would not organise or participate in future protests.
Ahmed Mohsen (Charbel Desi)

On 30 March 2024, security forces arrested photojournalist Ahmed Emad Mohsen (Charbel Desi), 25 years old, who works with the 7iber Foundation, while he was filming a peaceful demonstration denouncing the aggression against the Gaza Strip taking place in the Rabieh area of Amman.
Mohsen remains in detention facing charges of participating in an unlawful assembly. The 7iber Foundation, where he works, is a journalistic organisation operating from Jordan, and it professionally addresses public issues of concern to citizens in the country.
Massive protests against arbitrary arrests
Following the unprecedented arbitrary arrests carried out by the authorities, citizens, civil society organisations and political activists organised many popular events to denounce these arrests and demand the release of all detainees. On 06 May 2024, the National Forum for Supporting the Resistance and Protecting the Homeland organised a protest in front of the Professional Syndicates Complex building in Amman, to demand the release of all detainees. Party, union, and national figures participated in the protest, raising slogans demanding the release of all arrested detainees, an end to restrictions on public freedoms, and solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Likewise, a number of members of the Jordanian Parliament raised the same demands, and denounced the administrative detention of a group of protesters outside the scope of the judiciary, which acquitted them of any alleged charges. Among these representatives is MP and lawyer Saleh Al-Armouti, who said in press statements, “The arrests and detention of citizens through administrative detention outside the framework of the judiciary are a violation of the constitution.” Al-Armouti confirmed, “The police beat the demonstrators, including women, with their hands and sticks.” When Al-Armouti attempted to share this information in the House of Representatives on 27 March 2024, the Speaker cut off the sound from his microphone, as seen in this video.
Recommendations
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) calls on the Jordanian authorities to:
- Release all detained protesters and prisoners of conscience immediately and without any conditions;
- Respect freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of peaceful assembly and do not restrict them, and allow Internet activists to use cyberspace without restricting their activities, in accordance with Articles 15 and Article 16 of the Jordanian Constitution;
- Respect Jordan’s international obligations under international agreements that guarantee public freedoms, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Ensure the rights of demonstrators, civil society activists, and other activists, and do not subject them to violence, torture, or cruel or inhuman treatment during arrest or detention, holding those responsible for any human rights violations accountable, and providing justice to the victims; and
- Fulfil the constitutional duties entrusted to the government, which are to protect the civil and human rights of citizens, including by suspending the implementation of the Anti-Cybercrime Law, and working to protect freedom of expression online and offline.