Jordanian women gather to protest the recent amendments to the Child Rights Law that further discriminate against women in regards to custody laws. Journalists and human rights defenders are hacked by Pegasus spyware putting themselves and their sources at risk. Adnan Al-Rousan is finally released on bail after posting statements criticizing the government in July.

Protest Over Amendments to Child Rights Law

Jordanian custody laws remain discriminatory towards mothers as fathers maintain their full rights over the child. A recent amendment to Article 17, Section 1, of the 2022 Children Rights Law led to protests outside of the Parliament building in Amman on September 27^th. A group of women protested against the Parliament’s decision to amend the wording of “parents” in the article to “father or guardian” in regards to the decision-making of the child’s education. The Ministry of Justice defines “guardian” as the father or parental grandfather of the child.

Jordanian Custody Laws

Jordanian custody laws already hold discriminatory measures against women with the Personal Status Law giving fathers legal authority over the child (wilaya), while mothers are given responsibility of the physical care of the child (hadhana). However, custody can easily be taken from the mother if she is found to be ‘unfit’ or remarries. Article 223 of the Personal Status Law gives the father the decision-making power in regards to the child’s education, country of residence, medical treatment, religious upbringing, and permits only the father to obtain passports and permit international travel of the child.

Activists Speaking Out

Making this amendment to the Children’s Rights Law further limits mothers custody rights to their children. Activists and protestors find no justification in changing of the wording in the article, including Haneen Assaf who is a member of the campaign titled “Joint Custody” which led the protest. Assaf shared with the Jordan Times, “Excluding mothers from decisions undermines their role as nurturers, especially since the responsibility of childcare in our society falls disproportionately on the shoulders of mothers.” Not only this, but the amendment can be used against women as leverage by fathers, especially in cases of divorce.

Farah Shahin (pseudonym), a Jordanian women’s rights activist and single mother, has lived this experience as she has been fighting for legal custody of her child for the last three years after divorcing her ex-husband. She shared with Open Global Rights, “Custody battles and divorce ruin the mentalities of women here. When you get divorced, the men make women’s lives miserable, but I still blame the law because it encourages men to do this. What people don’t realize is that laws have direct consequences on society. Therefore, when sexist laws exist in a country, sexism will be prevalent within that society.”

Jordanian custody laws should make progressive steps in protecting mothers rather than taking legal steps backwards that hurt women and are not in the best interest of the child.

Pegasus Spyware Targets Jordanian Journalists

The spyware Pegasus is a mobile surveillance program that is able to hack into individuals’ smartphones and access their private messaging, phone calls, photos, and saved information. Pegasus is now able to hack users even on encrypted applications such as Whatsapp and Signal. Previously, users would have been infected by Pegasus unknowingly by clicking a link or downloading an attachment, but now individuals can be infected through unanswered phone calls or an invisible text. This is making it much harder for journalists in the MENA region to protect themselves against the spyware.

Journalists & Human Rights Defenders Targeted

In April 2022, it was reported that journalist Suhair Jaradat, was also targeted by Pegasus and found to be hacked six times in 2021. Jaradat believes her hackers wanted the identities of her sources for political articles she was writing. However, the Jordanian authorities have denied using Pegasus and claimed that people within the Royal Court were also hacked. But Jaradat questions who then is behind such attacks if not the authorities.

Along with Jaradat, human rights defenders Ahmed Al-Neimat and Malik Abu Orabi were also targeted by Pegasus spyware earlier this year. Andrew Anderson, the Executive Director of Front Line Defenders, remarked, “…human rights defenders undertaking legitimate and peaceful work continue to be targeted by the local authorities in the MENA region with hugely intrusive spyware that has a terrible impact on not only the individuals but their friends and families.”  This is particularly worrisome for Jordanian journalists who are under intense scrutiny due to the Cybercrime Law and the increase in arrests by authorities for criticizing the government.

Release of Adnan Al-Rousan

On 13 September, Jordanian journalist Adnan Al-Rousan was released by authorities after being arrested in July for his Facebook posts directly criticizing government officials for their lack of reforms. One of his posts read that Jordanians “are silent and stifled by anger, waiting for the king to reform himself and abandon festivals, films, trips and conferences and focus on the country.” 

Al-Rousan was charged under the Cyrbercrime Law for “incitement and sowing division” and “broadcasting false news that undermines state prestige, defaming an official body and humiliating a public official.” Al-Rousan was released last month on bail for 1,000 dinars ($1,400) following his August trial.

The crackdown on journalists and activists by Jordanian authorities continues to persist with Human Rights Watch’s recent report finding that in the last four years, the persecution and harassment of political opponents and citizens has increased with the use of vague laws being used to silence, detain, interrogate and harass journalists, political activists, members of political parties and independent trade unions.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) calls on authorities in Jordan, including the government, to:

1. Repeal the latest amendment to the 2022 Child Rights Law and amend the Personal Status Law/custody laws in order to protect mother’s rights and enhance the best interests of the child;
2. Change all provisions within the Personal Status Law that are discriminatory towards women regarding custody, marriage, inheritance, etc;
3. Investigate the hacking of journalists and human rights defenders and take legally action in making the use of spyware, such as Pegasus, illegal;
4. Immediately release journalists/activists that have been falsely incriminated and imprisoned under the Cybercrime Prevention Law and Article 225;
5. Put an end to targeting human rights defenders, including journalists and Internet activists or whoever engages in peaceful human rights actions, writing, or speeches;
6. Repeal bail sentences for journalists and human rights defenders for simply practicing free speech and expressing their views.