Read This

First read this.

Then read this.

Then read this.

And then read this…

دعا مدير الأمن العام الفريق الركن محمد ماجد العيطان وسائل الإعلام الى التصدي لكل من يتهم الأردن بانتهاك حقوق الأنسان، مشيرا الى أن الإعلام هو السلاح الذي يتم من خلاله النهوض بكافة المجالات الاجتماعية والسياسية والاقتصادية، اضافة إلى توعية المواطنين في مجالات حقوق الإنسان

I don’t know if the media is so inclined to help out the people who beat them.

Is it just me or is it every time a human rights report comes out on Jordan, government agencies have the totally wrong reaction to it and then spend the next couple of weeks cleaning up their PR mess.

25 Comments

  • Majed el eitan is a good guy, and I think he is sencere in what he is saying, byt the way he was the head of the special forces when the king was still an Amir, so you can’t really blame him for being tough:D
    I think for the police to become more humane you need a head that is not from a military background which is not the case in jordan..

  • This is just one way how the problem of incivility and brought all this media attention fiasco. I think a whole change in mentality for both the people like the bus driver and people like the oh-i’m-a-cop-I-can-beat-the-crap-out-of-anybody kind of people.
    Not defending the uncivilized angry-for-nothing cops, but don’t tell me that the bus driver was not also looking for some problem to get involved with.. Just turned out to be the kind of a problem he did not want to get involved with in the first place 🙂

  • Not it isn’t just you Nas. I find it absurd to have a government official asking us to defend the government when it violates human rights.

    We don’t have just to ignore those human right violations but also to attack those who uncover them?! That is ironically laughable.

  • واتهم العيطان بعض مراكز حقوق الإنسان بالتدخل في الشأن الاردني

    Na3am?!!! What does he think these organizations are supposed to do? Perform studies and publish reports on human rights issues in Jordan without ever actually collecting any information from Jordanians? Does he expect them to do their job without giving us any conclusions on or assessments of the situation in the country? Isn’t that precisely the job of these human rights organizations?

    What does this statement by the head of the security aparatus in Jordan mean? Why is he not being asked about it? Why is no one pointing out the obvious logic in this statement which says that human rights organizations can stay in our country as long as they don’t do their job and that their charter (protecting human rights and pointing out violations of them) is simply not welcome in the country.

    If members of our press had a single drop of dignity left in them they would have walked out the second he said this and claimed that “human rights are protected in Jordan”.

    Not only are they not protected, but are infringed upon by the same people whom this guy is in charge of.

  • Hamzeh,
    As I stated you have to look at his background, I am telling you he is a good guy, but he came from the special forces where there is no such thing as mercy or rights. I don’t blame him for his mentality because he is a graduate from the toughest military disciplien, so if you want a more leniant police head you have to put someone with police background..Eventhough our police is not that humane, but sometimes you don’t blame them because some people are just plain “bagar”
    😛

  • I didn’t say that man! I just said that the guy is from military background and I suggested to have one whose background is not that tough, maybe it sounded stupid to you…The issue is bigger than police brutality, it is something in the culture and the community, you can’t fix the police without fixing the community, and if some how we can get the police to be more educated than 7th grade we will have some advancment, from my experince when you communicate with jordanian police who graduated from university you will find understanding and humanity, but most of the issues come from people who just hate anything that is not as stupid and retareded as them..
    Anyway I thought I didn’t need to explain this to you since you seem to be an educated person, but you got me wrong!!

  • Mohannad,,you can only fool yourself,just look what you have just wrote,””The issue is bigger than police brutality, it is something in the culture and the community, you can’t fix the police without fixing the community””
    Mohanned,,now according to your twisted logic if there is torture practises in Jordanian jail,then it’s the community’s fault??what a dumb thing to say.

  • urduni,
    This talk is not for you, I was talking to hamzeh and I think he got my point, but you will not because as always education is your biggest enemy!!
    And just to show you how simple it is:
    The police man comes from a community which is maybe from maan like yourself, and the only thing that this police man knew in his life was nothing more than the people he was surrounded by in rural areas and has nothing to do with city life, so when he comes and serve in the big city there is a term called culture shock which this individual maybe will face, and for that he gets angrey about how deprived his community was and tries to get back at anyone who had a better chance than himself..
    Maybe you will accuse me of being “Borjowazii”but you are wrong, I am not blaming the police man I am blaming the conditions that made him act in this inproper way..
    GOOD DAY ya urduni ya abu el borjawzyyeh..

  • Mohanned,,Again you are wrong,you are blaming the rural environment on the behavior of police personals and you think that “culture Shock” are the causes for his or her behavior,what kind of dumb analysis is that?,let me tell you something about my self mohanned,I migrated from Jordan to US and yes I had culture shock and many of my Friends had similar experiences ,but we never became violent or digrunted about the system even thought we had to work and take the worst jobs you can imagine ,again your reasoning is awkward and unconvincing,and nobody in his or her right mind will take you seriously
    And by the way Iam not from Maan but I love the People of Maan and I wish we bring back the O’clock to ride our donkeys and camels.and forget about the so clled fake “Development” that is going to destroy human man kind.

  • Urduni,
    Ya rajol I don’t know what is wrong with you..Dude be at least respectful when you say something!!You are no different from those dumb police men, simply because I said something that you don’t agree with you accuse me of being dumb..Well I am not dumb, and the culture shock that you are talking about is something different, and I am sure you were shocked when you came to the US and I can tell by your dumb analysis that shows your way of thinking..
    Ya urduni, when you migrated to the US you migrated to another country where you have to live by their laws not by yours!!And yes the police brutality is a result of ignorance and anger, again I am not blaming them, I blame the system that created this injustice..
    And I don’t need to hear about your “struggle” in the US, because each and everyone that migrated “struggled” if you define this as struggle..
    Good day and good luck with the donkeys, BTW you can look for AMSIH communities here in the US and you will fit just fine!!

  • uhem…it wouldn’t be the end of the world if all of you displayed a sense of civility in your replies.

    and if it does lead to the end of the world well then you’d have my appreciation at the very least.

    thanks

  • mohanned,,It seems you have not read my reply to your comment.
    I didn’t say you are dumb,read what I wrote carefully and don’t rush in your ansewer. My comments are front of you and let copy and past my comment””what kind of dumb analysis is that?,””I didn’t say your are dumb.

    your are very confused and have no clue of what’s going on.

  • Hi Naseem, I usually don’t respond to blogs, maybe this is a start.
    I must be honest with you I haven’t had time to read everything regarding this post, but I must say something.
    It is very easy to complain and criticize, but a fact must not be over looked. Jordan was and remains to be a prime target for terrorist activities. This is not an excuse for uncivil actions by individuals within the police force, but the official stance of the Jordanian Government and its law enforcement agencies is clear. They do not condone uncivil activities under any circumstance, nor are they passive to complaints that they receive fro within Jordan and without. Let it be clear, that we in Jordan have a certain culture that is entrenched within Jordanians, you may call it tough or Arab or whatever, but actions such as beating up Journalists is definitely the act of individuals within the police force and in no way representative of the official position of the Government. On the contrary, Jordan has made extra-ordinary strides in human rights. We must all thank the police force and the intelligence services for their relentless pursuit of people who wish us random harm. They are working day and night on salaries that is a mockery for what they do in return. They have taught foreign agencies how to prevent crime and have proved their international status over and over again. They do commit mistakes, but they do address them. I feel much safer with Jordanian police man than I do with the esteemed and Hypocritical American police forces. I really think that Jordanians should be proud of their security agencies, and show them a lot more respect. They really are in the line of fire more that we give them credit for.

  • Ryan: thanks for commenting. I am in no way saying that beating up journalists or civilians is the official position of the government but it cannot be denied that those certain elements within the police force are rarely if ever punished for their transgressions and even encouraged to act in such a manner by their superiors. also we have to differentiate between the police force and the intelligence services, they serve a similar goal but operate in very different ways.

    beating up a journalist or any civilian for that matter is just plain wrong and it happens too often which indicate a failure to rectify the situation.

    moreover, asking the same media you just attacked to defend you and your actions is just plain stupid and hypocritical.

  • Naseem!
    We agree that they are isolated cases. I still remember security forces stopping a live Al-Jazeera feed in the most direct way in Zarqa when Zarqawi died. I was laughing because I knew officials in high ranks would have been really angry at the way it was handled. Its true our intelligence services have attained a great level of professionalism that is beyond Jordanian standards. As for the police force they are working on it, I’ve seen it first hand. Its really hard to teach the police about Human rights and so on, when they think its a joke on an individual level.
    About taking them to trial, in extreme cases it does go to trial, in others, reprimand is as far as it goes. Jordan is still a country where major problems could be solved over a nice plate of Knafeh, I’ve seen that happen too!
    We got a long way to go, but honestly for me at least, even if there is price to pay (that doesn’t mean beating up people), being able to solve problems with sweets and a humane touch is so much more satisfying than following a rule book sometimes.

  • last week , Al jazeera did a program on Free press in the arab world in Jordan , and while there they had an interview (one to one without any press witnesses ) with Prince Tallal the King uncle . al Jazeera crew was arrested at the airport and the moukhabarat wanted al Jazeera to delete some paragraphs , (obviously they knew exactly what was in the tapes , how ?) al Jazeera refused so they took the tape away .

    today ON AL Jazeera , 21st April at 7 PM GMT they will talk about what has happened to the Staff , im sure it would be intersting and i wont surprised if AL jazeera office is closed for good from the Jordanian gov who believes in democracy and free speech and free press . (Sarcasm )

  • I do not even want to start with Al-Jazeera. there is something fishy about Arab news organizations that do not criticize their financiers. Al-Arabia, AL-Jazeera, Dubai etc. If BBC and the like is shut down, then I know we got a big problem.

  • Also, AL-Jazeera has been featuring Mr Al-Qardawi for the longest time. I honestly thought he was a good man till I looked in depth at what he says to various people. He is one of the most dangerous hypocritical figures when it comes to the problems we have in contemporary Islam, and Al-Jazeera gave him a loudspeaker.

  • naseem I followed up on the issue you highlighted. It was HRH Prince Hassan, and he seemed to have commented on sensitive issues. This was an isolated instance where the officials acknowledged that they would face criticism for curbing the media, and that they took that into consideration. What was at stake was more than free speech here. HRH Prince Hassan, whom I respect deeply and really admire as an international figure spoke of his own ideas. The problem is that even though officially you can declare that the prince spoke of his own viewpoints, they are not interpreted as such politically, especially in very sensitive Arab states- due to the fact that he is the uncle of the King. So the dilemma facing the authorities was shall they let this interview be published with dire political and economic consequences to Jordan, or edit its content to be more aligned with the official line of the state, bearing in mind that HRH Prince Hassan could be considered as such. No diplomat speaks on camera about their personal ideas, they have to stick to a certain protocol. The prince does not work for any organization, but his kinship to the political authority is what makes his comments very sensitive.
    It is a matter of how the Prince’s position could be perceived and interpreted as the official position of the state, its not a matter of the government being against the media. It is a shame that this has happened, it is a shame that sensitivities in the Arab world are so high, but they are not exclusively Jordan’s fault.

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