Human rights curriculum to be included in police training

AMMAN — Government Coordinator for Human Rights Basel Tarawneh on Monday said his office is adopting new tools to ensure the integration of human rights concepts among the police force.

“As part of the constant reforms implemented in the Kingdom in relation to the human rights strategy, our office plans to follow up on the Public Security Department’s [PSD] commitments and application of the highest standards of human rights, including in police stations,” Tarawneh told The Jordan Times.

Tarawneh noted that “his office designated a reward that will be presented to police stations that demonstrate the highest standards and understanding of human rights concepts”.

“This is one way of further spreading the culture of human rights among our police forces and, at the same time, of encouraging police stations to improve their performances,” Tarawneh explained.

In addition, the government coordinator said that a new human rights curriculum has been introduced and “will be included in the curricula officers have to pass before achieving the next rank in their career”.

“As of today, no police officer will get his/her higher rank without passing this human rights curriculum,” Tarawneh stressed, adding “this is part of the state’s reform policy on human rights and it is not related to any recent incidents that involved alleged police brutality or acts of riots at correctional and rehabilitation facility”.

This is simply “part of our continuous efforts to spread the culture of human rights and dignity for our citizens,” he highlighted.

Established in 2014, the government’s coordinator’s office, which directly reports to the prime minister, runs a team of over 90 “liaison officers” (or human rights coordination task force), comprising officials stationed in all government agencies.

Their job is to probe and respond to human rights-related complaints filed by the public. 

The office also takes care of major human rights violations such as allegations of human trafficking and torture in prisons, to checking the quality of drinking water at schools.