Human rights centre lauds 308 vote, urges more action

AMMAN — The Lower House’s vote to abolish a controversial provision of the Penal Code that allows sexual assault perpetrators to escape punishment was a victory and a long-time demand by supporters of women and their rights, a leading human rights advocate said.

In remarks to The Jordan Times following the vote to bury Article 308, head of the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) Musa Braizat said the lawmakers’ decision was a “step in the right direction” to take the human rights situation in Jordan to the envisioned level. 

He said that his organisation, which was established under a special law in 2006 with financial and administrative independence, has been one of the players that worked for the change achieved yesterday. 

“The NCHR was a member of a committee formed by the Ministry of Justice to discuss the proposed amendments to the Penal Code and we had a clear and strong stance on this matter calling for the annulment of this article,” Braizat added.

He said that the social and legislative evolution made the abolishment of the article “inevitable”.

The NCHR chief, however, acknowledged that the move to abolish Article 308, will still have its critics among the public. The answer to that is an awareness campaign to educate the people that the annulment is the right thing to do and that it does justice to victims rape.

Moreover, he said that to ensure that such reform is inclusive and comprehensive, other legal provisions need to be revisited, citing Articles  35 and 157 of the Personal Status Law, the first of which governs the rules of abolishing marriage, rejecting lawsuits that are based on the young age of wives. Article 157 deals with proving parentage.