Report highlights gov’t procedures to safeguard human rights

AMMAN — The government’s human rights coordination office on Tuesday issued its second report on the status of human rights in Jordan and the response of public agencies to reported claims.

Headed by Basel Tarawneh, the government coordinator on human rights, the office said the report details “progress in government agencies’ implementation of procedures as stipulated in human rights conventions”.

“The report details responses by government agencies to various complaints, and highlights the procedures taken to follow up on them,” Tarawneh said at a meeting attended by HH Prince Mired, president of the Higher Council for Affairs of Persons with Disabilities.

The office, which directly reports to the premier, runs a team of 93 “liaison officers”, or a human rights coordination task force, comprising officials stationed in all government agencies, whose job is to probe and respond to human rights-related complaints filed by the public. 

The report listed several activities including conducting dozens of visits to the Public Security Department’s (PSD) correctional and rehabilitation centres.

The visits focused on lectures to combat extremism and exclusionism among inmates, with special focus on those with takfirist ideologies.

Turning to the General Intelligence Department (GID), the report said the department issued written notices urging its officers to ensure the rights of inmates and “to avoid duress and mistreatment of any individual”.

The GID said, according to the report, that its holding centre is affiliated with the PSD’s correctional and rehabilitation centres and falls under their rules and regulations, and that all detainees are held based on judicial warrants.

The intelligence department also said in the report that the National Centre for Human Rights and other national and international human rights organisations conduct periodic visits to check on the holding centre and interrogation procedures.

Turning to the Ministry of Education, the report said the ministry is working to ensure gender equality for students in secondary education and introducing human rights concepts in school textbooks.

The ministry also said it conducts several lectures to raise awareness of the dangers of early marriage among female students and spreads ideas on the importance of education through religious institutes.

The ministry also eased the procedures for Syrian students and waived several fees to help them, according to the report.   

The report, which will now be issued twice a year, also highlighted the Ministry of Justice’s work to combat human trafficking and take part in activities related to women and combating torture.

Tarawneh said the survey is designed to “be a tool of transparency for the government to disclose its procedures on important issues of concern to our citizens and an indicator of its compliance with human rights conventions”.