Activists raise concerns over detention of 44 juveniles for defence order violations

AMMAN  — Activists on Wednesday called on the government to replace the practice of detaining minors who violate the defence orders in juvenile centres with lighter penalties that "do not restrict their freedoms".

The call came following a report by the Justice Centre for Legal Aid (JCLA) claiming that 44 minors, including one girl, were ordered to be detained at juvenile facilities during the lockdown for violating Defence Orders Nos. 2 and 3 regarding mobility during the lockdown.

In March, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Omar Razzaz issued Defence Order No. 3 which stipulated that violators of the ban on movement be punished with a fine ranging between JD100 and JD500 for a first-time offence. 

For second-time violations, the defence order assigned as a penalty imprisonment for a maximum of one year or a fine ranging between JD100 and JD500, or both.

A ministry of Social development (MoSD) official told The Jordan Times that 44 minors were ordered to be detained during the curfew, which began in mid-March.

"The minors remained at our facilities for no more than one week and some only stayed for one or two days," the ministry official said.

"Obviously, Defence Orders 2 and 3 do not take minors into consideration," said JCLA President Hadeel Abdul Azziz.

Abdul Azziz told The Jordan Times that if a minor violates the Defence Law, then the penalty only involves a fine.

"The violation is considered less than a misdemeanour and surely does not entail being referred to a juvenile centre," Abdul Azziz said.

The JCLA president added that "hundreds of minors" were held temporarily for violating the Defence Law, but were released "after they paid the fine and their families issued a guarantee that they will not commit any future violations".

"We asked some of the minors who were detained at the MoSD facilities and they informed us that they either had no money to pay to be released or had no lawyer present to help them since there was a lockdown," Abdul Azziz said.

A senior official who works with minors also told The Jordan Times that the referral of these 44 minors to the MoSD is "not correct".

"Their violation does not entail sending them to juvenile facilities and this is against their rights," said the official, who preferred to remain anonymous.

The JCLA issued a statement calling on the government to introduce alternative punishments for juveniles that "do not restrict their freedoms".