HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT OF JORDAN

The Human Rights Committee has considered the fourth periodic report of Jordan on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Malek Twal, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Political Development of Jordan, presenting the report, said Jordan prided itself on its achievements since it embarked on its democratic transformation process in 1989, knowing where it was, where it stood now, and where it was heading. The achievements were not only a source of pride, but also good reasons to further its reform agenda in all sectors and fields. Human rights appeared on top of this agenda - the political leadership was keen on furthering human rights through reviewing relevant national legislation and propagating the culture of human rights within State institutions and the Jordanian public at large. Recently, Jordan had witnessed important developments in the field of human rights.

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts was the issue of polygamy. There was a need for guarantees in detention - Jordan had made large strides in other fields, but it seemed that there were some developments which were not entirely positive with regard to administrative detention, which could not be justified under the Covenant or otherwise. Another Expert advised that the national human rights body should have its mandate extended to cover issues of the police and military, as advised by other human rights treaty bodies. This was an occasion for all efforts to build democracy to continue and to make human rights the centre of those efforts, an Expert said.

Experts also raised Jordan's sturdy reaffirmation of the freedom of religion, which was very welcome, but the issue of the individual was important. On the application of apostasy rules, Experts noted that this was not illegal, but an apostate could not inherit without specific instructions, without which there was an assumption of disinheritance, and pointed out that the assumptions behind such an approach were problematic. Hatred, on the basis of sex, led to domestic violence, and it was very necessary for protection and legal aspects to be strengthened, as well as the adoption of other measures to change the culture in the positive sense, and the Expert asked what was being done to liberate Jordan from the negative weight of the past in this regard.

The delegation of Jordan also included representative of the Permanent Mission of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Ministry of the Interior, the Public Security Directorate, the Ministry of the Interior, the Public Security Directorate, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Supreme Court of Judges.

The next meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. this afternoon, when it will take up the fifth periodic report of Belgium (CCPR/C/BEL/5).

Report of Jordan

The fourth periodic report of Jordan (CCPR/C/JOR/4) describes new developments that have taken place with regard to the rights set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Since the consideration of its previous report in 1994, Jordan has done much to promote human rights principles and to disseminate a human rights culture throughout society through awareness programmes in general and the incorporation of human rights concepts in Jordanian school and university curricula in particular, together with the enactment of new legislation and the amendment of existing legislation to bring it into line with international human rights instruments. National human rights organizations have stepped up their activities in recent years, in particular by organizing large numbers of seminars and workshops on international human rights standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Jordan has made major progress along the road to democratization and significant gains have been made as far as the laws on elections and political parties and the promotion of women’s participation in political and parliamentary life are concerned.

Amendments have been made to the laws on capital punishment, the number of capital offences has been reduced and the penalty is confined to the most serious crimes. The Jordanian Government has established a large number of human rights departments and institutions in various ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice. The Public Security Directorate has also set up a special human rights department which receives complaints about abuses, if any, committed by public security personnel. A grievances office was set up in the Directorate to deal with complaints from members of the public. In addition, the Ministry of Political Development was established to further the democratic process and to increase public awareness of democratic and human rights issues. Lastly, a standing human rights committee was established representing several ministries and authorities involved in promoting human rights in law-making, and legal practice and in public awareness activities in Jordan.

Presentation of Report

MALEK TWAL, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Political Development of Jordan, presenting the report of Jordan, said Jordan prided itself on its achievements since it embarked on its democratic transformation process in 1989, knowing where it was, where it stood now, and where it was heading. The achievements were not only a source of pride, but also good reasons to further its reform agenda in all sectors and fields. Human rights appeared on top of this agenda - the political leadership was keen on furthering human rights through reviewing relevant national legislation and propagating the culture of human rights within State institutions and the Jordanian public at large. The Ministry of Political Development was created in 2003 to symbolise Jordan's commitment to political reform. For Jordan, political reform was a comprehensive endeavour that involved reviewing all national legislation that organised political life in Jordan.

The Ministry was a major stakeholder in propagating the human rights culture at all levels, and its Strategic Plan strove to achieve four major objectives: enhancing youth participation in political life; political empowerment of women; empowerment of civil society; and the empowerment of political parties. The Ministry played an avant-garde role along with other stakeholders, including civil society, in reviewing and modernising relevant national legislation. The Jordanian Government recognized the importance of human rights as the most vital component of human development, which was why the delegation was present, to exchange views and seek the Committee's assistance in tackling the remaining challenges. Recently, Jordan had witnessed important developments in the field of human rights. A new law on Personal and Civil Status was adopted last month, after a whole year of consultations with civil society, and received the approval of many international observers. On elections, a new temporary law was adopted in May, introducing a whole set of transparency and fairness criteria.

Mr. Twal then took up the list of issues, saying that on the first, the experience of recent years had proved that Jordan was complying with its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international instruments. As for the second issue, the National Centre for Human Rights was established as an independent institution, and was recognized to comply with the Paris Principles. It had issued many critical but valuable reports that were at the origin of reviewing certain Governmental measures. It was an active institution, propagating a human rights culture across the country. On the fourth issue, on gender equality and violence against women, article 6 of the Constitution stipulated that all Jordanians were equal before the law, regardless of their sex, religion or race, implying that men and women were equal from a legal point of view. Yet, on matters related to personal and civil status, it was the Shari'a that applied for Muslims, and canonical law for Christians. There had been achievements in the field of political empowerment of women, but Jordan recognized that a lot remained to be done.

The delegation said crimes of terrorism and the penalties for those crimes were enshrined in the Penal Code by way of example but not exclusively on the basis that there was no crime and therefore no punishment without a legal text. The measures taken to detect such crimes and prosecute the perpetrators of those crimes were also enshrined in the law relative to procedures for criminal cases. All this took place under the supervision of judges, an oversight organ with the ability to halt and invalidate the process at any moment. The law to prevent terrorism was a preventive law, aiming to prevent these crimes and the detection of those crimes before they were committed, and this was in line with the Covenant - all measures taken were in line with that law, and were overseen by a judicial authority, as well as being temporary and it being possible to appeal them right up to the highest authority.

On the right to freedom and security and the conditions within the security department, the basic premise was that the defendant was innocent until proven guilty, and arrest was an exceptional measure that applied only to certain crimes. The judicial authorities could only detain a person for 24 hours - thereafter, the person had to be taken before a judge. Here, the judiciary or the judge must inform the person detained that it was their right not to respond except in the presence of their legal counsel or lawyer.

A new law had been issued on Personal and Civil Status on marriage, divorce and custody rights, and it was a qualitative leap and an excellent step forward in the wish to improve and promote women's rights in legislation and in application and practice. Women were a party in a marriage contract, and this led to legal provisions contained in the Law. Women had full freedom to choose their husband - a marriage contract could only be contracted with their full consent and no legal defects. Women were financially independent. The issue of polygamy had been unconditional in previous laws, being unregulated and unrestricted - the draft law of 2010 began to restrict and regulate it in order to restrict polygamy, as the first step in changing the social culture, tradition and mentality. This gradual change in the way of perceiving polygamy was considered to be a more successful way of changing the situation. Women had the right to initiate divorce proceedings without requesting divorce from the husband.

The law also confirmed that women may be harmed because of a lack of payment of alimony, and a text was included that stated that a fund should be created to make advance alimony payments, and then the fund would, in place of the wife, take steps to be repaid. This was to women's advantage. The age of custody of children for women had been raised to 15, from which age children could decide who they preferred to stay with. On the Legal Framework to Prevent Violence against Women, there were two laws governing this, including one which stated that all acts of physical, oral or sexual violence were penalised, whether committed against a man or a woman. There were aggravated penalties in cases of sexual assault, in particular involving somebody under the age of 18. The Criminal Code listed mitigating circumstances for various crimes, so that the person who committed a crime in the heat of passion received a reduced penalty. The legislator had taken this into account in the amended Criminal Code in 2010, and had excluded so-called honour crimes from the mitigating circumstances. Mitigating circumstances were also excluded in cases of beatings leading to death, the delegation said.

The National Centre for Human Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights non-governmental organizations were authorised to make undeclared surprise visits to detention centres and liberty-depriving institutions such as prisons, and were authorised to meet with prisoners alone. On the crime of torture, the delegation re-asserted that the clear policy of Jordan was a policy of protection and promotion of human rights in all fields, and it combated crimes of torture and ill-treatment that were criminalised by law - these were criminalised by legislation and by Shari'a, as it was not in line with human dignity. Any such practices allowed by law were limited, and those who perpetrated these acts were brought before the courts. There were independent monitoring bodies in the Kingdom to follow-up and monitor any violations of human rights such as torture and ill-treatment.

Legislation was a reflection of the political and social situation of a given society, Mr. Twal said, and thus the law in Jordan reflected social attitudes. With regard to the prerogatives of the Public Security Court, the delegation said that the law had enshrined these, including the crimes of terrorism and others such as those related to psychotropic substances and other drugs. With regard to the prerogative of the Police Courts, the law prescribed these as having the right to look into crimes, as provided for in the Military Sanctions Law, the Penal Code and other laws if committed by members of the Public Security Bodies. On the issue of confessions obtained under torture or abusive treatment by way of proof before the State Security Court, there were some provisions and conditions that had to be met, namely that the confession be open and clear, without ambiguity, and should not be interpreted. It should also have been made as an exercise of free will, without abuse, and should be relevant to the case in question.

Questions by Experts

Committee Experts then raised a number of questions and issues, including the issue of polygamy, which, an Expert said, he found personally difficult to understand. The phenomenon of polygamy did not exceed more than 7 per cent of marriages, however, it was not a matter of quantity, but had to do with the concept of women and their role, not only as a mother or wife, but as a human being created by Almighty God. With regard to custody, an Expert said this was an important issue, applauding the raise to the age of 15. No detention could be allowed unless there was a crime committed or an accusation, an Expert said. There was a need for guarantees in detention - Jordan had made large strides in other fields, but it seemed that there were some developments which were not entirely positive with regard to administrative detention, which could not be justified under the Covenant or otherwise. Another Expert advised that the national human rights body should have its mandate extended to cover issues of the police and military, as advised by other human rights treaty bodies. There was also some concern about the transparency of the appointment process to the national human rights body, and for the lack of funding for the body.

With regard to mitigation for crimes, an Expert agreed that there were dramatic improvements, except for when the crime occurred in cases of flagrant adultery, and if this was true, then it raised some issues under the Covenant, as it was not an adequate context for mitigation, as it raised problems under the right to life, which was no less valued if the person enjoying that life was or was not engaged in adultery. Even with the removal of the mitigation principle, it appeared that the Courts could still categorise these crimes, including murders, as misdemeanours, and hand down consequently lesser sentences. Measures should be taken to ensure that torture, ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention should not occur, an Expert urged, and noted that matters of incommunicado and restricted detention should be kept to very exceptional circumstances. Was there a system of independent visits to penitentiary systems to assess the situation, in particular for non-governmental organizations, an Expert asked. This was an occasion for all efforts to build democracy to continue and to make human rights the centre of those efforts, an Expert said. There were reports of a number of women among those held in administrative detention, particularly battered women, and this was an issue for concern, an Expert said, not just for Jordan as a whole but for the Jordanian Centre on Human Rights.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these issues and others, Mr. Twal said that all the issues that had been raised would be thoroughly studied, not only by the delegation but by the highest authority of the country. He was tasked to submit to the Government an Action Plan on Jordan's reform agenda for the next decade, and it would be a time-bound agenda, meaning that he had to propose what legislation should be amended in 2011, what were the next steps in 2012, so that by the next decade Jordan had a functional and democratic system, as Jordan did not hesitate to state that it was in a democratic transition process, and had not yet reached a fully-functional democracy. All questions and comments would therefore be studied assiduously, and embedded in his report to the Government. With regard to polygamy, Mr. Twal said that Jordan was not proud of this, but was working on changing the opinions of the community. As a Government, it was dealing with a given situation, and had to tackle the cultural and religious aspects of that situation.

The delegation said the new law on Personal Status had been adopted a short time ago. Previous acts and previous laws and the entrenched culture in the minds of the people that the Government was reacting to respond to many of the issues related to polygamy had to be borne in mind. Regulations ensured that the number of cases registered as polygamy had diminished. All agreed the text of the Holy Koran had tied the issue of polygamy to the issue of justice, as it was required to be fair to all wives in dealing with them. This was the first step in restricting cases of polygamy and installing a new culture, as a prelude for interpreting the Holy Koran text in the way the Holy God required. Courts verified whether a husband could financially support his prospective secondary wives, and informed new fiancées of the situation, giving the right to the first wife to demand separation in this situation.

On inheritance, the Holy Koran and the Islamic Shari'a had made it necessary for the legal text in this regard to be derived therefrom, and to attain the maximum possible extent of justice for both men and women. Inheritance was a formula that was balanced on both sides - it was a comprehensive system, and there were cases where the female inherited half as much as the male, as stipulated in the Koranic text. Jurisprudence was compelled to follow this - but there were cases where a female inherited as much as a male, and there were even cases where females inherited and the male did not. The marriage contract was an agreement between a man and a woman, to whom each party could make their own changes for their own benefit and advantage. If a man divorced voluntarily from a woman who had not stipulated the same right for herself in the marriage contract, then this did not mean that he was not responsible for all financial obligations, including dowry payments, and should pay for the woman until she could remarry, including for the children or for childbirth should she have been pregnant at the time of divorce. However, where women gave themselves the right to divorce, she was not compelled to pay to the husband any financial contributions. Where a woman divorced herself from a man, this was final and could be no restitution - the husband had no right to restore her as a wife, and this was a great achievement that had been made.

On the National Centre for Human Rights, Mr. Twal said the board of the Centre and the High Commissioner of the Centre were appointed by the King, who was, according to the Constitution, above the three powers, meaning that whoever was appointed by him could only be removed by him or by a decision of the board, but the Government Cabinet had no authority over the Centre. On its financial independence, according to legislation creating the Centre, the Government was obliged to make available the necessary budget for the administrative running of the Centre. The Centre was a main partner of the Ministry for Social Development, conducting activities together, and it did not have any financial constraints. The Centre could receive complaints from individuals without resorting to the courts at any level. As Jordan was a small country, there was no need for it to have regional branches, but it did have representatives in cities remote from Amman, and most complaints were received by email or by fax.

The delegation said the State Security Court was created by law, and was composed of both civil and military judges. All of these judges enjoyed practical independence and neutrality, and were appointed initially according to their competence and experience, and were continuously trained to practice their function, which was a standing judicial function, as were other public offices in the State. In practice, there had been no case where the services of any judge were terminated before retirement age, nor had there been cases where a judge was retired early due to their judgements. This court applied the penal procedure rules, as was the case with civil courts. All the judgements of this court could be challenged, and the Higher Court, which was the highest level of civil court, could review the matter. The judges of the Higher Court were independent civil judges, governed by the law of the civil authority, and the Government had no power over them. All cases must be referred to the competent court, within a reasonable period of time.

In 2009, the law on criminal procedures was amended, and the authority of the prosecution limited - the detention period was limited to one week in minor offences, and 15 days for criminal offences. The prosecution was part of the judicial authority. These periods of detention could only be extended exceptionally, when certain conditions were fulfilled, for the benefit of the investigation. The anti-terrorism law was a preventive law, with the objective of preventing crimes from being committed. It did not confer any exceptional powers on law enforcement agencies. All decisions that could be taken under this law were taken directly by the judicial authorities, subject to the control of higher judicial authorities. This was a relatively new and modern law, issued towards the end of 2006. Until now, no person had been brought to court on the basis of this law, the delegation said.

The Ombudsman's Office was considered an independent body. The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office reported to the head of the Public Security Directorate, and had a legal competence the same as the Office of the Prosecution, and workers in the Office were considered prosecutors under public law, with the same powers. This Office was independent from all other units in the Public Security Directorate, and was only regulated by law. It had been set up to monitor and evaluate any human rights violations that were committed by public security officials, and to have a partnership with civil society organizations working in the field of human rights to have common and joint activities to protect and promote human rights. In 2009, about 369 joint activities were implemented with human rights organizations, including workshops and training courses aiming at promoting human rights in all fields. A campaign was also launched under the slogan "Know Your Rights", and lasted two years, during which citizens were informed of their rights during arrest, investigation, and search, and learnt about their rights whilst in prison. The Office also conducted undeclared visits to detention centres to ensure that detainees were not subjected to ill-treatment, degrading treatment, or torture.

On complaints related to ill-treatment or degrading treatment, there were 26 of these in 2009, 10 of which were referred to the Police Court, which condemned 6 perpetrators, sentencing them either to prison or release from their post. There were some unacceptable practices, as in all countries of the world, but these were individual practices and not a reflection of State policy. The law obliged the Public Prosecutor to visit prisons within their purview at least once a month to ensure that there were no illegal arrests or detentions, the delegation said. According to the law, anyone aware of an illegal arrest or detention must inform an official in the Prosecutor's Office, upon which the official must immediately visit the detention or prison centre and immediately order the release of the detainee or prisoner if the allegation was correct. If this was not done, the official was considered a partner in the crime. With regard to the independence of the judiciary, the constitution protected this - judges were independent and only responsible to the law, and the law on the protection of their independence determined the circumstances ensuring the verification of their professional and ethical qualifications.

Offices for social services had been inaugurated to provide family protection services in a number of areas, and the Office of Family Reconciliation had been set up, providing shelter and protection to battered women. Missing girls, who were previously detained in centres, were kept in those offices. Reconciliation had taken place in 94 per cent of the cases. Protection homes run by civil society organizations to protect women and children were also licensed. On juveniles, and the organization of courses for juveniles, there was a law containing a provision for juvenile courts, in which any charges against juveniles were heard, including misdemeanours and crimes, and also had responsibility for criminal cases. If the offence involved an adult, then the case was reviewed before a specialised court, while taking into account all the necessary provisions to protect the juveniles. With regard to so-called honour crimes, these were classified under the ordinary classification of crimes under the Penal Code, and the perpetrator of murder or harm could not benefit from the provisions of the Penal Code on the state of fury, which used to be invoked in other cases in order to mitigate the offence and transform it to a misdemeanour.

In response to brief follow-up questions, Mr. Twal said with regard to the anti-terrorism law, this was recent legislation that was adopted in 2006, and until now there had been no case dealt with under this law. On confessions, these were only admissible if the court determined that they had been delivered freely and without coercion, the delegation said. The courts also functioned on the principle of the presumption of innocence, and it was up to the Prosecutor to prove the opposite. Mr. Twal said Jordan did not pretend to have perfect legislation, and all national legislation on human rights was on the table for consideration. On the role of the Prime Minister, it should be clear that he had limited rights of intervention in cases, and this could only occur in cases which had to do with national security from a purely economic perspective. Whenever there was a case which could cause great harm to the economy, then the Prime Minister intervened and exercised his right to refer the case to the State Security Court. So far, this had happened only once, Mr. Twal pointed out.

The delegation said Jordan had one hope, namely to improve its legislation to improve the country as a whole. On polygamy, the recorded percentage was in fact de facto separation between the spouses due to conflict in the marriage or pending appearance before a court for the divorce. The new Act of 2010 on Personal Status made a qualitative leap by providing for conditions and restrictions as well as very clear standards in order to do away with negative practices in polygamy, and these efforts had been appreciated by Jordanian society. The law also protected the rights of the first spouse, and, for the second wife, protected her right to either accept the conclusion of the marriage contract or refuse it upon being informed the man was already married. The Government was convinced this would reduce negative practices linked to polygamy. The law also required fairness between all wives, and was based on Islamic Shari'a. In many cases, those under the age of 18 had been denied the right to marry, even though the law allowed exceptions from the age of 15, according to the discretion of a judge.

Mr. Twal repeated that Jordan did not believe that its legislation was perfect, and yet, any legislation was a reflection of the prevailing social circumstances at a given period of time in its history. It was the responsibility of the State to lead social change, and in that context, law would be reviewed in the near future, in particular the law on administrative detention. However, at the moment, Jordanians, like all people of the Middle East were emotional people, and this social set-up had to be addressed. Until then, the Government had to resort, in limited circumstances, to this law on administrative detention. However, a detainee had the right to call a lawyer, and the lawyer could ask a judge to assess the decision of the Government or the Prefect involved in the detention of the detainee. On women's detention, this was intended to protect women from being the victim of some negative social habits - they were usually referred to the Ministry of Social Development, which had women experts who would deal with their situation.

Presentation by Delegation

The delegation then returned to the presentation of its responses to the List of Issues, and said when speaking of religious freedom, this was based on the Jordanian Constitution, which provided, in article 14, the freedom of conviction or religion. Every person on the territory had the right to choose their religion or belief, and had the absolute right to exercise their religious practices or worship as they pleased. The State had the right and responsibility to protect the right to freedom of religion as long as it did not touch upon public order or ran contrary to morals, or threatened security. The freedom of conviction, worship and expression were protected by Constitutional provisions in addition to Koranic verses that confirmed this. There was no right to force people to have religious beliefs, and every person had the right to their own religious practices. Equally, every person had the right to exercise their civil and political rights without being harassed, and the State had the duty to protect these rights, including religious freedom.

On the Baha'i, Mr. Twal added that even if the State only recognized monotheist religions, they were allowed to include on their identity documents that they were Baha'i. Muslims were proud of being identified with their religion, as were Christians. However, apart from ID cards, no other official card stated religious beliefs. The religious qualification was only necessary for candidate registration for Parliamentary elections, since the law foresaw quotas for Christians and Muslims. With regard to the prohibition of incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence and the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, Jordan was proud of being a voice for moderation and tolerance. Moderation was the basis of its foreign policy. On the Public Assemblies Act of 2008, the law was not adopted to restrict the right of assembly, but rather to organize it. A governor had to provide a legal reasoning should he refuse to grant a permit for a gathering. In general, such reasoning was usually based on public order considerations, but it was always subject to appeal before the Supreme Court of Justice.

The delegation said with respect to the rights of the child, Jordan considered itself to be advanced when it came to these. The Convention on the Rights of the Child had been adopted and ratified, and there were many programmes on the protection of childhood, and there was another programme on legal reform for the child. The Committee entrusted with drafting the law on the child had just finished its work, having prepared a draft law in conformity with all international instruments on the rights of the child. On child labour, there were legal procedures to combat this phenomenon, and the Jordanian legislation that dealt with children under 16 had been examined under international law. Those under 16 years of age were prohibited from work, and the juvenile who had not reached 18 should not be involved in dangerous employment. The juvenile should not work for more than six hours a day, and should have a rest of one hour - work should not begin before 8 a.m. or finish later than 6 p.m., and should not take place on public holidays. There was also a requirement of a medical certificate stating fitness to work, and the written approval of the parents of the child, specifying the kind of work to be undertaken.

Legislative proceedings prohibited human trafficking, the delegation said, and a specific strategy had been laid down, with four main axes, including: the protection and the prosecution of any offence in this regard; and the adoption of protective measures to prohibit the abuse of children through programmes to monitor the entry and exit of children into Jordan and their labour and employment. There were hostels for abused children, and Jordanian legislation criminalised all abuse of children in pornographic materials.

On the political empowerment of women, Mr. Twal said that women had the right to a minimum number of seats in Parliament, but they competed for all seats. However, it was not a matter of quotas - the issue was the social challenge, which the Government was striving to handle whilst empowering women politically. The Government was working to improve procedures with regard to the whole electoral process - for the first time, at upcoming elections, international observers would be allowed, as the Government was very proud of the transparent way in which it had set up these elections. Another plan was to review all administrative, judicial and legislative frameworks organising economic, social and cultural life in the country, as well as civil and political life. Good governance was the basis of successful development plans, and was also at the basis of the democratic reform process. The Government was working to empower civil society organizations to take up their role and participate in the developmental life of the country. Last week the Government had decided to lift its reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

There were religious and ethnic minorities in Jordan, Mr. Twal said, but every one felt 100 per cent Jordanian. The notion of being a minority living in a ghetto did not exist in Jordan.

Questions by Experts

In a second round of questions and issues, Experts raised, among other points, Jordan's sturdy reaffirmation of the freedom of religion, which was very welcome, but the issue of the individual was important. On the application of apostasy rules, Experts noted that this was not illegal, but an apostate could not inherit without specific instructions, without which there was an assumption of disinheritance, and pointed out that the assumptions behind such an approach were problematic. Jordan should pay close attention to article 19 of the Covenant, and the very careful way in which it covered restrictions to the freedom of expression, particularly with regard to the media, an Expert said, pointing out that there were a couple of issues in this regard which Jordan should pay close attention to, including regulation of the non-electronic media, which the Committee believed to be un-necessary. What measures did the State party adopt or intend to adopt to combat incidents of discrimination and incitement to violence, another Expert asked, pointing out that this was a situation affecting the region as a whole, as well as the world in general, and that this was an important issue in terms of cultural values. Hatred, on the basis of sex, led to domestic violence, and it was very necessary for protection and legal aspects to be strengthened, as well as the adoption of other measures to change the culture in the positive sense, and the Expert asked what was being done to liberate Jordan from the negative weight of the past in this regard. Were there specific measures being taken to encourage the representation of women, an Expert asked.

Experts also raised the issue of the law on associations, asking whether it applied to both closed and open associations. That individuals could only register their belonging to a political party once they had reached the age of 21 also raised questions. Was there special treatment for minorities, an Expert asked, wondering whether they had access to public schools and education. What was the involvement of civil society in drawing up the report, including non-governmental organizations and the public, an Expert asked, also inquiring whether they would be informed of the Concluding Observations and involved in their implementation. Another Expert raised the issue of conscientious objectors, asking what the Government was doing to fulfil its obligations in this regard, and whether the militia or so-called People's Army also had conscientious objections.

Response by Delegation

In a very brief response due to the lack of time left, the delegation said that Islamic Shari'a and the Constitution of Jordan ensured the free exercise of religious rituals, and it was the State’s responsibility to protect these freedoms. As to the apostate, this was a person who had embraced Islam and then left it. Jordan did not sanction this in any circumstances, and there were no criminal proceedings that could be taken against the person involved. According to domestic law and the Constitution, as well as the instruments to which Jordan had adhered, this person enjoyed all civil and political rights. Concerning inheritance, Jordanian society, in its greater majority, was Muslim, and had chosen the Islamic Shari'a as a basis for inheritance, and this did not preclude the possibility for a testator to leave inheritance to an apostate if they were mentioned as an heir in the will. Non-inheritance, except for a text, was a reflection of the will of the person who had written the will and their enjoyment of their rights before and after death.

With regard to the freedom of expression, Mr. Twal said there were no restrictions whatsoever on the electronic media - on the contrary, there was a proliferation of websites, and there was no need for prior approval to launch these, and no legal requirements in this regard. In the Senate, with 55 Senators, there were 7 women. The number would be raised to 60 after the 9 November 2010 elections, and, proportionally, the number of women would also be increased. On gender approaches, over the last five years, a new concept had been introduced of a gender-oriented budget, for the Government as a whole as well as for Ministries, and there was a Government Office that dealt with gender issues. On the age for becoming a member of a political party, reforms in this matter would be under review. Military service had been suspended 20 years ago, and thus the issue of conscientious objection was not an issue.

Concluding Remarks

MALEK TWAL, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Political Development of Jordan, in concluding remarks, said this had been an extensive and thorough exercise, and Jordan was very much obliged for the interest shown in improving Jordan's compliance with the Covenant, and alerting it to critical issues requiring improvement. Jordan looked forward to the concluding observations and recommendations, and would afford them its utmost consideration.

YUJI IWASAWA, Chairperson of the Committee, thanked the delegation for engaging in the dialogue with the Committee, and congratulated them for being frank and forthcoming in responses. The dialogue had been constructive, despite the time constraints, for which the Chair took entire responsibility.


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CT10/018E