Over the past few years, local and foreign journalists in Jordan have experienced growing restrictions on their reporting, either through harassment, gag orders, or even from authorities withholding permits to report. Now, Jordanian authorities have used the same methods to stifle coverage of recent protests stemming from the closure of the Jordanian Teachers’ Syndicate.

Awareness regarding how Jordan is targeting political and anti-corruption activists started spreading in 2019, after the situation significantly worsened between March and June of the same year. In that time, authorities detained dozens of people and some journalists recounted beatings at the hands of the police.

The majority of those detained were either linked to a broad coalition of political activists across Jordan called the “hirak” coalition, or journalists who publicly criticized Jordanian leaders and policies. Several charges were filed against them, ranging from “lengthening the tongue against the king” (insulting the king) to “undermining the political regime.”

Along with many others who were detained, activist Sabri al Masha’leh went on a hunger strike in May 2019. He was summoned by the Interior Ministry’s Electronic Crimes Unit for interrogation about four posts on his personal Facebook profile, only one of which mentioned the king by name. Following the interrogation, he was brought to trial in Amman’s Court of First Instance and sentenced to two years in prison.

Freedom of expression is protected under article 15 of Jordan’s Constitution, and Jordan is also a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty that protects the right to freedom of expression, in addition to “freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice” (article 19).

The recent restrictions on the coverage of teachers’ protests reflects the degradation journalists and activists have suffered in the past. On July 25, the Jordanian Teachers’ Syndicate was closed, and immediately after, the attorney general created a gag order that banned the discussion or publication of information relating to the case.

The Jordanian Teachers’ Syndicate, or Jordanian Teachers Association (JTA) was suspended after leading a campaign earlier in the year that demanded higher pay from the Jordanian kingdom, whose economy has been devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic. Multiple JTA leaders were arrested that same day.

Tension between teachers in the country and the government isn’t new at all, with the teachers having organized and carried out the longest strike in the history of Jordan just last year. Protesting teachers say that they are taking a stand against “the liquidation of an elected union.”

Similar to claims in 2019, two journalists have said that they received beatings from the police after covering the protests. Teachers who recounted their experiences and opinions on the matter have allegedly also been targeted.

It is still unclear whether the gag order published by the attorney general is entirely legal, however since then, Amman’s Magistrates Court has published its own gag order, this time regarding trials pertaining to the syndicate’s closure. Judges’ ability to ban “any publication related to a case or a crime under investigation” is protected under Jordan’s press law.

Since the protests erupted, two journalists have been detained and two others have received beatings, including Laith al-Juneidi, photojournalist for the Turkish Anadolu Agency. Reportedly, al-Juneidi was on the sidelines right when police and protestors began clashing and was then approached by four men dressed in civilian clothes, claiming they were from Preventive Security and asking what he was filming. 13 others were detained at that same protest.

On July 29, the Associated Press also reported that police assaulted Omar Akour, an AP video journalist, during a protest in Amman that same day. Akour says that police continued to attack him even after showing his press accreditation, falling to the ground after being struck and his cellphone (with recordings of the protest) being smashed under the police’s stomps.

Although the severity of the situation has dramatically escalated with recent gag orders, many journalists have said that the General Intelligence Directorate regularly seeks them out asking questions regarding their work. The officers would either ask about why they chose a certain topic for a report, or warn them to abstain from writing on a specific issue.

“Jordan’s cynical exploitation of arbitrary measures such as gag orders and arrests to silence journalists is only the latest in a series of restrictions on press freedoms in the country. Jordan will not solve its myriad of economic and political problems by cracking down on journalists and limiting free speech.”

Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

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