A Country in Denial
Some times I wish there was a huge creature who could slap Jordan on the face and wake us all up. Apparently, we are offended by a Human Rights Watch report on the situation of liberties and human rights in the country. We even call it baseless and partial and accusatory. Do we really think this state of denial we live in will last for long? Are the people dumb enough to be lulled by a governmental press release in newspapers?
Human rights, liberties protected – gov’tJordan on Sunday rejected as “baseless, contradictory and partial†a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the situation of public freedoms and human rights in the Kingdom.
A government statement made available to The Jordan Times said Jordan “regrets the accusatory language†in the report and the “uncalculated judgements†made against the country.
“Rights and freedoms protection has not declined as claimed by the report, which made groundless judgements,†said the statement.
On the contrary, it added, Jordan has recently witnessed developments, accomplishments and measures that enhanced respect for human rights, noting that the Kingdom has a plan to achieve more in this field, which includes broad socio-economic changes.
The HRW report, “Democracy Charade Undermines Rightsâ€, released late January, included Jordan among countries that allegedly held “dubious elections†in an attempt to pose as real democracies.
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The New York-based group, which surveys the human rights situation in more than 75 countries, criticised Jordan for alleged violations related to freedom of speech, arrest procedures, the Public Assembly Law, the Political Parties Law, the NGOs Law, Iraqi “refugees†and treatment of foreign labour in industrial estates.
What would it take for a common Jordanian to realize the truth? A trip to a Qualified Industrial Zone, criticism of the royal family, or getting arrested. No amount of press releases will then blind the public.

They always do like this! Whenever some human rights organisation hits us with a bad report, we act like lunatics instead of apologizing and promising to improve things! When are we going to grow up?!