JORDAN: Amnesty International calls for a new chance for justice

The nine men, charged with carrying out a series of politically-motivated bombings in March and April 1998. They were tried two years ago before military judges in the State Security Court, whoseprocedures fall short of international standards for fair trial. Three ofthe defendants were sentenced in absentia and four of those originallyarrested were acquitted. The defendants were found guilty partly on thebasis of confessions reportedly extracted under torture.

"Six of these men have already spent three years in prison for a crimethey may not have committed", stated Amnesty International. "We are callingfor a fair trial before a civil court to prevent further miscarriages ofjustice."

Amnesty International has repeatedly raised its concerns over thiscase with the Jordanian Government. In a letter to Prime Minister 'Ali AbuRagheb in September 2000, the organization wrote that "confessionsallegedly made under duress and the absence of a prompt and thoroughinvestigation of the defendants' allegations of torture, renders theirconfessions unsafe and their convictions a miscarriage of justice. "

The decision of the Court of Cassation was not based on the tortureallegations, but on the excessive harshness of the sentences as the "actsof terrorism and sabotage carried out by the criminals did not result indamaging property, fund institutions and installations [as specified in thelaw] ... but damaged movable property, mainly cars."

The Court of Cassation had previously overturned a number of highprofile political cases based on confessions extracted following torture.

Background

The defendants --young men said to belong to the previously unknownIslamic group-- Jama'at al-Islah wa'al- Tahaddi (Reform and ChallengeGroup)-- were arrested between the 4 and 7 of May 1998. After arrest theywere held without access to the outside world for two months in thedetention centre of the General Intelligence Department in Wadi Sir. Theyalleged that during this time they were tortured by beatings, sleepdeprivation and by being suspended from the ceiling. Their families statedthat marks of torture were still visible on their bodies when they were atlast allowed to visit the detainees in July 1998. The medical examinationsthey requested were only carried out in October 1998, five months after theinitial arrest.

Those in detention sentenced to life imprisonment are 'Abd al-NaserShehadeh al-Khamayseh; Samer Mahmud 'Amer; Ra'ed 'Abd al-Karim al-Kafafi;Ahmad Husayn 'Abdallah and Samir Sa'id Shabayeh. Khaled Tawfiq al-'Aruri, aformer policeman, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.