Members of the Islamic Jordanian Youth Movement, a group advocating for social and political reforms, Al Rawabedah and Assaf had both already been arrested in June 2013 for their participation in peaceful demonstrations. Brought before the State Security Court and interrogated by a Military Prosecutor, they had been charged for having "incited anti-regime sentiments". After a five-month detention, they had been released on bail but their trial is still ongoing to date.

Because of their involvement in the organisation of the manifestation that took place on 16 January 2015, Assaf was arrested on 15 January 2015 in the Abdali district of Amman, whilst Al Rawabedah was arrested two days later in the Al Nazha district of Amman, by the Jordanian Preventive Security Services. Currently detained in solitary confinement in the Amman General Intelligence Directorate headquarters, the two men are prevented to receive the visit of their family or lawyers. They also risk being prosecuted according to the 2006 anti-terrorism law, amended in June 2014, according to which any person can be charged with "terrorism" for, among others, having "disturbed relations with a foreign country", a charge that is systematically used to shut down dissent.

A political activist close to the detainees said: "These arrests are to be seen as part of a wider campaign to stifle dissent by the authorities, which are bringing the country back to the situation of public freedoms from before the Arab Spring through the implementation of the anti-terrorism law by the intelligence services and military courts. Detainees are sentenced on the sole charge of using social media to incitement against the political system."

Following Alkarama's communication on their first arrest and detention in 2013, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) had adopted an Opinion (No. 53/2013) considering their detention arbitrary because resulting from their legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression. Irrespective this opinion and of their obligations under international human rights law, the Jordanian authorities arrested Assaf and Al Rawabedah again for the very same reasons, the exercise of their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Ironically enough, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania took part in the 11 January 2015 march in Paris in defence of free speech, in a move of solidarity with France which however does not reflect Jordan's genuine intent to effectively uphold this right, as this case clearly shows.

Alkarama therefore wrote to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association asking him to urgently call upon the Jordanian authorities to immediately release Assaf and Al Rawabedah. The Jordanian authorities should put an end to the use of arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention to silence peaceful demonstrators, political opponents and critical voices within the Jordanian society, and ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, peaceful assembly and association are effectively enjoyed by of all its citizens and do not merely represent a sole political declaration of intent.

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