Jordan: restrictions imposed on civil society and harassment of government critics

In Jordan, the closing space for civil society, especially with the implementation of restrictive legislation is the key concern addressed in our briefing. The 2013 Press and Publications law resulted in the immediate closure of close to 300 websites. The 2009-amended 'Law on Societies' also contains several restrictive provisions, including the need for associations to accept the participation of officials in their assemblies and submitting foreign funding of organizations to restrictive government oversight. Finally, despite the 2011 amendment of the Public Gatherings Laws, requiring only notification of public gatherings, these have often been violently suppressed in recent years.

Harassment of government critics, in some cases even leading to arrests, continued in the four years since Jordan's initial UPR in 2009. Individuals have been arrested for refusing to sign away their right to protest, and their fair trial guarantees are not respected, particularly the right to have a lawyer, or be tried in a normal court. In many cases, it is in fact the State Security Court that tries such cases, a court that is made up two military judges and one civilian judge. As we will address in the briefing on Wednesday, this court should be abolished.

Alkarama's submission also covers other areas of concern, including the 'Crime Prevention Law', which de facto allows for indefinite administrative detention with weak or no judicial oversight, as well as lack of measures taken to combat torture and in particular, impunity for acts of torture and .

Saudi Arabia: Crackdown on peaceful activists and widespread practice of arbitrary detention

Over the last two years, the Saudi authorities have intensified their crackdown against peaceful activists demanding respect of their fundamental rights, including members of ACPRA, a key human rights organization in the Kingdom. The awakening of civil society has been met with systematic repression by the authorities– despite their statements to the contrary – as they have responded to all questioning of the established order. Several fundamental rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been violated (leading to torture, arbitrary detention, unfair trials, lack of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly), often under the pretext of counter-terrorism measures. Alkarama therefore recommends that the right to peaceful assembly, association, and expression be guaranteed without exception.

Alkarama is also particularly concerned with the issue of arbitrary detention in the country. According to various sources, more than 30'000 people are currently detained arbitrarily in the Kingdom, often either detained for years in pre-trial detention or following trials violating the most basic international standards in the matter. In recent years, our organization has submitted hundreds of cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Working Group has in fact delivered 33 opinions concerning 60 people since Alkarama began to provide it with such information, which Saudi Arabia has never respected. Alkarama therefore recommends the immediate, unconditional release of every person detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly, association and expression.

Further concerns highlighted in our submission and in the pre-session briefing include use of the death penalty, and the practice of torture.

Key opportunity to prioritize concerns

These pre-session briefings provide a valuable opportunity to inform key diplomats and state representatives of priority concerns so that they may be raised during the UPR of both countries. They reflect the international community's preoccupations, and therefore serve as a guide for countries seeking to improve the human rights situation in their countries.