DPA
Amman
As radical Islamist fighters in Syria gain ground, authorities in neighbouring Jordan are cracking down on their supporters inside the kingdom, in some cases reportedly resorting to dragnet arrests and abuses as they work to prevent a spillover effect.
Jordan, which has felt the brutality of Al Qaeda bomb attacks in the past, has declared the Syrian fighters an imminent “national security threat”.
Police have carried out a series of sweeping arrests, nabbing some 300 citizens suspected of having ties to Syrian Islamist militia groups.
Human rights advocates accuse Jordanian authorities of employing abuse to intimidate and discourage their citizens from joining hardliners in Syria and to extract confessions.
New York-based lobby group Human Rights Watch says authorities use harsh methods such as extended periods of solitary confinement in cramped quarters, beatings and cold water blasts.
“In its current crackdown on Salafists and suspected Islamists we are witnessing what can only be described as abuse,” says Adam Coocle, an Amman-based researcher for the group.
“In addition to suspending their legal rights, the authorities are taking away their basic human rights.”
In the early months of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Jordan’s porous 370km border with Syria was a gateway for foreign and local fighters, according to officials and fighters.
The number of Jordanians in Syria swelled to more than 2,000 by the end of last year, with some reaching senior leadership positions in the Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front.
Some of the extremist fighters have started to return home, sparking alarm in the key Western ally. Previous attacks in Jordan and Saudi Arabia have been carried out by radicals who had fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In 2005, a well-orchestrated attack killed 60 people in Amman when bombs went off almost simultaneously at three luxury hotels, including one where a large wedding was taking place. The fathers of the bride and groom were among the dead.
Jordanian authorities this year passed a new anti-terrorism law granting Amman vast powers to detain citizens without trial. Some are charged with the vague offence of “inciting discord”.
According to Adaleh Centre for Human Rights Studies, a Jordanian NGO that offers legal aid to detainees, long periods of solitary confinement and “extreme duress” have become standard practice.
“These citizens are across the board being held for long periods without trial, without sunlight and the basic privileges of other inmates,” says Hussein al-Omari, an Adaleh legal adviser.
Jordanian security sources say four prisoners were taken to hospital last month after suffering fatigue and heart conditions because of maltreatment.
“By the time our clients arrive at the court, they are too tired, too weak and too confused to defend themselves,” says Moussa Abdullat, a defence attorney representing some 100 suspected Islamist supporters.
He says that his clients cannot receive a “fair trial”.
Another lawyer, Taher Nassar, says the government is using a state security court - a military tribunal reserved for national security threats - for the trials of Islamists, removing them from civilian jurisdiction.
“Some days we are allowed to visit with our clients, some days we are only allowed to whisper through the defendant cage,” says Nassar, who has represented 90 Jordanians accused of links to groups on terrorism watch lists.
He says many of his clients are charged based on their alleged affiliation with armed groups, rather than on more specific offences related to direct action.
More than 60 Islamist detainees launched a series of hunger strikes in March to protest prison conditions.
Jordanian police spokesman Ahmed Sartawi denies the use of torture and says the Islamists are treated “as any other prisoner”.
The government has no intention of relaxing its pursuit of suspected militants.
“We are and will continue to take every step possible to protect our country from the threat posed by extremism,” government spokesman Mohamed Momani said.