On Thursday, March 24, 2022, Jordanian security forces launched a large-scale arrest campaign, targeting dozens of activists, trade unionists and political figures in the country.
The reported detainees included the former MPs Wasfi Al-Rawashdeh and Ghazi Al-Hawamleh, trade unionist Maysara Malas, leaders of the Partnership and Salvation Party Khaled Hassanein and Ayman Sandouqa, General Coordinator of the Change Movement, Dr. Sufian Al-Tal, and the activist in the Teachers Union Kifah Abu Farhan.
The detainees also included Jamil Al-Hajjaj, Moaz Wahsha, Muhammad Tohme Al-Qudah, Issam Hassan Al-Manaseer, Amjad Al-Ajarmeh, Abdul Rahman Suhail Shdeifat, Engineer Ibrahim Suhail Shdeifat, Siraj Al-Din Suhail Shdeifat, former MP Wasfi Al-Rawashdeh, Dr. Khaled Hassanein, Hussein Abu Sheikh, Engineer Maysara Malas, Muhammed Asriwa, Ayman Sourka, Kifah Farhan.
The arrests also targeted the eng. Saad Mufleh Al-Alawin, Dr. Sufian Al-Tal, former MP Ghazi Al-Hawamleh, Tayseer Al-Amoush, Abdul-Ilah Al-Majali, retired Major General Muhammad Abdul-Karim Al-Atoum, Haitham Nabil Al-Ayasra, Issa Al-Khatib, Lawyer Ali Al-Barizat, Rami Sahweil, Yahya Al-Dhaimat, Muhammad Al-Dhaimat.
The writer Ahmed Hassan Al-Zoubi affirmed in a Facebook post his arrest for two hours while on his way to Queen Alia International Airport.
Al-Zoubi pointed out that his mobile phone was confiscated before his release.
Jordan has been downgraded from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ in a 2021 report by the CIVICUS Monitor, a global research collaboration that rates and tracks fundamental freedoms in 197 countries and territories.
According to the report, the suspension of the last remaining Teachers’ Association, internet shutdowns, and restrictions enforced on journalists, civil society and activists, have led to the downgrade.
For many years, Jordan was classified by Freedom House as a partly-free country. But as of 2021, Jordan’s classification fell back, and it was classified as not-free.
