Jordanian security forces have detained activist Ahmad Al-Abuwayni following his participation in a sit-in in central Amman, a measure that reflects a continuing clampdown on the right to peaceful expression, and one that acquires added gravity in light of his fragile health and his long record of repeated administrative detentions.
According to statements by human-rights lawyer and activist Laila Atta, security officers instructed Al-Abuwayni at the start of the sit-in not to raise the Palestinian flag and demanded that he hand it over. He complied immediately. Yet he was later arrested while returning home, far from the site of the protest.
Laila added that Al-Abuwayni suffers from several medical conditions, including heart problems. He has been placed under administrative detention more than six times, one of those periods lasting over five months, leaving a profound impact on his health. Since the start of the war on Gaza, the cumulative duration of his detentions has exceeded twelve non-consecutive months, all for taking part in marches in support of Gaza.
This latest detention reflects a pattern of repeated administrative targeting, pointing to the use of administrative arrest as a tool to curb participation in public gatherings even in the absence of specific charges.
Its seriousness is compounded by Al-Abuwayni’s medical condition, making his detention without compelling necessity or proper medical supervision a violation of his right to physical safety and a measure that exposes him to genuine, life-threatening risk.
His arrest after leaving the protest, despite his full compliance with instructions, further exemplifies detention outside the bounds of necessity, where no imminent threat exists and no act warrants security intervention. The right to peaceful assembly requires that any deprivation of liberty be tied to a clear, declared infraction, not to mere participation in a peaceful gathering.
Moreover, prohibiting the raising of the Palestinian flag in itself constitutes a restriction on symbolic expression, in a core form of legitimate political speech so long as it contains no incitement or threat to public order.
The detention of Al-Abuwayni is the latest in a series of stringent measures targeting participants in pro-Palestine protests over the past year, often without formal charges. Such a trajectory deepens the climate of apprehension among citizens and narrows the already shrinking space for peaceful expression, especially when it involves individuals with vulnerable health conditions.
The arrest of Ahmad Al-Abuwayni exposes a stark failure in the principle of proportionality between the security measure taken and the act alleged, reopening urgent questions about the extent to which fundamental rights of peaceful demonstrators are being upheld. The safety of individuals and the freedom to express oneself should never be commodities to be bargained away, nor infringed under the guise of unjustified precautionary measures.
