On Wednesday, the Jordanian Security Services arrested several teachers in the Irbid governorate, for willing to participate as representatives for the Teachers Union during the Independence Day Celebrations organised by the Jordanian government.
The Teachers’ union in Irbid had called on teachers to participate in the Independence Day and to raise pens to protest against the government’s violations of their rights.
Those detained include Sharaf Obeidat, President of the Teachers Union in Irbid, Mutassim Beshtawy, Qassem Al-Masry, Ayman Al-Akour, Abbas Al-Azzam, Firas Al-Tawalbeh, Ahmed Ashour, Yamam Al-Tawalbeh, Nasr Al-Akour, Anas Al-Jamal, and Mustafa Al-Daqamseh.
In March 2021, the Amman Court of First Instance decided to dissolve the Teachers Union and close its headquarters for two years, for donating a sum of money to the Ministry of Health during the Corona epidemic. The authorities prevented the local media from publishing about the case, the arrest and imprisonment of the Union’s members.
However, on October 13, 2021, the Amman Court of Appeal issued a decision annulling the decision of the First Instance Court to dissolve the Bar Council.
The CIVICUS Monitor report, which tracks basic freedoms in 197 countries and territories, lowered Jordan’s rank in 2021 from “obstructive” to “oppressive”, due to the Jordanian authorities’ closure of the Teachers’ Union, closing the Internet and imposing restrictions on journalists, civil society and activists.
Likewise, the Freedom House index showed Jordan’s decline in civil liberties and political rights as it ranked the 34th globally and becoming a “not free” country, after it was classified before among the partially free countries.
