Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 14)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 14)
- المحتوى
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Defense of
Democratic Freedoms
in Jordan
Jordan has been lacking democracy since the kingdom was
established. The constitution does not satisfy the requirements of
modern democratic life. Moreover, the authorities have constantly
violated the constitution as well as alldemocratic values. Martial law
and emergency provisions have been an integral part of Jordan’s
political life.
There has been an_ insistent
demand for democratic liberties ever
since the national movement and politi-
cal opposition came into existence. This
demand, however, has not had a
specific body to defend it. In view of this,
a number of people concerned with the
issue joined together on their own initia-
tive in Beirut, June 1979, to form the
Committees for the Defense of Democ-
ratic Freedoms in Jordan. The Commit-
tees took a series of steps, making con-
tacts, holding meetings and submitting
memoranda to Arab and international
bodies concerned with the question of
human rights and liberties. The memos
aroused interest in these bodies who in
turn contacted the Jordanian authorities,
and published some of them in their
annual reports and other material. After
the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982,
and the departure of most of the leading
members of the Committees from
Beirut, new contacts were made to
organize the resumption of the Commit-
tees’ activities. As a result the Commit-
tees are now led by an expanded and
highly qualified General Secretariat.
The Committees welcome into their
ranks any democratic organization wil-
ling to participate in their activities. The
banner for the Committee’s work is step-
ping up the struggle for democratic
rights, which is an immediate daily con-
cern of vast sectors of the people in Jor-
dan. The right to political and trade union
activities is still fettered by the regime’s
arbitrary and coercive laws and mea-
sures, as are rights to employment,
travei, passport and expression.
The Committees for the Defense of
Democratic Freedoms in Jordan have
now taken a new step by beginning to
publish a regular bulletin in Arabic enti-
14
tled Democratic Jordan, to be their
mouthpiece in the struggle for democ-
racy. The role of this bulletin is to rein-
force the call for democratic liberties, to
expose all coercive and arbitrary prac-
tices, and to defend all those who are
illegally detained, deprived of their basic
rights or otherwise mistreated.
1954 Uprising Commemorated
Significantly, the publication of the
first issue of Democratic Jordan coin-
cided with the 30th anniversary of the
popular uprising that occurred in Jordan
on October 16, 1954. This was sparked
by flagrant fraud in the parliamentary
elections, enacted by Tawfiq Abu
Huda’s government, with a view to sec-
uring a subservient parliamentary
majority that would approve linking Jor-
dan to imperialist pacts, and grant the
regime a free hand to suppress the mass
movement.
The masses in Jordan and the West
Bank rose up to reject the authorities’
having thus scorned their will. People
poured into the streets in thousands,
condemning both the electoral manipu-
lation and the regime’s policy of subser-
vience to the colonial powers. They
shouted for democracy and freeing Jor-
dan from the fetters of colonialism, then
symbolized by the 1948 treaty (with Bri-
tain), Glub Pasha’s control of the army,
and the administration of the country by
the British Embassy in Amman.
The armed forces were ordered into
the streets by General Glub to suppress
the demonstrations. In the resulting
clashes, scores of patriots were killed or
wounded. Yet the uprising was not in
vain, for it exposed the bogus character
of the emerging parliament, which as a
result had to be dissolved. Moreover, the
1954 uprising paved the way for later
mass movements protesting Jordan's
joining the Baghdad Pact, and demand-
ing that the army be transformed into a
patriotic one and that the colonial treaty
with Britain be cancelled. It also opened
the way for the advent of a patriotic
majority in the parliament that was
antagonistic towards imperialism and
under which, for a time, the country
enjoyed relative democratic liberties.
Political Prisoners
Today opposition to the regime's
policies continues to be displayed in a
variety of ways. One of the most signific-
ant is the widespread support expressed
to the demands of the political prisoners
who waged a courageous hunger strike
in March. (See Democratic Palestine
no. 3). Since then the regime has
released some political prisoners while
at the same time continuing to detain
others. In September, another hunger
strike was staged, lasting two weeks, but
as yet the regime has not fulfilled the
demands for the release of those
detained solely on political grounds.
One example of public support to the
political detainees was the memoran-
dum submitted to the Council of
Deputies by 35 signatories representing
the popular, trade union and profes-
sional sectors in Karak province. The
memo stated in part: In response to the
political detainees’ appeal and consid-
ering their deteriorated health condi-
tion...we herewith declare our solidarity
and support their demands, including
the release of the detainees from
occupied Palestine, particularly those
whose term is or almost is over; the
release of those arrested on political
grounds and those who have not com-
pleted their sentence; and the restora-
tion of civil life and the operation of the
constitution.
Also noteworthy was the memoran-
dum to the Prime Minister submitted by
the Jordanian Engineers Association in
August. While demanding the release of
one of their imprisoned colleagues, the
Association also linked the demand for - هو جزء من
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