From Free Amer:
On Monday May 5th, 2014, Amer Jubran was arrested by the secret intelligence agency of the Jordanian government, the Mukhabarat, in the middle of the night . He has not been allowed any contact with a lawyer and no one knows where he is being held. This arrest is the result of intelligence cooperation between Jordan, the United States, and Israel in their attempt to silence dissent and eliminate political support for resistance to the American-Zionist project in the region.
Amer is a Palestinian political activist who opposed the warmaking policies of the United States and Israel during his 18 year residence in the United States. Shortly after September 2001 he was harassed by US authorities, detained, and finally pushed out of the country (see http://www.amerjubrandefense.org, http://www.onepalestine.org ) . He returned to Jordan, his first country of exile, in 2004. This latest arrest is a continuation of the political repression Amer experienced in the United States.
Actions:
1) Call the Ambassador Dr. Alia Hatoug Bouran at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, DC at (202) 966 – 2664
2) Fax a letter to Ambassador Dr. Alia Hatoug Bouran at the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, DC at Fax (202) 966 – 3110
3) Fax a letter to Jordan’s Interior Minister Hussein Al Majali at Fax #011-962-6-5606908
4) Post a comment regarding your grave concern about Amer Jubran to the Jordanian Embassy’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JoEmbassyUS
Please be sure that Amer’s name and your critique of the Embassy’s handling of his case are prominent in the first 2-3 lines.
Palestine Subcommittee calls for release of Amer Jubran, detained in Jordan
From International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild
It is our understanding that Jubran has not been charged with any crime and has had no access to a lawyer. Jubran is an internationally recognized and respected speaker, activist and writer on Palestinian human rights, and a critic of the U.S./Israeli occupation of the region. Having already been targeted by the US government for his political speech while a legal resident of the US in 2004, Jubran’s current detention raises concerns that this is a political arrest aimed at silencing dissent and suggests cooperation between Jordanian authorities, the United States and Israel in suppressing criticism of US and Israeli policies.
Jordan is a signatory party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 9 of the ICCPR prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention, and requires that deprivation of liberty, even if legally sanctioned, must be necessary and reasonable, predictable, and proportional to the reasons for arrest. Article 19 (2) of the ICCPR guarantees the right to freedom of expression, including “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
The United Nations Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights has advised that Jordan should end its current practice of administrative detention. Furthermore, Jordan’s penal code has still not been amended to comply with its 2011 guarantees to strengthen constitutional free speech. Jordan proclaims that it is undergoing democratic reforms and respecting civil liberties, claiming to have accepted a number of Amnesty International’s recommendations to limit the use and duration of administrative detention, and to ensure that all detainees are brought before an independent judicial authority promptly after arrest and charged, or else promptly released. However, Jordan’s use of arbitrary arrest and administration detention aimed to limit freedom of speech continues to be criticized in ongoing reports by international human rights organizations.
Friends and colleagues of Jubran have repeatedly contacted the Jordanian Embassy in the United States and the Ministry of the Interior in Jordan. They have been told that Jubran’s detention will be looked into, but no further information has been forthcoming.
The Palestine Subcommittee of the National Lawyers Guild urges compliance with internationally recognized standards of due process and the right to freedom of expression.
We expect
- the prompt release of Jubran, if he is not to be charged;
- access to an attorney of his choosing;
- the prompt setting of a reasonable bail if he is charged;
- visitation with his family;
- consultation with health care professionals;
- the immediate release of information regarding his whereabouts and condition;
- and an immediate explanation of why he has been held since May 5, 2014.
For more information on the case of Amer Jubran, please see:http://www.amerjubrandefense.org/