President Barack Obama joined by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, right at the UN headquarters, Sept. 20, 2016. Carolyn Kaster/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.Ten years ago, on November 1st, 2006, Jordan enacted the “Prevention of Terrorism Act” in response to the 2005 hotel bombings in Amman that left sixty people dead.
In 2014, faced with threats of spillover from the Syrian war, the law was amended and broadened to include nonviolent acts, in an attempt to legitimise the government’s crackdown on peaceful expression and assembly.
Journalists, political opponents, freedom of expression advocates and human rights defenders have since been put on trial under the pretext of “terrorism”.
