Agreement to Establish a National Mechanism to Follow Up On Human Rights Cases
07-14-2021
AMMON - Under the patronage of Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Eng. Musa Al-Maaytah, the Jordanian Human Rights Forum was held at the Dead Sea. A new approach for participatory relations, attended by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Ali Al-Khawaldeh, and included representatives of the government's Permanent Human Rights Committee and national institutions (The National Center for Human Rights, the National Committee for Women's Affairs, the Supreme Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the National Council for Family Affairs), and civil society institutions.
Over two days, and during the Change Forum organized by the Center for the Protection and Freedom of Journalists in partnership and cooperation with the Spanish Agency and with the support of the European Union, building human rights priorities for Jordan, the participants discussed and reviewed the regional and international experiences presented by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its manual on national human rights mechanisms also they emphasized on the importance and necessity of continuing dialogue on human rights issues.
The working groups discussed the document of human rights priorities approved by civil society institutions related to civil and political rights, social and economic rights, women's rights, and the rights of people most in need of protection (persons with disabilities, children, refugees, and migrant workers).
The participants in the forum also stressed the need to maintain communication and work to achieve and develop a human rights matrix based on the National Human Rights Plan, and compatible with the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) approved by Jordan.
The participants agreed on the importance of the government’s development of a public and transparent consultative approach to the preparation of reports for contractual and non-contractual mechanisms, and they discussed the challenges facing the preparation of reports, and the methodology for integrating the views of national institutions and civil society in the reports; Which gives it a broader representation of the components of society.
National institutions and civil society institutions expressed their readiness to provide support and share expertise when preparing national reports; they also called the government to prepare a clear agenda in submitting its reports to contractual and non-contractual entities.
The participants urged the National Center for Human Rights, in accordance with its laws and objectives, to launch a dialogue platform, capable of engaging and addressing human rights issues and problems, in a way that enhances societal consensus on issues of rights and liberties, and provides institutional sensing mechanisms that monitor human rights attitudes and trends.
At the end of their meeting, the participants stressed the importance of adopting the following principles in order to improve the human rights environment in Jordan:
First: Developing a national mechanism to follow up on human rights, including developing a national system for human rights institutions.
Second: Urging the government to issue a document of human rights priorities for the following three years in accordance with the comprehensive national plan of human rights and the recommendations of the universal periodic review (UPR).
Third: Establishing cooperation between the government and the national institutions and civil society organizations to create an updated and available database of human rights information in Jordan, to be a reference for all parties under the umbrella of the Prime Ministry.
Fourth: adopting a public roadmap by the government (a mechanism determined by procedures and a time frame) for the preparation of contractual and non-contractual national reports.
Fifth: calling the National Center for Human Rights to develop and institutionalize the work of its dialogue forum to become a participatory platform for discussing human rights issues.
The participants reaffirmed their concern in pursuing work and institutional consultations to make progress in the area of human rights.
