US embassy cable - 05AMMAN686

UNCLAS AMMAN 000686 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: BACKGROUND ON DETENTION OF PROFESSIONAL 
ASSOCIATION MEMBER ALI HATTAR 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 571 
 
     B. 04 AMMAN 4629 
     C. 04 AMMAN 6771 
     D. 04 AMMAN 8868 
     E. 04 AMMAN 7619 
     F. 04 AMMAN 9437 
     G. 03 AMMAN 6119 
     H. 03 AMMAN 7268 
     I. 03 AMMAN 8321 
 
1. (SBU) Background on the detention of Jordanian Ali Hattar 
by GOJ authorities follows. 
 
2. (U)  After delivering a lecture on December 14, 2004 at 
the professional associations headquarters in Amman, Hattar 
was detained and charged with violating Article 191 of the 
Penal Code for "slandering the government." Hattar's lecture 
was entitled "Why We Boycott America" and reportedly 
criticized U.S. foreign policy. The incident received 
widespread local press coverage. Reports vary as to whether 
he was held overnight or for three days. It is unclear how 
Hattar is alleged to have defamed the government, or which of 
Hattar's purported statements led to his detention. He had 
criticized the government under former Prime Minister Ali 
Abul Ragheb, which left office in October 2003, for being 
oppressive. Hattar has denied the charges and court 
proceedings are ongoing. 
 
3. (U) Hattar is a member of the Jordan Engineers Association 
and the Professional Associations Council's 
Anti-Normalization Committee, which organized the lecture. 
The Anti-Normalization Committee opposes the Jordan-Israel 
peace treaty. A Jordanian court recently ruled that the 
Committee's campaigns against the treaty and its blacklisting 
of Jordanians that allegedly had contacts or dealings with 
Israel constituted political activities (reftels). Ref A 
reported Hattar's case in the context of the ongoing struggle 
between the government, spearheaded by Interior Minister 
Habashneh, and the professional associations. 
 
4. (SBU) The detention of Hattar is included in the current 
draft of the 2004 Human Rights Report on Jordan. 
HALE