US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1529

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 001529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2013 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT OF JORDAN SOCIETY FOR CITIZENS' RIGHTS 
LOSES COURT ACTION 
 
REF: A. 02 AMMAN 6521 
 
     B. 02 AMMAN 6154 
     C. 02 AMMAN 5576 
     D. 02 AMMAN 974 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM.  REASONS: 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  Jordan Society for Citizens' Rights 
President Fawzi Samhoury has lost on his court action to have 
the JSCR reinstated as a society recognized by Jordanian law. 
 On March 6 the Higher Court of Justice notified Samhoury at 
a court session that his case against the decision of the 
Ministry of Interior to dissolve the JSCR was denied. 
According to Samhoury, he has now exhausted all legal options 
and plans to wait until the summer before deciding how best 
to pursue his human rights work. END SUMMARY. 
 
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SAMHOURY LOSES COURT ACTION 
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2. (C)  On March 11 PolOff met with a clearly disenchanted 
Samhoury.  The Higher Court of Justice informed Samhoury's 
attorney at a March 6 session that Samhoury's action to stay 
the Ministry's decision to dissolve the JSCR had been denied. 
 The Ministry of Justice dissolved the JSCR in October 2002, 
citing JSCR non-compliance with financial reporting 
requirements as the basis for the action (reftels).  Samhoury 
did not attend the March 11 session, and said the court will 
mail his attorney a written decision in a couple of weeks. 
According to Samhoury, Legal options are now exhausted.  He 
believes the Higher Court of Justice's decision to confirm 
the dissolution of the JSCR was politically driven. 
 
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WHAT TO DO NEXT 
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3. (C) Samhoury said he is not sure what to do next.  He is 
clearly disappointed at the demise of his four year old JSCR. 
 As he sees himself as one of the few independent human 
rights activists in Jordan, he has rejected suggestions that 
he join other human rights NGOs here.  He plans to wait until 
the summer and decide if he will try to push forward with a 
new society.  He is almost sure that the Ministry of Interior 
will reject any such attempt.  On the GOJ's newly created 
human rights commission, Samhoury was dismissive.  "They are 
all government people or weak people.  I wrote Ahmad Obeidat 
(former PM and newly named ombudsman for the Human Rights 
Commission) a letter about my case a few months ago and he 
ignored me."  Cynicism aside, Samhoury said he would probably 
file a complaint with the new commission once it is up and 
running.  Samhoury also plans to continue his communication 
with Amnesty International and European media correspondents 
here. 
 
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COMMENT 
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4. (C)  Although his case received extensive media coverage 
at the outset, attention has dwindled.  There was no media 
coverage of the March 6 court session, with all eyes trained 
on the potential military action in Iraq.  Given Samhoury's 
dedication, we expect him to continue to push forward with 
his human rights activism, despite the unfavorable court 
ruling. 
GNEHM