Referendum for the Royal Commission assigned to consider amending the Constitution including proposals of the Women Jordanian human rights organizations to amend the Constitution

The openness that Jordan is witnessing regarding the principles of human rights recognized by the international community cannot go unnoticed, for Jordan which signed and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), confirms that it is on the no return way towards the elimination of all abuses against Jordanian women and towards the stop of gender discrimination.
Hence, the need and the call arose to take into account very seriously amending some articles in the Constitution of Jordan, and Jordanian women’s rights, which affirms Jordan’s keenness to implement all the provisions and materials of CEDAW. Jordan is continuously moving towards improving the situation of Jordanian women, reservation was removed from item (4) of Article (15) of CEDAW, which gives women and men the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and freedom to choose their residence and domicile, and we look forward with much eagerness and optimism to lift reservations on Article (9), which affirms the right of Jordanian women married to foreigners to pass their nationality to their husbands and sons, and Article (16), which achieve equality between women and men in rights and responsibilities of marriage, and if this indicates anything, it indicates that there is serious and determined political to make Jordan part of the international community and the contemporary world, where it is no longer possible to separate the issues of women’s rights from human rights issues in general.

Proceeding from the principle of the need to achieve full equality between citizens in rights, a number of civil society organizations and active associations in the field of women’s rights came to a consensus and agreement on the need to include new materials and article in the next constitutional amendments, which would inevitably reduce the discrimination against women in Jordan.

Given that the Constitution is the highest legal body in the State, that should prevail, not second to none, it is necessary to emphasize in the articles of the Constitution not to discriminate on the basis of gender and to declare articles of the Constitution explicitly on this aspect, and women’s rights organizations call for the need to include in the Jordanian Constitution openly and frankly that the international conventions prevail on the national laws, in order to achieve the essence of the international conventions on women’s rights, which is to achieve full gender equality and eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender.

We, the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, and Women’s Unit, had a vision of the especial approaches that will establish to build a strong push of Jordanian women to achieve full partnership with men, and this will not be achieved unless under the Constitution and the law, hence our vision of these essential amendments and approaches that we see enough to protect the women of Jordan from abuse, and an emphasis on striving to reach the de facto equality, in theory and practice.

• Basic approaches to be covered by the constitutional amendments,

1 – the serious strive for equality in rights and dignity of humanity, cannot be recognized for half of society and denied for the other half.

2 – Constitutional amendments require the development of materials that achieve dignity for the Jordanian person, a woman and a man, on an equal footing, and safeguard the freedoms so that Jordan would stay on the course of democratic countries.

3 – The Constitution and only the Constitution, would be an essential input to ensure de facto equality between men and women, without any ambiguity.
4 – Achieving de facto equality through constitutional provisions, shows how serious the state of Jordan is with the international community on human rights, when it signed the international conventions and instruments, and its seriousness in achieving the real objectives that these conventions were put for, which is full equality without discrimination.

5 – It is not enough to guarantee rights, but the constitutionalization of the procedures and measures would accelerate the removal of barriers to full citizenship for women and the effective enjoyment of their rights.

6 – The political and legislative framework of the country, will affect positively on the traditional attitudes and political and judicial practices that control of these attitudes, in the direction of equality.

In order to achieve these approaches, the following constitutional amendments, which would meet the ambitions of the Jordanian woman to equality, dignity, and freedom must taken into account:

• The constitutional amendments required to achieve the perspectives of gender equality,

1 – To clearly admit that instruments and international conventions on human rights prevail on the national laws of the Interior, in order to achieve harmonization between laws and articles of these conventions, to ensure the human rights and freedoms, without discrimination on the basis of gender, color, ethnicity, and religion. *

2 – The consequence of the amendment (1) is the necessity that the Jordanian State authenticates the optional protocols attached to international conventions on human rights, in order to give this Convention the status of legal obligation, and achieve the goal for signing the Convention.

3 – Emphasizing  on the principle of determining authorities, a clear separation between them, achieve the independence of the judiciary, and the adoption of transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs .*

4 – To include a definition of gender discrimination, as stated in Article I of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and banning it whatever its source, and to explicitly and clearly stipulate taking all possible measures to eliminate gender discrimination.

5 – Make the de facto equality between the genders one of the most important pillars of the Constitution, in civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and make it indivisible.

6 – Recognize full and equal eligibility for women and men in all matters relating to civil issues, and considering all laws, rules and regulations that reduce such legal capacity as void.

7 – constitutionalization of the principle of equality between women and men before the law and law enforcement, and the principle of equal rights and duties and responsibilities.

8 – Stipulate the unconstitutionality of all legal texts and practices which constitute discrimination and violence against women.

9 – Stipulate explicitly the right of the individual to life, liberty and security of person and body, without discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, or language .*

10 – Stipulate explicitly that no citizen may be deprived of his nationality arbitrarily, or denied the right to change it, or retrieve it, and without discrimination .*

11 – Stipulate explicitly in an article in the Constitution to prevent physical abuse against the Jordanian person, without discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, language or race.

12 – Adopt the principle of equal sharing in all the locations of decision-making, in all the positions and decision centers at the local, national, and international levels.

13 – Review the language used in the Constitution by referring constantly to the men and women, emphasizing that the community is composed of them together, and use accurate language, to avoid any confusion in the interpretation of some materials and to respect and implement the provisions of the Constitution.

Democracy can only be devoted to equality, and women’s rights is an integral part of human rights, while in the Arab states it can only be achieved through the constitutionalization of equality laws, rules and regulations.
Hence we appeal to our state who signed the CEDAW to ensure full citizenship for Jordanian women, without distinction of any kind, and it is required to achieve greater participation of women with men in the construction of constitutional, parliamentary, and governing bodies and the production of policies that respect women’s political rights, and integration of her issues in the official policies and budgets of the government, for it is not enough to ensure the rights, but also it is essential to ensure the implementation and constitutionalization of the procedures and measures that would accelerate the achievement of a qualitative leap towards establishing real democracy, which achieving de facto equality is of its main pillars, and this requires urgent measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender, to enter into the domain of modern democracies.

In order to achieve dignity, freedom, justice and democracy, through the imposing of full respect for the role of women alongside the man in equality in legal rights and before the law.

Names of the organizations signing

1- Women’s Unit/ Amman Center for Human Rights Studies

2- The Jordanian Women Union

3- Arab Women Organization of Jordan

4- Mosawat Network (included 87 woman associations)

5- Humanitarian Forum for women’s rights