Australia’s Ambassador to Jordan visits ACHRS

The Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, hosted a meeting with the Australia’s Ambassador to Jordan, Miles Armitage, and the Second Secretary of Australian embassy, Alice Volkov.

It was an occasion to share a common vision on Human Rights and more specifically on the death penalty issue.

This Wednesday 7th of August, Miles Armitage, Australia’s Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan since 2016, was introduced to Dr. Assaf, director of ACHRS, and Dr. Al Tarawneh, the vice president of the court of cassation. After having described the background and work of the ACHRS, Dr. Assaf pointed out the lack of support ACHRS faces and how it reduces the ability to build systemic and strategic advancements on Human Rights issues.                                

It was a chance for Dr. Assaf and Dr. Al Tarawhneh to describe the ambitions of the ACHRS within their five priorities; right to life, right to think, right to speak, right to participate and women’s right. The Dr. Assaf explained the role played by ACHRS in the founding of  the Jordanian coalition Against Death Penalty and the Arab Coalition Against Death Penalty.

ACHRS believes the death penalty, perhaps more than any other issue, has always been more of a political issue than juridical one. The struggle against the death penalty needs a strong understanding of the mentalities, culture and societies in order to find the most strategic path leading to its abolition. Hence, the particular need of strong support to work not only with the law but also on the evolution of mentalities in the society.

With a specific expertise on Jordan and the Middle East region, ACHRS shows up to be a credible actor on this struggle working tirelessly against death penalty through the founding of the Jordan Coalition Against Death penalty and the Arab Coalition Against Death Penalty.

Australia’s Ambassador to Jordan, underlined the short term goal in this struggle should be to narrow the legislative articles of the death penalty. Because of its political genetic, the death penalty can only be fought side by side with the political sphere. Hence, the aim of the ACHRS of organizing meeting with parliamentarians in order to exchange on the death penalty issue. In a nutshell the ambition is to channel this issue from the civil society to the political sphere.

Dr. Tarawneh’s juridical experience as a judge, Dr. Assaf’s knowledge as the founder of ACHRS, are both proof of their credibility to consolidate work against the death penalty. The Australia’s Ambassador support would be the chance to build a systemic and strategic path in the struggle against death penalty, and hopefully the future will give us a chance to work together through a potential further cooperation.

The death penalty issues remains a witness of Human Rights deficiency in Jordan. The Right to Life because of its universality should also be seen in its totality. Any support or cooperation is welcomed so feel free to contact us if needed. 

We hope to keep you informed of our activities as usual, so keep a look out!