Amman, Nov. 6 (Petra)-- Rasmi Khaza'alah - Amid growing security challenges and continued attempts by extremist groups to undermine national security and citizens' safety, calls are mounting for a qualitative shift in Jordan's criminal justice policy to confront terrorism.
The calls are gaining momentum amid growing recognition that protecting lives and preserving civil peace require tackling extremist ideology at its roots and closing all loopholes that could be exploited by promoters of extremist and takfiri ideas who seek to undermine the rule of law and state institutions.
Legal experts stressed the need to move national legislation beyond a policy of "punishment after the fact" towards a comprehensive, proactive security and legislative framework. They called for criminalizing all preparatory stages of terrorist activities, strengthening measures to counter terrorist financing and online recruitment, and reforming rehabilitation and correctional systems to prevent prisons from becoming breeding grounds for extremist ideology.
Former State Security Court President Mohammad Afif said Jordan had established a preventive and deterrent legislative framework to address the threat of terrorist crimes effectively, noting that the framework was developed in line with Royal directives that recognized the implications of terrorism and its impact on national security at an early stage.
He explained that political will had driven the development of the legal system through amendments to the Penal Code and the introduction of new criminal provisions that had not existed in previous legislation, alongside the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 55 of 2006 and its amendments as a standalone piece of legislation.
The law, he said, provides a precise definition of terrorism, identifies a range of acts and offences as terrorist crimes, and stipulates deterrent penalties ranging from temporary hard labour of up to 20 years to harsher sentences, including the death penalty, particularly when terrorist acts result in the loss of innocent lives.
Afif added that judges have the authority to impose harsher penalties in accordance with the gravity of the offence and its consequences.
He stressed that combating terrorism requires a shift from a policy of subsequent punishment to a proactive approach, noting that Jordanian legislation needs further development to address two critical stages: preventive and precautionary measures to stop crimes before they occur, and post-sentence measures involving rehabilitation, aftercare, and security and ideological monitoring of convicted individuals.
Afif called for further legislative reforms encompassing a comprehensive package of preventive and precautionary measures aimed at cutting off the sources of extremist ideology and protecting society from terrorism both before offences occur and after convicted individuals have served their sentences.
For his part, University of Jordan Constitutional Law Professor Laith Nasraween said recent terrorist incidents in the Kingdom underscore the need to review certain provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Law, particularly the penalties prescribed for such crimes and whether they are proportionate to the threat they pose to state security and citizens' safety.
Although the current law provides for penalties of up to the death sentence, some of its provisions require reconsideration, he said.
Nasraween pointed out that Article 7 prescribes temporary hard labour for offences that differ significantly in nature and severity, without sufficiently distinguishing between individuals who join terrorist organisations and those who establish, lead, finance or train members of such groups.
He called for tougher penalties for the most serious offences, higher minimum sentences and updated provisions on terrorist financing to cover modern methods of funding.
He stressed that the proposed review should not be limited to tougher penalties, but should also include the implementation of final death sentences issued in terrorism cases, in line with the firm Royal position on combating terrorism.
Nasraween also called for reviewing the Correction and Rehabilitation Centres Law, particularly provisions allowing inmates to be released after serving three-quarters of their sentences, or prisoners serving life sentences to be released after 20 years, proposing that serious terrorist offences be excluded from early release.
He underscored the importance of separating inmates convicted of terrorist offences who are deemed to pose a security threat from other prisoners in correction and rehabilitation centres.
Traditional prisoner classification based on the nature of offences and sentences is insufficient, he said, warning that allowing extremists to mix with other inmates could enable them to spread their ideology and recruit new followers, potentially turning rehabilitation centres from institutions of reform into environments that reproduce extremism and terrorism.
Nasraween further stressed the need for dedicated ideological rehabilitation and counselling programmes, alongside assessments of inmates' responses to such initiatives.
He also called for time-limited judicial precautionary measures to monitor individuals deemed to remain a threat after their release, including electronic monitoring and periodic reviews by competent authorities, subject to clear legal safeguards.
//Petra// MF
