Report: Jordanian Intelligence Accused of Targeting LGBTQ+ Community

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Facts

  • The Guardian reported on Friday that human rights groups have accused Jordan of using its internal security forces to intimidate members of the LGBTQ+ community by “outing” them to their families and of closing down two LGBTQ+ organizations. Activists have also reportedly been abducted, harassed, and surveilled.1
  • The LGBTQ+ community has been increasingly targeted in Jordan in recent months, with activists pointing to the country's General Intelligence Directorate (GID) as the main perpetrator of the crackdown. The GID allegedly detained two activists and froze their bank accounts in January.1
  • A senior researcher at Human Rights Watch reported that the government's goal was not to directly attack the LGBTQ+ community but rather weaponize society against it.2
  • In response, the Jordanian government said that "no LGBTQ+ organisations exist in Jordan" and claimed that the accusations that the GID targeted the two activists were in a bid to increase the chances of receiving asylum abroad.2
  • According to Human Rights Watch, Jordan is one of the few Middle Eastern countries that does not have laws that overtly forbid same-sex relations. However, the country’s penal code includes “immorality” provisions that can be used to target sexual and gender minorities.3
  • Earlier this month, the group warned that recent cybercrime legislation in Jordan was a "disaster" for the LGBTQ+ community and an attack on freedom of expression.4

Sources: 1The Guardian, 2I24news, 3AL, and 4The New Arab.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Human Rights Watch. Jordanian authorities are not only attacking the LGBTQ+ community but civil liberties in Jordan as a whole. The international community must put pressure on the Jordanian government to end its crackdown on personal freedoms.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by BBC News. One should always keep in mind that attitudes in the Middle East regarding the LGBTQ+ community are, in many cases, the product of European colonialism. Many of the penal codes used against the community originate from the colonial period, when occupying authorities — who viewed many non-Western societies as hyper-permissive — brought in such codes to defend so-called "moral purity."
  • Narrative C, as provided by The Washington Post. The current moral panic in the Middle East regarding the LGBTQ+ community actually seems to reflect the current culture wars occurring in the US regarding the same community. In the entire region, from Turkey, and Lebanon to Iraq and Jordan, this small minority community is under attack as politicians attempt to drum up support for their political aspirations.