Jordan says Human Rights Watch report on torture was incorrect

Human Rights WatchAmman  - The Jordanian government on Wednesday rejected as "incorrect" a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing Jordan of torturing detainees and serving as a proxy jailer for the CIA.

"The HRW report is incorrect and full of wrong information," Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication Nasser Judeh said.

The report by the US-based group, entitled Double Jeopardy: CIA Renditions to Jordan, alleged that the country's General Intelligence Department (GID) served as a proxy jailer and interrogator for the CIA between 2001 and 2004.

The HRW also claimed that the GID had systematically used torture and "cruel or inhuman treatment against the detainees rendered by the CIA to Jordan."

"Jordan is signatory to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment," Judeh said.

He said that Jordanian law criminalised torture and that the Kingdom had amended the penal code to include stricter penalties in cases where the practice of torture had been proved.

An Amnesty International report released in 2006 also alleged that Jordan was a "central hub" of secret detention facilities as part of the US-led rendition programme.

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