Jordan Watch : Ashamed to be a Jordanian!

I have always considered my self to be a patriot Jordanian, who carries a lot of love and respect for my country and an uncompromising level of defence and protection of its reputation in response to criticism.

However I felt and for the very first time in my life to be ashamed of being a Jordanian when I read a horrific story last week of a father who molested his two daughters (6 and 7 years at the time of molestation) for a total of 75 times, offering one of them money and then having a reduced court sentence for 3 years because the mother of the daughter dropped her charges.

This is simply sickening, outreagous and scandelous to happen in Jordan at the 21st century.

Well, you may say the laws provide such an escape route if the mother drops charges and the father admits. I say in response...screw our laws!

The issue of national laws that provide reduced sentences for male criminals who kill their female siblings for the so-called "honor reasons" have been a scandal in the face of our country and has been so outrageously defended even by parliamentarians and law makers as a protection for honor in Jordan.

Damn a country and a nation that thinks its honor can be evaluated by the behaviour of women and the license to kill provided for the males. However, this can be negotiated and debated, but when a man sexually offends his children and get a three year sentence because the mother dropped charges (most likely under the intimidation of other males in the family) this is a disaster and real cause to be ashamed.

Not only had these two innocent children been subjected to horrendous behaviour 75 times by the "father", they have been betrayed by the mother and rest of the family and by the national laws. This is a quadrable crime that was committed against the two girls and all the layers of the society participated with the biggest shame falling on law makers and implementation tools.

This country needs to act soon on its schizophrenia. It must decides to be a modern country with modern laws that respect human rights and social justice and never tolerate misconduct against women and children and then it can claim regional leadership and "reform" and should not be able to organize the World Economic Forum while still finds an escape route for someone molesting his own children.

For more disturbing description of the story, read the Jordan Times report by the ever excellent Rana Huseeini

The Criminal Court has sentenced a 43-year-old man to three years and four months in prison after convicting him of molesting his daughters.

The Criminal Court first sentenced the defendant, a plumber, to six years and eight months in prison after convicting of molesting his two daughters over 75 times.

But the tribunal immediately halved the sentence because the victims’ mother dropped charges against her husband.

The victims, aged 15 and 13, were six and seven when they were molested, according to court documents.

The court said the defendant repeatedly molested his two daughters by force and in one instance he offered one of them money to sleep with him.

“The defendant instructed his two daughters not to inform anyone, but when he offered money to one of his daughters and kept molesting them they contacted the Family Protection Department seeking help,” the court said.

The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, confessed before the criminal prosecutor to molesting his children and provided a similar confession during the court hearing.

During a previous hearing, he told the tribunal that he did molest both his daughters and “wanted to admit in court so that he would clear his conscience in front of his daughters and God,” a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Based on the court confessions, the tribunal was satisfied with his testimony and decided not to summon any of the victims’ immediate relatives to testify in the case, the source added.

The tribunal comprised justices Hassan Amayrah, Majid Azab and Bassam Yamani.

Thursday’s verdict is subject to appeal by the attorney general and the defendant within the next 30 days.