AMMAN —
The
US State Department has issued the 2021 Report on International Religious
Freedom on June 2. The chapter on Jordan covered 20 pages and included praise
for laws and freedom of practice in general, but also criticisms especially
over difficulties faced by members of different religions, notably with regard
to the issue of personal status such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and
adoption, according to AmmanNet and the actual report that Jordan News had seen.
اضافة اعلان
The report sighted
difficulties facing people who changed their religion, and included criticism
of the intervention of the security authorities and others to pressure them.
The report also pointed to difficulties faced by specific sects such as Bahaais
and Druze (although the report said that the government considers them
Muslims). The report also presented the problems facing the followers of
evangelical churches, particularly the attempt to interfere in divorce cases by
one of the churches that is influential within the Council of Church Heads in
Jordan.
In the
constitutional and legal aspect, the report pointed to Article VI of the
Jordanian Constitution, which guarantees equality of citizens and protects them
from religious discrimination. It also praised the security authorities’ stance
in protecting places of worship, especially on religious occasions. Several
paragraphs were also devoted to praising the Baptism Site Law.
The report pointed that the Jordanian Constitution
declares Islam the religion of the state but safeguards “the free exercise of
all forms of worship and religious rites” as long as these are consistent with
public order and morality. It stipulates there shall be no discrimination based
on religion. But the report added that Constitution does not address the right
to convert to another faith, nor are there penalties under civil law for doing
so.
It went on to say
that according to the Constitution, matters concerning the personal and family
status of
Muslims come under the jurisdiction of sharia courts. Under sharia,
converts from Islam are still considered Muslims and are subject to sharia but
are regarded as apostates. Converts to
Christianity from Islam reported that security officials continued to question
them to determine their “true” religious beliefs and practices. The government continued to deny official
recognition to some religious groups, including Bahaais and Jehovah’s
Witnesses, the report said.
It also said that
members of some unregistered religious groups continued to face problems
registering their marriages and the religious affiliation of their children,
and also renewing their residency permits.
The government continued to monitor mosque sermons and required that
preachers refrain from unsanctioned political commentary and adhere to approved
themes and texts. The Judicial Council
issued an order in February requiring adherents of unrecognized Christian
denominations to use an ecclesiastical court (instead of civil courts) to
adjudicate Personal Status Law, but it reversed the order in March.
The report said that religious leaders reported continued
online hate speech directed towards religious minorities and moderates,
frequently through social media. Some
social media users defended interfaith tolerance, with posts condemning content
that criticized Christianity or tried to discourage interfaith dialogue.
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