http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=132342&d=3&m=2&y=2010&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Wednesday 3 February 2010 (18 Safar 1431)
Jordan blasts HRW report
Abdul Jalil Mustafa I Arab News
AMMAN: The Jordanian government on Tuesday hit back on Human Rights Watch
(HRW), accusing it of committing "fallacies" in its report about the arbitrary
withdrawal of nationality from Jordanians descending from Palestinian origin.
"HRW's report included several fallacies and allegations which have no
legal or real backing," Minister of State for Media Affairs Nabil Sharif said
in a statement.
"The Interior Ministry does not have the legal authority to withdraw the
nationality of any citizen," he added.
Sharif was responding to a HRW report released in Amman on Sunday whereby
the world human rights watchdog called on the Jordanian authorities to stop the
"arbitrary withdrawal" of nationalities from Palestinian-origin citizens.
The HRW estimated that Jordan withdrew nationality from at least 2,700
Palestinian-origin citizens between 2004 and 2008 and said the practice
continued throughout 2009.
"Jordan is playing politics with the basic rights of thousands of its
citizens," said Sarah Leah Whiston, HRW Middle East director.
Sharif said that the cases of nationality withdrawal were nothing more
than "a correction of status" dictated by the 1988 decision to sever Jordan's
legal and administrative ties with the West Bank which was approved before hand
by Arab leaders in their previous summit conferences.
"The decision had the aim of preserving the Palestinian identity and
forcing Palestinians to stick to their land with the avowed aim of derailing
(Israeli) schemes which seek to empty Palestinian territories of their
population and consequently Judaizing them," Sharif said.
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