Jordan's National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) recorded 29,389 cybercrime cases in 2024, up from 24,737 the previous year, according to the centre's 22nd annual human rights report, released yesterday. The report also documented 156 confirmed suicides, including 18 among children and teenagers, and 22,620 administrative detentions ordered by administrative governors.
اضافة اعلان
The report, launched at an event attended by representatives of government bodies and civil society organisations, assessed progress in Jordan's legal and legislative framework across four main areas: civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; the rights of groups most in need of protection; and the alignment of policy with national legislation and with the constitution.
On administrative detention, the report highlighted the continued use of the Crime Prevention Law, with the number of people held under administrative detention rising to 22,620 in 2024 from 20,437 the year before. It noted that 6,327 decisions had been issued for alternatives to detention and electronic monitoring, and that regulations abolishing imprisonment for debt had begun to take effect under defined conditions. Despite these developments, the report said the volume of precautionary and preventive detention remained a challenge for human rights and personal liberty.
The 156 confirmed suicides in 2024 represented a slight decrease from 166 in 2023 [note: source states comparison year as 2024 for the 166 figure — see flags]. Of those, 112 were male and 44 were female. The report identified the 18 cases among children and adolescents aged between 15 and 18 as the most alarming indicator, and also recorded three cases involving people over 65. The centre renewed its recommendation that attempted suicide not be criminalised, and called for stronger psychosocial support systems and in-depth studies into the root causes linked to psychological, economic and social pressures.
The report also documented 9,586 dog-bite incidents across the country in 2024, compared with 9,345 in 2023 [note: source gives comparison figure as 2024 — see flags], an increase of 241 cases. The centre said the ongoing threat to public health and personal safety had prompted it to hold intensive dialogue sessions aimed at developing effective prevention strategies.
Prison overcrowding remained a persistent concern: the total inmate population across reform and rehabilitation centres stood at 26,303. The report said this figure was affecting the quality of living and healthcare services available to detainees and was undermining standards required to uphold human dignity and enable effective rehabilitation.
Speaking at the launch, NCHR Board of Trustees Chair Samar Al-Haj Hassan said the report was a national document that monitored the state of human rights through an inclusive, participatory approach. She noted that this year's report paid particular attention to issues with a direct bearing on human rights, foremost among them digital rights, digital transformation, and the use of technology. She also pointed to the emergence of business and human rights issues, and the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of rights, adding that the centre was preparing to host the 15th international conference of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, on the theme of climate change and human rights.
NCHR Commissioner-General Jamal Al-Shmayla said the report concluded that the human rights situation in 2024 was characterised by a clear interplay between persistent structural challenges and tangible reform developments, reflecting a transitional period that requires strengthening evidence-based approaches. He said the report recorded notable progress in the criminal justice system, including the expansion of alternatives to detention, stronger fair-trial guarantees, and 123 remote hearing sessions held during the year. Al-Shmayla acknowledged that prison overcrowding remained a challenge requiring continued work, and said vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, continued to face challenges in the digital sphere as well as those related to freedom of expression.
The digital environment and freedom of opinion and expression formed one of the report's most prominent sections, given ongoing interaction with the provisions of the Cybercrime Law. The report stressed the need for a careful and decisive balance between protecting community security and combating digital crimes on one hand, and safeguarding fundamental human rights to freedom of opinion and expression and protecting civic and journalistic space on the other. It recommended a review of the legislative provisions of the Cybercrime Law to ensure that its practical application does not result in the detention of activists or journalists for the legitimate exercise of the right to criticism and peaceful expression, and called for strengthened legal guarantees for fair trials in cases involving publication and the internet.
Responding to questions from Al Ghad at the press conference about the significance of the cybercrime case numbers and their connection to freedom of expression, NCHR Protection Commissioner Dr. Nahla Al-Momani said the centre had engaged early with issues relating to digital space and the implications of the Cybercrime Law, using a systematic framework to develop substantive recommendations on its legislative impact. She said the law contained more than 40 articles, of which approximately three or four had been the subject of debate as they required more precise drafting, while the remaining provisions intersected with human rights and offered individuals protection in the digital space from violations related to privacy, child protection, women, and persons with disabilities.
Al-Momani said the centre had monitored cases in which cybercrime charges intersected with freedom of expression, and confirmed that it always intervenes through official communications to secure the release of anyone detained under the law in connection with opinion or expression. She noted that prosecutions of journalists under the law sometimes arose not from journalistic content but from personal social media posts, and said the centre's recommendations stressed the need to resolve existing ambiguity by clarifying the permissible limits of criticism and the boundary between what is and is not permitted. She added that courts had issued rulings establishing standards for permissible criticism that could serve as a foundation for a new legal framework.
The report's examination of prison conditions went beyond overcrowding to address the living and healthcare environment inside facilities. It recorded field observations pointing to an urgent need to develop psychiatric clinics within prisons to address clinical cases and depression associated with prolonged detention. It commended existing vocational and educational programmes for detainees, while calling for their expansion to reach wider groups in order to facilitate social reintegration, and reiterated the importance of strict separation between administrative and judicial detainees on one hand, and those convicted of serious criminal offences on the other, to prevent negative influence.
On the reform side, the report recorded legislative and institutional progress in 2024. In the justice sector, 6,327 alternative sentencing, judicial detention, and electronic monitoring measures were activated, and legislation abolishing imprisonment for debt outside rental and employment contracts came into force, easing pressure on courts and detention facilities. In the area of political empowerment, the number of licensed political parties reached 34 by year-end, with a combined membership of 85,371 citizens, including 36,581 women, which the report described as reflecting genuine entrenchment of political pluralism.
The report also noted the expansion of the 'Hakim' digital health transformation system, the introduction of artificial intelligence in radiology at public hospitals, and the opening of a digital health centre in the Qasabat Al-Salt district to improve healthcare efficiency. On investment, Jordan attracted net foreign direct investment exceeding $1.05 billion in the first half of 2025 [note: see flags regarding year references], while the overall unemployment rate stood at 21.3 percent, with rates of 18.6 percent for males and 31.2 percent for females.
The NCHR received 856 formal complaints in 2024, up from 709 the previous year, a rise the report attributed to growing public awareness of the centre's role and confidence in its ability to address grievances. Civil and political rights complaints accounted for the largest share, at 590, focusing on detention conditions, treatment, and litigation procedures. Economic, social and cultural rights complaints numbered 219, covering labour issues, public services, and the right to social security. Complaints relating to groups most in need of protection totalled 47.
This article was originally written in Arabic for Al Ghad. It was translated into English with AI assistance and edited by Jordan News.
