Middle East News
Jordanian prisoners stage hunger strike, official says
Jan 7, 2007, 19:30 GMT
Amman - A total of 78 Jordanian prisoners staged a hunger strike Sunday to have the rules governing their visitors changed, a spokesman for the Public Security Directorate, Major Bashir Daaja, said.
The inmates at the Juwaideh prison, about 50 kilometres south of Amman, are 'either convicted or detained on security charges', Daaja said.
The demands presented to the prison's director included increasing the duration of visits and protecting the privacy of visitors, he added.
Daaja insisted that rules governing visits at Jordanian prison 'ensures respect for human rights of inmates and at the same time ensure security protection for all people present there'.
Jordanian prisons witnessed several hunger strikes last year by convicted terrorists and other inmates who demanded an improvement of their living conditions.
In response to criticism by national and international human rights groups in December, King Abdullah ordered the closure of the notorious al-Jafr desert prison and turning it into a vocational training school.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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