Rights groups condemn Jordan executions

Human rights groups have condemned Jordan's recent execution of 15 people, saying the hanging had been carried out in "secrecy and without transparency."

Samah Hadid, the deputy director of Amnesty International's regional office in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, said the executions on Saturday were "shocking."

"The scale of … mass executions is shocking and it's a big step backwards on human rights protection in Jordan," media outlets quoted Hadid as saying.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement, "Whatever image of strength Jordan wishes to project, the death penalty will never deter terror attacks and murder, or make the citizens of Jordan safer."

"Just the terror attacks of the last two years shows that reinstating the death penalty in Jordan has done nothing to reduce the incidents of such violent attacks," Whitson added.

Mohammed Momani, a Jordanian government spokesman, said on Saturday that a total of 15 people had been hanged at dawn in Swaqa Prison.

The spokesman said 10 of the people had links to terrorist groups.

Read more:

• Jordan executes 10 over links to terrorist groups

The executed people had reportedly been involved in six different incidents spanning from 2003 to 2016.

The executions were the largest in scale since Jordan launched a massive crackdown on the followers of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and other terror outfits two years ago.

At least 100 detainees have been sentenced to death across Jordan in recent years, many on charges related to membership in militant groups.

Jordan has also jailed or detained hundreds of people on charges of links to Daesh, including many who reportedly expressed sympathy for the terrorist group via social media websites.

Jordan is a member to the so-called coalition led by Washington that purportedly fights against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk