His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday reaffirmed keenness to safeguard human rights, particularly of women and children, also stressing that he is fully against the imprisonment of journalists.
“In Jordan there will be no detention of any journalist for carrying out his/her duty,” His Majesty told chief editors of Jordanian daily newspapers at a meeting at Bab Al Urdun Palace.
“Detention of journalists is prohibited. I do not see a reason for detaining a journalist because he/she wrote something” or for expressing a view, he said.
At the same time, the King continued, citizens' rights are protected and they “have the right to resort to courts of law in case they feel their rights were violated by any media organisation”.
The King called for the collaboration of efforts of all concerned to come up with a set of laws and regulations that would guarantee the protection of the rights of journalists, including the right to access information.
He noted that he instructed the concerned authorities to open up to the media and to train their staff on how to cooperate with journalists and to provide them with information.
The King also expressed total rejection of abusing the rights of women and children.
“Child molestation is a red line. We have to be strict in applying laws that protect their rights,” the King stressed. “The answer to any violations of children's rights has to be harsh.”
He described crimes against children as “sabotage” against the community and a “menace” that threatens the future of the country by undermining the wellbeing of its young generation. He stressed the need to enforce the law and impose maximum penalties on those convicted of child abuse.
He said the same applies to women's rights, noting that all forms of violence against women are totally rejected, highlighting the role the media can play in educating the general public in a bid to stop these violations.
Meanwhile, the King said at the meeting that the economic situation in Jordan was reassuring despite the international economic crisis and that focus is on protecting the middle class.
Jordan, like other world countries, will continue to brave these challenges, the King said.
“What reassures us is that Jordan, which has no oil, has uranium. Naturally it requires several years before we can reap the benefits of our uranium reserves, but several countries expressed readiness to help us benefit from these reserves,” the King added.
King Abdullah, who starts a tour of Algeria, the US and the UK today, said Jordan will exert every possible effort to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and help achieve peace on the basis of the two-state solution.
He voiced hope that the new US administration would be engaged in the Mideast peace efforts, saying he is looking forward to working with US President-Elect Barack Obama to end the conflict and bring about peace to the region.