His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday received the recommendations of the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) 2013 report and met with concerned authorities in a follow-up meeting to examine the progress in this field.

During the meeting, King Abdullah voiced his appreciation of all state institutions for their efforts to enhance the human rights status in the Kingdom.

Last year, His Majesty directed NCHR to draft an executive plan within a specific time frame to deal with all observations outlined in last year’s human rights report, and, accordingly, directed the centre to draw up the national strategy.

At the meeting, attended by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, the King stressed the need to build on measures taken by the government, the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) and other state agencies in response to NCHR annual reports.

In addition, His Majesty underlined the importance of teamwork and smooth communication between the concerned authorities and civil society organisations to improve the status of human rights in the Kingdom.

His Majesty also called for institutionalising human rights reports with an eye on reports issued by local and international watchdogs in order to respond to them with utmost transparency, especially since Jordan has an “honourable” record in this area. 

For his part, Ensour noted that all government institutions have studied the report and that an ad hoc committee was formed from different ministries and organisations to respond to the report’s findings.

HJC President Hisham Tal said the council cooperates with NCHR to ensure that legal procedures are consistent with human rights and freedoms.

Also on Monday, the King met with NCHR President Mohammad Adnan Bakhit, who presented him with a copy of the report.

Bakhit acquainted His Majesty with all the “positive and negative” issues outlined in the report.