Over the last couple of years there has been an unprecedented crackdown by Jordanian authorities on freedom of expression, particularly after Israel launched its genocidal aggression on Gaza, which very soon expanded to an all-out multi-front war across the West Asia region.

According to Amnesty International, thousands were arrested in Jordan between 2023 and 2024 for expressing pro-Palestinian sentiments or participating in peaceful protests, hundreds of whom were held in administrative detention.

Political party leaders and members, journalists and activists, were also arrested between 2025 and early 2026 either for criticizing the stance of the Jordanian government towards the Israeli aggression on Gaza, or for voicing their support for the resistance movements in the region.

Read more: Jordan arrests three Communist Party members without charge

The Muslim Brotherhood organization was also banned as part of the crackdown campaign, while 12 media outlets were blocked.

Daham Al-Omoush died from torture for supporting Gaza

The most shocking incident of the Jordanian authorities’ continuous repression campaign surfaced on Sunday, March 15, after the death of Jordanian political detainee Daham Al-Amoush was announced.

Media reports said that Al-Amoush was detained in August 2024. Many believe that his detention was based on political grounds for posting about the Israeli genocide in Gaza, however, Jordanian authorities claim that he was detained by court order on charges of “complete attempted murder”, following a fight that took place in Zarqa Governorate in 2020.

Ahrar, a local human rights platform, mentioned that Al-Amoush had first faced the charge of minor physical harm, and the case was pending without any verdict being issued or any action being taken until 2024.

Daham was working and living in Qatar between 2020 and 2024, as he was not expecting to face any legal consequences due to the minor physical harm charge.

However, the Jordanian authorities changed the charge to “complete attempted murder” and asked the interpol to arrest Al-Amoush and hand him in to Jordan through Qatari authorities a year and a half ago.

Ahrar pointed out that the Jordanian security services contacted the brother of Daham before he was arrested, asking him to convince his sibling to stop criticizing “the complicity of Jordanian state actors in the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Gaza”. Yet, Daham did not submit to their pressure.

After he was imprisoned, Daham’s family tried to bail him out, but all their requests were rejected, and he was not even brought before court. He was later charged with defaming an official body without being brought to trial either.

After one year of his imprisonment, Daham decided to go on a hunger strike in protest against the arbitrary measures he was subjected to. On the tenth day of the strike, his family was unable to contact him in prison, and he disappeared for two days in murky circumstances.

The family later discovered that Daham had been transferred to Al-Bashir public hospital in the Jordanian capital of Amman for critical health conditions, which resulted in brain damage.

While in intensive care, Daham was reportedly surrounded by a large number of security personnel inside his room. A picture also circulated online, showing him tied to the bed despite his total inability to move because he was in a coma.

Moreover, his family was prevented from approaching him during their visits, although his mother was able to approach him secretly after a while.

She noticed bruises and contusions around his neck, which raised the family’s concerns about the possibility that he was tortured in an attempt to forcibly break his hunger strike. The family believes that the rapid deterioration of Daham’s health resulted from the violence he was subjected to, not his hunger strike.

On February 28, 2026, Daham was sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was later reduced to 8 years, although he was clinically dead.

Daham’s brother, Bassam Al-Amoush, slammed the judicial institution for issuing the sentence against a patient on the verge of death, arguing that it should instead fulfill its duty by opening an investigation into the circumstances that led to the severe deterioration of his health condition. Bassam described the move as “moral decay”.

Local media outlets indicate that four other Jordanian nationals have been detained for supporting Gaza since 2024, due to calling for and participating in demonstrations supporting Gaza, in addition to raising funds for its people. They were charged with terrorism and sentenced to imprisonment periods ranging from 6 to 8 years.

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