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22 suspects arrested for violence, vandalism in restive town

By Rana Husseini - Jun 24,2016 - Last updated at Jun 24,2016

In this photo posted on Facebook by a resident of the restive town of Theeban, gendarmerie vehicles are seen in the area on Thursday (JT photo)

AMMAN — Police on Wednesday and Thursday arrested 22 suspects for injuring three gendarmerie officers and attacking public property and a police station in Theeban district of Madaba governorate, 70km southwest of Amman.

“We have rounded up 22 suspects over the past two days for attacking our forces and throwing rocks at public property, setting tyres ablaze and firing live ammunitions from automatic weapons at our forces,” Gendarmerie Spokesperson Lt. Col. Mazen Obeidat said.

The gendarmerie official said the three officers who were injured were recovering at the hospital and are “expected to be discharged on Thursday evening.”

“Culprits were wanted individuals who resisted arrest. We had to intervene to arrest them and used tear gas to disperse the rioters. We managed to bring the situation under control,” Obeidat added.

The clashes began Wednesday night when gendarmerie forces removed a tent that some unemployed residents of Theeban erected, sparking riots in the area that led to the arrest of eight people, a senior government official said.

“The unemployed invited individuals who took part in protests against the state in the past and their demands exceeded employment aspirations to political ones, and that is why we took down the tent,” the government official told The Jordan Times.

“Some private companies offered the individuals 14 job opportunities but they refused because their meeting was no longer about being unemployment but rather hosting political figures and outlaws every night,” the government official explained.

The gendarmerie official stressed that “no one is above the law and we will do whatever it takes to maintain peace, security and stability in our country”.

Meanwhile, several human rights organisations and individuals denounced the arrests in the troubled district of Theeban and called on the government to find a solution for the unemployed.

“We urge the government to use dialogue not force when dealing with the young unemployed in Theeban who are asking for constitutional rights,” the Islamic Action Front (IAF) said in a statement.

At the same time, the IAF statement added: “We emphasise the need to maintain stability and security in the Kingdom”.

Former deputy Ali Sneid issued a statement criticising the “iron-fist handling by the government to quell justified demands by the residents of the marginalised district.

The activist, who belongs to Theeban, acknowledged that the authorities found jobs in the private sector for the protesters, but they insisted that these jobs should be in government agencies and in nearby locations.

Labour Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Khatib said in a statement that appointment in the government should be through the Civil Service Bureau and according to criteria that ensures justice and equal opportunity for all.

Jordan Human Rights Society (JHRS) also issued a statement condemning the government’s “excessive use of force and its decision to demolish the tent of young men who had legitimate demands that they were expressing in a democratic way”, without commenting on the counter violence reported. 

The JHRS also called on the government to release “all the detainees”.

The advocates’ arguments were contested by other observers, who rejected the protesters’ behaviour, including vandalism and shooting at the gendarmerie forces.

“I wonder how someone who is unemployed and complains of poverty owns a machinegun worth thousands [of dinars] and uses it to shoot at officers,” wrote Bassel Rafaiah on Ammon electronic newspaper. 

On Thursday, Gendarmerie Department Director Gen. Hussein Hawatmeh, Public Security Department Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi and King Hussein Medical Centre Director Gen. Ali Obeidat visited the gendarmerie personnel being treated at the centre. 

Obeidat presented a briefing on the conditions of the injured and the treatment they have received since their admission to the centre, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

 

Hawatmeh said that the incident would not deter the gendarmerie department from performing its duty in defending the security of the country.

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