After nearly a decade with no executions, Jordan sentenced six men to death for drug trafficking and involvement in radical Islamist groups in June, a move that has prompted questions about what led the authorities to resume capital punishment in the kingdom.
Although capital punishment is permitted under Jordanian law, the last time the country carried out such executions was in 2017. The government was prompted to end the years-long freeze after all six suspects were found guilty of killing members of the Jordanian security forces.
A red line
“For Jordan, killing security officers is a red line,” Daoud Kuttab, a writer and journalist based in Jordan, told The Jerusalem Report in a recent interview.
“Crossing this line is considered a big issue that cannot be accepted, as these forces are serving the country and protecting the people of Jordan,” he added.
Kuttab said that as part of a cooperation agreement with the European Union, Jordanian authorities had committed to not implement the death penalty. Following the executions on June 21, the Europeans responded with dismay and threatened to freeze a €250 million loan to the kingdom.
“The Europeans sought clarifications and wanted to know whether it was a one-time measure or if the practice would continue,” Kuttab said.
While the move drew strong condemnation from human rights groups inside the country, it was widely welcomed by Jordanians, said Kuttab and other Jordanians who spoke to the Report. Multiple posts on social media platforms expressed broad support for the return of the death penalty sentencing.
“It’s the right decision – 100%, yes to the death penalty,” wrote Zuhair Ali Affaneh, a Jordanian citizen, on Facebook. Another, Anas al-Bado, echoed: “Those who dared challenge the state were executed. This is an excellent thing.”
“I swear that enforcing the death penalty law is better than announcing salary increases for employees,” commented another Facebook user named Sheikh Omar al-Gharaghir. “Yes, we feel immense joy, just like during our national celebrations.”
“Islamic law is the law of justice: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” said yet another Facebook user, Abu Ahmed al-Sardi.
Others agreed, further saying that there should be no mercy for those who endanger society by spreading drugs and weapons among the younger generation, sowing chaos and attacking security personnel.
“There is no compassion for these corrupted people and criminals who have taken the lives of the nation’s sons, whether by killing or by using banned drugs that have destroyed younger generations,” Faisal Hunaiti wrote on social media.
Deterring terrorism and trafficking
Ksenia Svetlova, a former Israeli Knesset Member and well-known analyst on Arab affairs, said the move was intended to send a clear message of deterrence as the Kingdom of Jordan grapples with multiple internal and external challenges.
“By turning to the death penalty, the authorities are showing they do not accept any attempt to undermine the kingdom’s stability and are not willing to tolerate threats to its security,” said Svetlova, who also serves as an associate fellow at the UK’s Chatham House think tank.
“The aim is to warn those considering such acts that there will be a heavy price,” she said.
Svetlova pointed to one of Jordan’s main security concerns: the ongoing problem of drug smuggling along its northern border with Syria, a phenomenon that accelerated during the regime of president Bashar al-Assad and has persisted since its fall.
Despite steps taken by the new Syrian government to tighten border controls, Amman views those measures as insufficient. Jordanian security forces have repeatedly confronted armed groups and smugglers in an ongoing effort to secure the frontier.
The Jordanian government’s official X/Twitter account quoted Prime Minister Jafar Hassan as saying that lawmakers will work to amend the law so the death penalty can be applied more broadly to major drug traffickers and smugglers collaborating with foreign gangs.
“The decision to implement the death penalty is linked to the killing of Jordanian security officers, not only about drug trafficking,” Mustafa Zawati, an Arab writer and expert on Jordanian affairs, told the Report.
“Still, the broader issue of drug smuggling is a major worry for Jordan,” he said, adding that there have also been discussions about imposing harsher penalties on drug dealers and traffickers, including prison terms of up to 30 years – effectively a life sentence in Jordan.
“For years, Hezbollah and the Syrians flooded the country with drugs, turning Jordan into a corridor for trafficking narcotics to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Criminal gangs continue to operate across the border, so the authorities are making efforts to combat this,” Zawati said.
Attacks on security forces
Announcing the executions, Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani said the hangings were carried out after “all constitutional and legal procedures were completed.”
Two of those executed were convicted of forming an ISIS-linked terrorist cell, bombing a security patrol with explosive devices, and engaging in armed clashes during a raid on the cell in the city of Salt in 2018, resulting in the deaths of six officers.
Another of those executed, Ibrahim Mansour Mohammed, was convicted in a separate terrorism case for the killing of a Jordanian officer in 2022. The remaining three were found guilty of killing security personnel during anti-drug operations.
“Jordanian authorities are worried about the possibility of ISIS groups spreading their influence within the kingdom,” Kuttab said, explaining that the executions are intended to deter radical Islamists from threatening national security.
Svetlova said that Jordan has intensified its crackdown on radical Islamist activity, exposing networks and arresting suspects, a process that has grown in intensity since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.
“The kingdom is making efforts not to allow such groups or individuals to grow and is trying to curb their presence,” she said, pointing to the regime’s heightened sensitivity to public demonstrations and to jihadist and Islamist groups seeking to inflame public opinion.
Svetlova also highlighted what she described as the growing Iranian threat, saying Tehran has sought to destabilize Jordan by recruiting operatives and attempting to establish cells capable of operating against both Israel and the pro-Western Jordanian government.
Supporters of the death penalty in Jordan argue that a criminal who knows that he will be executed will not kill, out of fear for his own life, and on the day of the executions, the government said that a further 100 inmates are facing the same fate.
Observers said public pressure – particularly from the families of security officers killed in the 2018 Salt attack – helped drive the decision to carry out the executions, as images of the victims circulated widely and calls for justice intensified.
However, Svetlova pointed out that the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent remains disputed.■