Report: torture common in Jordan's prisons

Posted to Criminal Justice

By Matt Kelley

Torture is widespread in Jordan's prisons and attempts in the last two years to control it have failed, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch, which found that prisoners there are frequently beaten with electrical cables and suspended by their wrists from metal grates for even minor infractions. And while the U.S. has harsh words for human rights abuses in counties like Russia and Iran, there is little pressure on Jordan, a staunch ally in the Middle East, to clean up its act.