
2025-06-14
Refugees: Jordanian youth loses his left eye after being arrested and tortured for solidarity with Gaza
The Jordanian youth Hamza Bani Issa, a resident of Irbid Governorate, completely lost his left eye as a result of a brutal assault during his arrest by the Jordanian security authorities, against the backdrop of solidarity posts he published with the Gaza Strip, and his criticism of Arab inaction towards the genocide that Palestinians have been subjected to since October 7, 2023.
According to a statement issued by the young man's family, and published by the "Ahrar" human rights platform, a large security force raided Hamza's house in the last ten days of Ramadan, on Monday, March 24, 2025, and arrested him after searching the house and confiscating his and his wife's electronic devices, and took him to the East Irbid Security Center.

The following day, while he was inside the center, a number of preventive security officers asked him to take off his clothes to search him naked, but he refused to do so in this way, and asked that the matter be done in a private place out of respect for Sharia regulations, but the security officers beat him severely while he was handcuffed, which led to the explosion of his left eye and the lens coming out of its place, according to what his family confirmed.
The family statement explained that Hamza was immediately transferred to Princess Basma Hospital to undergo a reconstructive operation, but subsequent examinations showed a complete retinal detachment, which caused him to completely lose sight in his left eye, as confirmed by official medical reports published by the "Ahrar" human rights platform as part of its documentation of the incident.

The family stated that some security officers told Hamza that they would record what happened as "resisting security men" in an attempt to cover up the crime. Despite the extent of the violation, the police public prosecutor prevented the trial of the security officers involved in the attack, according to what the family confirmed.
The arrested young man was later brought before the State Security Court, which in turn referred his case to the civil public prosecutor for lack of jurisdiction, where he was charged with three charges: belonging to an illegal association (Hizb ut-Tahrir), distributing publications related to the events in Gaza, in addition to carrying out actions that would disrupt relations with foreign countries.
This incident comes within a series of violations to which Jordanian activists who expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people are subjected, at a time when repression and arrests are escalating against participants in the popular solidarity movement with Gaza, amid human rights demands to abolish the "Cybercrime Law" and stop suppressing freedoms.
Source: Refugees

