Emeutes à Amman après la mort d’un jeune – novembre 2009
Riots erupt in east Amman neighbourhood
Monday, November 9th, 2009
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN – Several intermittent rioting incidents were witnessed throughout the day Sunday in a neighbourhood in eastern Amman that saw firing of live ammunition against the police.
The violence started as relatives of Sadem Saoud, who succumbed to his wounds Sunday after allegedly being beaten up by the police a few weeks ago, took to the streets and started attacking public and private properties, said eyewitnesses and residents of Hai Al Tafaileh.
Members of the deceased’s tribe blamed police for his death, claiming he died after he was arrested and beaten up by Criminal Investigation personnel at a police station in Amman.
Saoud was a street vendor who reportedly had an argument with an on-duty municipal worker, who called police and had him arrested.
In Sunday’s riots, six Gendarmerie Forces were reportedly injured in the densely populated and underdeveloped neighbourhood, named after the majority of its residents who come from the southern Tafileh Governorate.
There were no reports of injuries among rioters or residents, except for cases of tear gas inhalation.
Later in the day, the Gendarmerie Forces announced in a statement that calm was restored in the area; however, only one hour after the announcement eyewitnesses told The Jordan Times that the forces were sporadically firing tear gas canisters to disperse scores of protesters.
The Gendarmerie Forces Department said rioters started fires on the neighbourhood’s streets, smashed passing cars and threw Molotov cocktails at a police kiosk in Jabal Al Jufeh, where the neighbourhood is located, burning it down completely, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
The Gendarmerie intervened to restore calm and control the situation, but were faced with live ammunition shooting by some rioters, which prompted the anti-riot police to use teargas to disperse the crowds, the agency quoted the department as saying
Eyewitnesses confirmed the official story that some rioters opened fire in the clashes with the Gendarmerie Forces.
One of the eyewitnesses told The Jordan Times: « Several young men came out from their houses and opened fire on police in the area as the police tried to bar them from heading to Al Bashir Hospital. »
Four of the injured Gendarmerie members were shot and taken to hospital, where they were reported in fair condition, Petra reported.
Another eyewitness said some of the tear gas canisters fell in schools, causing panic, with several children falling unconscious.
Several schools kept children inside till the situation calmed down, according to eyewitnesses.
« My wife rushed to school to take our daughter home. She argued with the police for a long time until they allowed her to pass, » one of the neighbourhood’s residents, who, like the other witnesses, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Merchants in the area shut down their stores after they saw acts of vandalism on the part of the angry rioters.
« I closed my store the minute I heard gun shots and tear gas fired towards the protesters. It was total chaos: Crowds running from street to another and cars ablaze, » an owner of a store in the area told The Jordan Times.
« Violence in this neighbourhood is not uncommon. Most of the residents are armed and it is a dangerous place, » the storekeeper added.
One of the residents, who attended a meeting that brought about heads of tribes in the neighbourhood, said the Saoud family rejected a truce with the security forces and asked for announcing the names of security officers who allegedly beat up the deceased.
The Gendarmerie Forces Department said search got under way for those who opened fire on the forces.
Six police hurt as relatives of dead man rampage in Amman
9 novembre 2009
AMMAN — An angry crowd protesting the death of a man allegedly at the hands of police went on the rampage in Amman Sunday, burning and damaging cars and buildings and injuring six policemen, police said.
Anti-riot forces retaliated by firing teargas at the demonstrators, who had gathered in their hundreds in the Tafayeleh district of eastern Amman, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Abu Hammad of the public security department told AFP.
« Police fired teargas to disperse protesters. Four policemen were shot and injured by the protesters, while two others were injured by stone-throwers in the clashes, » said Hammad.
« Protesters set fire to a police booth, a civil defence vehicle and a car. They also damaged six shops, » he added.
Another security official said no arrests were made and none of the demonstrators was hurt.
The protest was sparked by the death on Sunday of Sadem Saud, 20, who was already declared clinically dead last month after allegedly being beaten up and detained by police following a brawl.
« We are currently performing an autopsy to discover the cause of death Sadem Saud, » a security official said.
A source close to Saud’s family said relatives blame police for the death.
« His family refuses to bury him until police find the perpetrators because they are convinced that police killed their son. They have demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Nayef Qadi, » said the source.
The public security department has denied the accusations.
anthropologie du présent 