Starting in April 2026, human rights sources, civil society organizations, and social media posts reported security summonses (primarily from the General Intelligence Directorate (GID)) and detentions involving a number of student leaders, activists, and graduates from the University of Jordan who had supported or called for a boycott of the university’s student union elections. These sources linked the measures to students’ opposition to recent amendments to the Student Union bylaws and to boycott calls made by several student blocs. (See Ahrar for Human Rights in Amman, Gulf Centre for Human Rights in Lebanon.) However, publicly available information remains limited regarding the exact number of those summoned or detained, the legal basis for these measures, and whether the procedures were administrative or judicial in nature.
As context, the University of Jordan held its 2026–2027 Student Union elections on 19 May 2026. This followed amendments introduced by the university administration in February 2026 to the Student Union bylaws. These amendments provided that around 18% of the members of the Student Union General Council would be appointed rather than elected. The change was widely criticized by several student blocs, which viewed it as a setback to democratic representation and a weakening of the independence of student activism.
In response to these amendments, the majority of student blocs — reportedly four out of five — announced their boycott of the elections. This boycott, together with the reported summonses and detentions, raised broader concerns about restrictions on student participation, freedom of association, and democratic representation within the university.