Dimona reactor
Photo: Reuters
Jordanian group to sue Israel over Dimona reactor
Amman legal center for human rights plans to file lawsuit against Israel for 'ongoing, deliberate crimes' in many cases of death, cancer caused by radiation from nuclear facility
A Jordanian legal center plans to file a lawsuit against Israel for damage caused to the environment and residents of south Jordan by radiation emitted from the nuclear facility in Dimona, a Saudi news agency reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the al-Jisr al-Arabi human rights center located in Amman, has begun the necessary groundwork ahead of filing a legal claim in the coming month.
According to the center, Israel is causing cases of death, cancer, and other afflictions among the Jordanians that live in the area adjacent to the reactor, due to the toxic gases and radiation it emits.
The center also claims that the facility causes environmental damage in Jordan.
Legal preparations began after representatives of the center met with a number of the reactor's "victims" in Jordan, and "collected evidence and proof that attest to a rise in the number of cancer cases, especially among residents of the southern region, which is adjacent to the reactor."
The center's general manager Attorney Amjad Shammout expressed optimism that this complaint, which will is expected to be filed with Jordanian legal bodies against Israel, will be accepted in accordance with the constitution and international treaties on human rights, which Jordan has recently adopted.
He noted that "This is an ongoing and deliberate crime on Israel's part, which still causes cases of death and injury in large numbers among the Jordanians."
