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Five other prisoners guilty of criminal offenses

Jordan's moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in 2015

CNN  — 

Jordan hanged 15 inmates at dawn Saturday, including 10 who were convicted of terrorism, in what officials are calling one of the largest executions since the country reinstated the death penalty two years ago.

The other five prisoners were found guilty of major criminal offenses, including incest and rape, government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani told state-run Petra news agency.

Among those executed were five prisoners charged in last year’s assault on a Jordanian intelligence agency office in the Baqaa refugee camp that left five dead and in an attack against security forces in the northern city of Irbid.

The other convicted inmates were responsible for separate attacks and bombings dating to 2003, Petra news agency reported.

Samah Hadid, deputy director at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office, said, “The horrific scale and secrecy around these executions is shocking.”

“There is no evidence that the death penalty addresses violent crime, including terrorism-related offenses.”

The men were hanged at a correctional center south of Amman.

Jordan had previously imposed a nine-year moratorium on the death penalty. It was lifted in January 2015.

The government says it has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to terrorism or even perceived sympathy for terrorist groups – even voicing support for such groups is an offense punishable with jail time.

CNN’s Azadeh Ansari contributed to this report.