Ammon News - By Shaherah Khatatbeh

AMMONNEWS – The Public Security Directorate (PSD) arrested a manager of a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. clothing factory in the nothern governorate of Irbid accused of rape, PSD Media Center told Ammonnews.

The manager was transferred to a specialist court and was detained for 15 days under investigation, according to PSD Media Center.

Earlier reports issued by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, a US based organization, reports that many Sri Lankan women working in ‘Classic Factory’ in Irbid have suffered routine sexual abuse and repeated rapes, and in some cases, even torture.

“Since 2007, numerous workers at Classic Fashion Apparel Ltd., a Jordanian company, have claimed to a human-rights advocacy group that two factory managers were sexually abusing women” another report says.

Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment and Welfare, Dilan Perera, dismissed the global report, in a comment to Sri Lanka's The Sunday Observer.

“I can confirm that the factory employs 5,000 workers of which 1,850 are Sri Lankans and no one acknowledged the alleged incidents,” he added after an investigation was launched.

In accordance to a report by the Global Labour and Human Rights, the National Human Rights Center (NHRC) launched a Fact Finding commission to investigate rape and violation cases, NHRC spokesperson Mohammad Helou told Ammonnews.

Thousands of Asian and Jordanians employees in the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) took to the streets last Friday in a protest against the report, carrying Jordanian flags and banners calling on the government to take action to protect their source of income.

Several international newspapers including The Wall Street Journal and Daily Mirror covered the event.

Minister of Labor, Dr. Mahmoud Kafaween, last Saturday began investigating allegations of sexual abuse, torture and rape of foreign workers, the ministry's Chief of Inspections, Adnan Rababhah, said.

Jordanian courts handled 13 human trafficking cases in 2010.