The Human Rights Watch report comes a year after the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, said he found evidence of systematic abuse in at least two Jordanian detention facilities but did not believe torture was widespread in the country.

"Torture in Jordan's prison system is widespread, even two years after King Abdullah II called for reforms to stop it once and for all," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch.

Jordanian officials have repeatedly denied torture claims. State Minister for Information Nasser Judeh told reporters late Tuesday that Jordan "has been working on finding an effective mechanism for submitting complaints and remarks on conditions at correctional facilities."

Human Rights Watch called on Jordan to punish prison wardens who engaged in torture. The group said its research suggested that prison directors in five of the seven prisons studied participated in torturing detainees.

The torture allegations came from 66 out of 110 prisoners interviewed randomly in seven of Jordan's main prisons in 2007 and 2008. The most common form of torture by the guards included beating the prisoners with cables and tying their wrists to metal grates for hours.

"Human Rights Watch calls on Jordan's donors to address the widespread torture, and to condition part of their assistance on the establishment of independent investigation and prosecution mechanisms," said Whitson.

Prison officials told the rights group that prisoner mistreatment was an isolated problem that had been addressed by a 2006 reform plan that improved conditions for inmates and boosted accountability for abuse.

However, the group's research showed that while reforms may have improved health services, prison overcrowding, visiting hours and recreational facilities, "impunity for physical abuse remains the norm."

Jordan made torture a crime for the first time ever a year ago and assigned prosecutors to investigate prison abuse earlier this year, the group said. But there have been no prosecutions to date.

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