Articles for Oman

On 4 November 2014 Alkarama sent a communication to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association as well as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders concerning the case of Said Ali Said Jadad, an Omani human rights defender victim of reprisal by the Omani security services.

Omani writer and blogger, Muawiya Alrawahi was released on 11 August after a month of detention including 28 days in the psychiatric department of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital. Arrested on 12 July 2014 for criticizing the Omani authorities on his blog, Alrawahi was transferred to the hospital where he remained under the custody of police officers.

Noah Al Saadi, a 32-year-old Human Rights Defender has been released today by the Omani Police. He was arrested on 13 July 2014 by the Special Security Police Division forces and had been detained incommunicado since. It goes without doubt that these unlawful arrest and detention constituted retaliation for his work in monitoring human rights abuses and speaking up for other human rights activists as well as political prisoners in Oman.

Alkarama referred to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations the case of Abdulrahman Ali Salem Mohammed, a Yemeni citizen who disappeared on 27 December 2013 after having been arrested at a checkpoint.

Abdulrahman, 19, usually lives in the United Arab Emirates where he has been working in cars' import/export field in Dubai. To visit his family, he used to travel frequently between Yemen and the UAE by crossing Oman.

On 9 May 2014, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders on the case of Mr Al Balushi, Mr Al Yahyai and Mr Al Mamari who were arrested on 7 May 2014 and are currently being detained by the Internal Security Apparatus in Muscat.

Update - Today, the nine online activists began a hungerstrike to protest against their arbitrary detention. 
 
The Omani authorities should release immediately nine activists currently detained in Samael Central Prison solely for having expressed their opinion.
 On 16 January 2013, the Appeal Court of Muscat upheld verdicts against nine online activists who will be serving prison sentences up to one year and a half on charges including "lèse-majesté", "violation of the Omani Information technol
On 5 and 12 December, the appeal court of Muscat upheld verdicts against 29 human rights activists, including 36 year-old Omani human rights defender Said Ben Sultan Al Hashimi, who will be serving prison sentences for charges such as 'insulting the Sultan' and 'unlawful gathering'.
Alkarama is seriously concerned following the latest events in Oman and the wave of arrests which has followed the people's peaceful demonstrations. In this connection, it addressed the UN Special Rapporteur for the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression regarding the 107 people arbitrarily detained by the authorities.

The Sultanate of Oman, very quickly touched by the uprisings shaking the Arab world, allowed peaceful demonstrations to proceed for almost a month before deciding to put a stop to them through repression.