In an arbitrary measure that greatly endangers freedom of expression, the Ministry of Information decided on 01 December 2021 to prevent the broadcast of the “All Questions” program, presented by the prominent broadcaster, Kholoud Al-Alawi, on Hala FM radio.

The “All Questions” program enjoys a wide following amongst the citizens of Oman due to the important and pertinent topics it raises for the daily lives of Omani citizens.

Local reports confirmed that the Ministry of Information informed the Radio administration of its decision over the phone. As soon as the news of the decision was circulated, the hashtag, #Solidarity _ with _ Kholoud_Al-Alawi, started trending on Omani Twitter.

The decision was issued on the same day that Al-Alawi hosted Shura Council member Dr. Mohammed Al-Zadjali on her program. During an interview with him, he criticized the presidency of the Shura Council and said, “The media outlets handed over their necks to the Ministry of Information.”

Furthermore, the Ministry of Information issued a circular on 23 December 2021, requiring the media to coordinate the hosting of members of the Shura Council with the Ministry. Observers consider this to be yet another restriction on media freedom.

home in Sohar. Reliable local reports confirmed that he is still being held by the North Al-Batinah Governorate Police Command in Sohar, which is the regional centre of the governorate.

Al-Shibli has a Twitter account with more than 7,000 followers, which he uses to peacefully express his views. He also uses the hashtag (#Ghaith_spaces) to organise dialogues on various topics that gained wide popularity in Oman, and which likely led to his arrest. The authorities have not announced the nature of the charges against him, but it is widely believed that they are related to his opinions and those of the participants in his conversations online.

Upon his arrest, a hashtag was launched in Oman on Twitter calling for his release, and a large number of citizens, including bloggers, circulated the call: #Freedom_Ghaith_Shibli

Another hashtag was launched on Twitter calling for the writer Dr. Saud Al-Zadjali to be prosecuted because of his personal opinions published on his Twitter account, where he is followed by more than 25,000 people. On 25 July 2021, he announced in a tweet that he would take legal measures against anyone who distorts his views or threatens him because of them.

Both the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) denounce the arrest of Internet activist Ghaith Al-Shibli, which violates his right to freedom of expression, and call for his immediate release. GCHR and OAHR also call for an end to the targeting of writer Saud Al-Zadjali in violation of his right to freedom of expression.

The Omani government should work to respect public freedoms, in particular freedom of expression, both online and offline.

(OAHR) call on the authorities to respect freedom of expression and assembly after protests spread across several areas of the country, and the authorities attempted to restrict the media from reporting about demonstrations.

On 23 May 2021, protests erupted in the city of Sohar, which is 234 km north of the capital, Muscat, by unemployed or laid-off Omani youths, who raised numerous slogans, including:
“Young people are the homeland’s wealth!!! So why are they wasted?? (Omani citizen) demands their most basic rights!!!”

surrounded by large security forces on foot and in cars. Reliable reports received by GCHR and OAHR confirmed the arrests of a number of protesters, who were transported away from the gathering place to an unknown destination.

The Ministry of Labour issued a statement on the same day in which it confirmed that, “A number of citizens gathered in front of the General Directorate of Labour building in Al-Batinah North Governorate, demanding job opportunities and solving the problems of some of those who were laid off.” Al-Batinah North Governorate comprises six provinces, including Sohar.

day, 24 May 2021, in front of the Al-Batinah North governor’s office, where security forces used tear gas heavily to disperse them. The news received by GCHR and OAHR confirmed more arrests of protesters and the confiscation of their mobile phones. There are reports that the security forces surrounded the protesters, arrested them, and transferred them all to an unknown destination.

Later, on the same day, a mass march of enthusiastic citizens began, chanting slogans such as “Come out, come out, you oppressed. Seek your rights no matter what.”
Reliable local sources confirmed to GCHR and OAHR that on the evening of 24 May 2021, all the detained protesters in Sohar were released.

In Dhofar, an appeal was distributed on 23 May 2021 which stated, “To every job seeker and every person concerned with the interest of youth in this country. Tomorrow there are two points of peaceful gathering in solidarity with our brothers in Sohar, in the celebrations square, and the Ministry of Labour.”

The mass demonstrations began the next day, with the participation of hundreds of citizens at these two points, who were met with a massive mobilisation by the security forces. A group of them were arrested and then released later that same day.

Also, there are news reports that confirmed the occurrence of demonstrations and protests in Salalah, who raised the same demands that the protesters demanded in other regions, including providing job opportunities for unemployed youth, returning laid-off workers to their jobs, and improving the living conditions of citizens in general.

The hashtag that became the most popular in Oman and trended on Twitter on 24 May 2021 is #Ibri_Respond. Ibri is one of the cities in Al-Dhahira Governorate, and a call was distributed to, “All unemployed and laid-off youths of Al-Dhahira (Ibri), tomorrow we organise a peaceful gathering at eight in the morning near the Ministry of Labour, in solidarity with our brothers in Sohar and the rest of the states to demand reforms and draw attention Officials in the country to the conditions attained by the citizens.”

Reliable sources in Oman stated that a strongly worded circular was issued by higher authorities to all media outlets, including daily newspapers, not to address the issue of peaceful assembly in Sohar, Dhofar, Salalah and the rest of the Omani regions, otherwise permits will be withdrawn. The authorities were forced to backtrack on this decision later after many international media reported on these events.

The recent events in Gaza and its citizens’ steadfastness in the face of brutal aggression, have motivated the citizens of Oman to carry out their current protests.

The first Omani protests also started in the Governorate of Sohar on 25 February 2011, after a large wave of massive protests swept through the Arab world, especially Egypt and Tunisia. These protests were led by Omani civil society activists, and citizens of all types participated in them, especially the youth, who staged a sit-in in Muscat, Sohar and Salalah, which are the areas where the protests were focused. They called for comprehensive political, economic and social reforms. Security forces used rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the protesters and arrested a large number of activists who faced unfair trials that resulted in unfair prison sentences and fines. They were all released after the former Sultan, Qaboos bin Said, issued his royal pardon for him, shortly before they completed their sentence.

While the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) declare their absolute solidarity with the Omani citizens who exercised their rights to demonstrate and peacefully assemble in order to demand improvement in their living conditions, the two NGOs strongly condemn the security forces’ intimidation, repression and arrest of a large number of peaceful protesters.

The Omani government should immediately end the policy of silencing and restricting public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful protest and freedom of the press. The authorities in Oman must respect public freedoms, including freedom of expression and opinion, on and off the Internet. The security forces must fulfill their duties to protect citizens, not to oppress them, while they peacefully demand their civil and human rights.

He is being held by the police in the Detention Prison in Salalah, which is controlled by the Directorate of Criminal Inquiries and Investigation of the Dhofar Governorate Police Command.
Reports confirmed that Dr. Qatan rejected the charge, which violates his right to freedom of expression, and denounced being interrogated without having access to a lawyer.

The Internal Security Service (ISS) arrested Dr. Qatan on 23 February 2021, after he was summoned to appear before the Special Division of the Salalah Police Command, where he was arrested upon presenting himself. The Special Division represents the executive arm of the ISS, and carries out arrest and detention orders for activists on its behalf.

Dr. Qatan, a resident of Dhofar Governorate and a specialist in desalination of sea water, opposes a decision issued by the Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar to prevent camels from grazing in parts of the Dhofar Plain, as part of his efforts to preserve traditional life and not prejudice its current formation or change the lifestyle that has existed for hundreds of years. Thus, he rejects plans to transfer authority over the Dhofar Plain to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, which will allow the construction of housing complexes in these green spaces.

For more information on the case

Once again, GCHR and OAHR condemn the arrest of Dr. Ahmed Issa Qatan, and protest against the two-week extension of his detention before his trial, which the two NGOs consider to be a violation of his basic rights to freely express his views and defend the environment in his governorate. The ISS should end the policy of silencing voices and opinions, and targeting human rights defenders, including Internet activists, which it has systematically followed in recent years.

The authorities in Oman must respect public freedoms, including freedom of expression and opinion, on and off the Internet.

Here is the text of the petition in full:

The UPR is an international procedure that follows the Human Rights Council, which was established by the UN General Assembly in 2006. It aims to improve the human rights records of all (193) UN Member States, through Evaluating the extent to which states respect their obligations regarding human rights. Each state is provided with the opportunity to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations such as the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and human rights treaties ratified by the state, in addition to the voluntary pledges and commitments made by the state and gives the states the opportunity to review the measures that they have taken to improve the human rights conditions in their countries, including civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights.

The review is based on objective and reliable information on the extent to which each country fulfils its obligations to improve human rights conditions in a manner that ensures the comprehensive application and equal treatment of all states. All member states are reviewed every four years, 48 states are reviewed each year at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

There are three official documents that support each review:

The national report prepared by the country under review.
Summary of civil society NGOs and national human rights institutions.
Information provided by “other relevant stakeholders”.

Oman was previously reviewed under the 17th session in January 2011 (First Cycle) and under the 31st session in November 2016 (second Cycle). While the date of the 37th session of the review was postponed from November 2020 to early 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The new date has not been determined yet.

As for the previous two sessions, the Omani government was presented with a set of recommendations related to the violations of human rights in the country to raise its attention that Oman was not committed to its obligations in implementing and respecting human rights on the ground.

Among the documents considered in the UPR for each state are ones that are based on the information provided by independent NGOs, national human rights institutions and individuals, who are allowed to draw the Council’s attention when any human rights violations occur. Accordingly, OAHR cooperated in preparing the third session shadow reports for Oman, and these two reports are:

• UPR Joint Submission on Statelessness, which was prepared in cooperation with:
  • The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)
  • The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR)

• UPR Joint Submission on the space for civil society, which was prepared in cooperation with:
  • CIVICUS.
  • The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR).

It is worth noting that, until this date, no local NGOs in Oman has announced the submission of a UPR shadow report for the year of 2020.