The Omani Association for Human Rights has Produced a report on torture in Oman in Cooperation with the Gulf Centre for Human Rights With Support from the European Union in August 2021

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Popular protests have receded in Oman, after they started in the province of Sohar on 23 May 2021, and spread to the provinces of Salalah, Ibri, Sur, Ibra and Rustaq. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) have documented violations related to the rights to freedom of assembly and expression.

The protesters, the majority of whom are young, have demanded the government provide job opportunities, improve the living conditions of citizens, carry out reforms and eradicate corruption. A number of Omani women also demanded that they be granted the right to own land. Dozens of protesters were arrested, most of whom were later released after being forced to sign a pledge not to participate in any future demonstrations.

On 26 May 2021, human rights defender Ibrahim Al-Balushi was arrested in front of his home, after returning from work before midnight. He has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest due to his participation in the recent peaceful protests.

Reliable local sources told GCHR and OAHR that Al-Balushi started an open hunger strike after being placed in solitary confinement in a prison belonging to the Special Division of the Omani Police Headquarters in Sohar. The Special Division is the executive arm of the Internal Security Service (ISS). He was later transferred to the Central Prison in Sohar. Reports confirmed that he is still on hunger strike.

Al-Balushi took part in the popular protests of 2011, and he was arrested several times, including being imprisoned for 10 months. He was previously arrested in the United Arab Emirates in May 2014 and then released.

GCHR and OAHR received information confirming that the ISS is putting pressure on him to give a public apology for his request from the protesters who gathered in Sohar on 25 May 2021, chanting the slogan, “The people want to reform the system” which means eliminating corruption, as shown in this video.

On 26 May 2021, protesters in Sohar cut off the main street under the Sohar Bridge by placing a truck transporting vehicles in the middle of it. Police personnel then dispersed them using tear gas canisters, as this video clearly shows. Also, due to their massive gathering, the protesters cut off the traffic over the Sohar Bridge itself.

On 27 May 2021, as part of the popular protests, a group of women staged a sit-in in front of the General Directorate of Housing and Urban Planning in the city of Dhofar. They protested the decisions of the Minister of Housing and Planning that sets unfair conditions on the rights of women to obtain land and they raised several slogans including, “It is my right to have a piece of land in my country”.

Civil society activist Abdulaziz Al-Balushi appeared in a recorded video while delivering a speech to a group of protesters in Sohar on the evening of 26 May 2021, in which he showed signs of torture on his back that he reported date back to the days of his previous arrest and detention after his participation in the protests of 2011. Al-Balushi also asked the protesters to show steadfastness and not to retreat as they are defending their rights. He was arbitrarily arrested the next day, and detained for one day. Many demanded his release through the following hashtag spread on Twitter: #Freedom_To_Abdulaziz_AlBalushi

On 26 May 2021, civil society activist Alwi Al-Mashour published a tweet, in which he responded to what he described as the Oman News Agency’s defamation of the image of the demonstrators, in which he said, “It is clear by God … now the media remember to report the news of the demonstrators after it used to ignore them .. Now distorting their image is used to give the green light to break up the demonstrations and turn simple, oppressed and crushed youth in this life into saboteurs and criminals … I swear by God, they are more keen on the homeland than you …. #No_for the intruders.”

Also, Al-Mashour appeared on the same day in a video spread on social media, in which he defended the protesters and called on the government not to use violence against them, and to start a dialogue with them.

Al-Mashour, who resides in Muscat, was subjected to a major smear campaign, and as a result, a solidarity campaign was launched with him on Twitter with the hashtag:

Alawi_AlMashour_Represents-Me

Reliable press reports confirmed that the Special Division of the Omani Police Command in Muscat summoned him on 27 May 2021, detained him for several hours before releasing him.

On the night of 28 May 2021, the security forces arrested all young protesters in the city of Salalah and then released them after several hours of detention. Also, on the same day, the security forces released all detained protesters in the city of Dhofar.

Reports received by GCHR and OAHR confirmed that the ISS forced the detained protesters to sign pledges that violate their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful protest in exchange for their release.

Following the popular protests, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq issued directives to implement a plan to create more than 32,000 job opportunities during this year, including 12,000 job opportunities in the civil service and military.

Once again, GCHR and OAHR declare their absolute solidarity with the Omani citizens who exercised their right to demonstrate and peacefully assemble in order to demand improvement in their living conditions. By forcing them to sign undertakings not to protest, the security forces have violated the civil and human rights guaranteed by the Omani constitution for all citizens.

The Omani government must release human rights defender Ibrahim Al-Balushi and all other detainees who are peaceful protesters, and it must also work to immediately end the policy of silencing and restricting public freedoms, including the freedom to demonstrate peacefully 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.


On 31 March 2021, the Court of First Instance in Salalah sentenced poet and Internet activist Salem Ali Al-Maashani to one month suspended imprisonment and a fine of 1000 Omani Riyals (approx. USD$2700). The Court sentenced environmental activist Dr. Ahmed Issa Qatan to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 1000 Omani riyals, with a payment of 500 Omani Riyals to appeal the verdict. The Court sentenced online activist Salem Tabuk to two months in prison and a fine of 1000 Omani riyals, with a payment of 500 Omani Riyals to appeal the verdict.

On 23 February 2021, Dr. Qatan was summoned to appear before the Special Division of the Salalah Police Command, where he was arrested upon arrival. On 28 February 2021, the security authorities in Dhofar Governorate arrested poet and Internet activist Al-Maashani. They were later released on bail.

The referral order by the Public Prosecution addressed to the court alleged that they had committed “a misdemeanor to use the Internet to publish information that would harm the public order,” under Article 19 of the Omani Cyber Crime Law.

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This trial comes a result of the Internal Security Service (ISS) campaign against activists who are seeking to preserve the traditional way of life in the Dhofar Plain that has existed for hundreds of years. Therefore, they reject 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.

In another case, on 04 April 2021, online activist Muslim Al-Badi, who works as a nurse at Sohar Hospital, surrendered himself to the competent authorities to complete the remainder of his sentence, which is one year and three months, out of the original two-year prison sentence issued against him, and upheld by the Appeal Court in Sohar on 31 March 2021. Al-Badi comes from Saham, one of the states of the North Al-Batinah Governorate. He spent a period of four months in Al-Masarah Psychiatric Hospital and obtained a medical report confirming that he suffers from severe mental disorders. He was convicted of insulting the Sultan, during the reign of the former Sultan Qaboos, in connection with his peaceful activities on social media networks.

On 23 June 2020, Al-Badi wrote on his Facebook page “Where have you been for 49 years?” above a picture of a statement made by the Grand Mufti of the state, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khalili, in which he said, “Cut off the house of financial corruption by arresting those manipulating public funds.”

Earlier, on 26 March 2021, Omani citizen Sultan Ambo Saeedi published two videos of himself on his Instagram account in which he alleged he was severely tortured in 2017. He claimed that he spent 30 days in detention at the ISS for interrogation, during which his nails were pulled out, parts of his body were subjected to electric shocks, and he was sprayed with a quantity of tear gas so large that he almost suffocated completely. He also indicated that he had filed a complaint and followed up on it since 2017, to no avail. Saeedi was forced to leave the country after successive summonses were carried out by the Special Division of the Omani Police Headquarters, which is the executive arm of the ISS.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) express their condemnation and denunciation of the arbitrary sentences issued against Internet activists Dr. Ahmed Issa Qatan, Salem Ali Al-Maashani, Salem Tabuk and Muslim Al-Badi. We also deplore the ISS’s continued restrictions on freedom of expression on and off the Internet. We strongly appeal to the Omani government to put an immediate end to the systematic targeting of bloggers and Internet activists by the ISS and to investigate and put an end to torture in Omani prisons.

GCHR and OAHR urge the authorities in Oman to:
Immediately and unconditionally release Internet activists Dr. Ahmed Issa Qatan, Salem Ali Al-Maashani, Salem Tabuk and Muslim Al-Badi;
Protect freedom of the press in the country as well as freedom of expression on the Internet; and
Ensure, in all circumstances, the ability of human rights defenders and journalists in Oman to carry out their legitimate work in the field of human rights without fear of reprisals and without any restrictions, including judicial harassment.