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.


(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.

In February 2021, the company’s activities returned to their normal state, but they did not re-instate all the workers except a small number of them, leaving 405 of them still without work. Therefore, they peacefully gathered together demanding to return to work and continued to gather daily for four consecutive days. Some of them lay down on the ground and did not leave the gathering place despite the hot weather and the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.

The company made a promise to pay them another year’s salaries, so a large number of them left the site on the evening of 14 April 2021, but 50 workers remained who refused the offer.

On the morning of 15 April 2021, a number of military vehicles comprising dozens of Royal Guard members left the Royal Palace, and set up barriers in the square opposite the Palace in their quest to end the peaceful gathering and intimidate the participants, who left after noticing the Royal Guard’s advance outside the Palace.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and the Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) declare their full solidarity with the dismissed workers who have not been returned to work, while strongly condemning the Royal Guard’s intimidation and suppression of the peaceful protest.

The Omani government should immediately end the policy of silencing and restricting other opinions, and targeting human rights defenders, including Internet activists. The authorities in Oman must respect public freedoms, including freedom of expression and opinion, on and off the Internet, in addition to the right of freedom of peaceful assembly.

Dozens of photos and videos were circulated on social media of hundreds of Omani and expatriate dismissed workers from their jobs in private companies or who have been on the job for months without receiving their salaries. Some of the photos and videos show dozens of workers sabotaging and breaking the headquarter of the Al-Turki company in a state of anger and frenzy. While many other peaceful protests were organized in front of the buildings of the Ministry of Manpower of various regions or in front of the Royal palace Office to demand their rights. A group of Omani companies dismissed their employees or reduced their salaries due to the world economic crisis after the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. Some countries, such as India, have evacuated a group of their nationals working in the Gulf states and returned them to their country. Note that the percentage of expatriates residing in the Sultanate according to the latest census of the National Center for Statistics and Information is 40.1%.