General update
In November 2025, GCHR issued a pre-session statement to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), reiterating the concerns raised in its Joint Submission with the Oman Center for Human Rights and Democracy where the organisations documented: broad Penal Code provisions (Articles 97 and 115) used to criminalise peaceful expression and assembly; the arrests of online activists, including cases where individuals were prosecuted for social media posts or participation in peaceful protests; judicial harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, creating a chilling effect on civil society; digital restrictions, including censorship and surveillance targeting dissenting voices.
Expression
On 24th September 2025, prominent human rights defender Awad Al-Sawafi received another unjust court ruling after the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s July 2025 ruling rejecting his appeal, and thus upholding his dismissal from his position as a legal affairs researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, as previously documented. Al-Sawafi, known for his peaceful activism, was sentenced under charges widely seen as politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent.
Separately, in early December 2025, human rights defender Talib Al-Saedi was forcefully disappeared and detained incommunicado and later charged under the Cyber Crime laws for publishing his views online, and participation in a campaign concerning a tragedy in Al-Amarat district which resulted in the deaths of six members of the same family due to carbon monoxide poisoning, and which sparked widespread criticism of the government’s response. On 31st December 2025, Al-Saedi was sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment and fined 1000 Omani Riyals (USD 2600).