Oman
Wednesday 14.4.2021 Oman - Latest Developments -
Omani authorities target online activists and environmental rights defenders
Online activist Muslim Al-Badi, surrenders himself to authorities to complete the one year and three months remainder of his sentence; several environmental activists arrested; Three online activists arrested; Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman bans voice chat application, Clubhouse Read more
Tuesday 19.1.2021 Oman - Latest Developments -
Human rights organisations criticise civic space restrictions ahead of UPR review
Joint CSO UPR report on Oman finds that the government of Oman has failed to implement the recommendations relating to civic space since its last UPR review in 2015; Human Rights Watch publishes a letter sent to the Oman Human Rights Commission expressing their deep concern at the arrests and convictions of several individuals under a provision of Oman’s 2018 Penal Code that criminalises “imitating the opposite sex;" Internet activist Ghazi Al-Awlaki released after a period of detention by the Internal Security Service (ISS) in retaliation against his social media activities; Sultan bin Tariq issues decree No. 64 of 2020 establishing the Cyber Defence Centre grants absolute control for regulating internet services devices and data to the ISS Read more
Thursday 11.6.2020 Oman - Latest Developments -
Oman: Artistic censorship and harassment of online activists continues
Rights groups call on the government of Oman to permanently lift the ban on all Voice Over IP (VoIP) platforms; CSOs criticise widespread censorship at the Muscat Bookfair; Government continues to restrict freedom of expression online by targeting broadcasters and human rights defenders for their posts on Twitter and other social media platforms. Read more
Tuesday 20.11.2018 Oman - Latest Developments -
Omani journalists arrested and detained ahead of Israeli Prime Minister visit
Omani authorities target online activists and bloggers Read more
Thursday 30.8.2018 Oman - Latest Developments -
Omani authorities arbitrarily detain individuals in Musandam Governorate
Five people were arbitrarily arrested and detained for unclear reasons, although human rights activists believe the arrests could have been motivated by discrimination based on their tribal origin. Read more
Tuesday 8.5.2018 Oman - Latest Developments -
Civil society calls for an immediate investigation into activist's death in prison
Freedom of expression continues to be threatened in Oman and internet activists and writers have been targeted in recent weeks. Most recently, human rights groups have called for an investigation into the death of detained Internet activist Hassan Al-Basham whose case was previously reported in the CIVICUS Monitor. Al-Basham died on 28 April 2018 while serving a three-year sentence in Samail Central Prison. Read more
Thursday 5.4.2018 Oman - Latest Developments -
Omani authorities seize books at Muscat international book fair
Omani authorities continue to restrict the right to freedom of expression, most recently targeting the Muscat International Book Fair. Authorities in Oman confiscated a number of books during the international event held in Oman from 21st February 2018 to 3rd March 2018. Read more
Friday 2.2.2018 Oman - Latest Developments -
New penal code could threaten civic space in Oman
The Omani government introduced a new penal code on 15th January 2018 raising alarm among civil society. In particular, the overly broad provisions in the code have caused concern that authorities could restrict the work of human rights defenders and curtail the rights to freedom of association, expression and assembly. Read more
Tuesday 14.11.2017 Oman - Latest Developments -
Independent newspaper shut down permanently by Omani Supreme Court
After a long court battle, a final decision was reached regarding the Azamn newspaper case and the Court shut down the paper permanently. Read more