Introduction

In this submission, the Omani Centre for Human Rights & Democracy (OCHRD) and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) examine the Government of Oman’s compliance with its international human rights obligations to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society.

We analyse Oman’s fulfilment of the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, peaceful assembly as well as the authorities’ unwarranted restrictions on HRDs since its previous Universal Periodic Review (UPR) adoption in 2021. To this end, we assess Oman’s implementation of recommendations received during the last UPR cycle relating to these issues and provide a number of follow-up recommendations.

During the 3^rd UPR cycle, the Government of Oman received 48 recommendations relating to civic space and the death penalty. Of these recommendations, 28 were supported and 10 were noted, and six were partially supported. An evaluation of a range of sources and human rights documentation addressed in subsequent sections of this submission demonstrates that the Government of Oman has generally not implemented these recommendations. Acute implementation gaps were found with regard to the right to freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and issues relating to the right to a fair trial and due legal procedures. As a result of these gaps, civic space in Oman is rated as repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor, indicating particularly severe restrictions of the fundamental rights of civil society and high levels of risks for activists, at home and abroad.

In this report:

• Section 2 concerns Freedom of Expression
• Section 3 concerns Freedom of Association
• Section 4 concerns Freedom of Assembly
• Section 5 concerns the Targeting of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society Activists
• Section 6 concerns the Death Penalty
• Section 7 contains recommendations to address the concerns raised.

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