The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Oman on 16 January 2026. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this timeframe. If a reply is received it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
Since the communication was sent, there has been no development in Mr. Al-Sawafi’s case.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the judicial and administrative harassment against human rights defender Mr. Awad Al-Sawafi, in the form of repeated arrests and arbitrary detention since 2011 as well as his job demotion in 2024 on the basis of unknown security reasons.
Mr. Awad Al-Sawafi is a human rights defender with a degree in law. He has joined peaceful public demonstrations and publicly spoke out against government corruption and in defence of the rights of detainees and of social and economic rights.
Oman’s Penal Code, enacted in 2018, was the subject of a communication (OL OMN 1/2018) to the Government expressing concern that the Code’s vaguely defined provisions could unduly restrict the right to freedom of opinion and expression, in particular the rights of human rights defenders and online activists. We regret not receiving a reply to this communication.
Concerns relating to the protection of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly were previously raised in a statement by the former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association at the conclusion of his visit to Oman in 2014, in which he noted that “Omani’s Basic law guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, with the caveat that this right must be ‘within the limits of the Law’”, and that “Unfortunately, based on the information […] gathered, these ‘limits of the law’ are quite restrictive, to the point where they often annul the essence of the right.”
A number of communications were sent to the Government of Oman concerning alleged acts of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders for cooperating with the Special Rapporteur during his country visit to Oman, including OMN 1/2015, OMN 5/2014, OMN 3/2014 and OMN 2/2014.
ALLEGATIONS
Regarding the judicial harassment against Mr. Al-Sawafi
On 15 March 2011, security forces allegedly raided his home at night, arrested Mr. Al-Sawafi and took him by helicopter to the central prison’s security department, where he was detained. The arrest occurred after he joined demonstrations in the town of Sohar, 260 km west of the capital Muscat, protesting the high unemployment rate and official corruption.
Around the end of April 2011, Mr. Al-Sawafi’s detention was renewed in a closed court hearing, to which his lawyer was not allowed. He was held with no charge against him. About one month later, this time in the presence of his lawyer, Mr. Al-Sawafi was convicted of unlawful gathering and sentenced to three months in prison and fined with a sum of 1,000 Omani rial (around USD 2,700). He was released three months later, at the end of his term. During his incarceration, Mr. Al-Sawafi was allegedly subjected to psychological ill-treatment by security service officers who threatened to beat him or to enable a higher sentence against him, with the aim of obtaining information on the organisers of the demonstrations.
In July 2012, Mr. Al-Sawafi was arrested at his home.
On 8 August 2012, he was sentenced, in the presence of his lawyer, by a Muscat Court to 18 months in prison and a fine of 1,000 Omani rial (around USD 2,700), as a result of a Facebook post he published, in which he criticised the court sentences against the protestors of the 2011 demonstrations. He was charged with “criticising the Sultan” under Article 97 of the Omani Penal Code, which criminalised slander against the Sultan with punishments from six months to three years. The article was changed in 2018 to increase punishments to three to seven years. During his incarceration, Mr. Al-Sawafi was allegedly subjected to ill-treatment and held in isolation for ten days in a cell with no adequate toilet in an abandoned prison, where he was shackled, was allowed two meals day and had no adequate bedding. He was released after four months by a pardon from the Sultan.
On 12 March 2016, Mr. Al-Sawafi was arrested for the third time, and allegedly held without charge in isolation in the Musqat police headquarters for 19 days, ten days of which were spent in an open space consisting of high walls and a roof made of iron bars, which allowed no protection against the weather. He spent the rest of the 19 days in a narrow, dark cell. During this time, he went on a hunger strike. Following a meeting with a security officer, who allegedly warned him against talking about his detention, he was taken to the public prosecutor. He was then allegedly made to sign a confession stating that he had caused offense between the Syrian government and the government of the Sultanate of Oman through a tweet he posted, in which he wrote that “Syrian children are eating grass due to extreme hunger”. He was subsequently released. The public prosecutor allegedly warned him that although his case was closed, it could be reopened at any time during the following three years, and he could be given longer sentences.
On 3 June 2020, Mr. Al-Sawafi was arrested for the fourth time at home, hours after his wife had a baby. Security forces reportedly followed him from the hospital. This happened after he posted a tweet in which he criticized the Public Prosecution for adopting a threatening tone in addressing citizens.
After around eight days, during which he was allegedly detained in isolation in a cold cell, he was taken to court and charged with using information technology in a way that could harm public order, under article 19 of Oman’s Cyber Crime law issued by Royal Decree No. 12/2011 on 6 February 2011. He was given a suspended sentence, in the presence of his lawyer, of one year in prison, pending the enforcement of the full sentence, which has not so far taken place.
Regarding administrative harassment against Mr. Al-Sawafi
On 22 January 2014, Mr. Al-Sawafi was appointed as administrative affairs clerk in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (now Ministry of Agricultural, Fisheries, and Water Resources), as a result of a Royal Decree released by the then ruler, Sultan Qaboos. Mr. Al-Sawafi had his own business, but allegedly due to veiled threats and security pressure, he felt obliged to accept the post. He was allowed to take leave to continue his studies; he graduated with a degree in law in 2019 and returned to his job in the Ministry.
On 23 September 2021, he was transferred by Ministerial Order No. 191/2021 to a clerical position in the legal affairs department and seconded by the same order to the post of legal researcher and commissioner representing the Ministry in judicial bodies. The new position did not become fixed as promotions had been stopped countrywide.
On 25 March 2024, Mr. Al-Sawafi received Administrative Order No. 38/2024, withdrawing Order No. 191/2021, effectively ending his post in the legal affairs department and transferring him to the human resources department, where he covered the post of an administrative clerk.
On 26 March 2024, Mr. Al-Sawafi complained about the decision to transfer him. He received a reply to his complaint from the Ministry of Agriculture’s human resources department, stating that he had been removed from his position due to a lack of qualifications.
On 13 May 2024, Mr. Al-Sawafi raised a case in the Administrative Court against the Ministry of Agriculture, requesting a suspension in the implementation of Administrative Order No. 38/2024 while he was awaiting the court ruling, and to revert to the status quo ante.
On 30 June 2024, the Administrative Court ruled against Mr. Al-Sawafi, referring to security requirements leading to his transfer by quoting Omani Sultanate’s Decree No. 99/91, which requires security clearance in any transfer or promotion in public employment, superseding any other priority. The court said that the Ministry of Agriculture had sought security approval on 2 February 2020 and that it had gone ahead with the transfer and the secondment on 23 September 2021, in contradiction with reservations expressed by the security services on 7 July 2020, which then questioned the Ministry on 15 February 2024. Following the Court ruling, the Ministry of Agriculture issued Order No. 38/2024, cancelling Mr. Al-Sawafi’s post in the legal department and moving him back to his position as administrative clerk. No reason for the security service’s reservations or evidence has been provided.
On 29 July 2024 Mr. Al-Sawafi appealed the Administrative Court’s decision at the Court of Appeal. On 30 June 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Administrative Court.
On 7 August 2025, Mr. Al-Sawafi appealed at the Supreme Court. On 24 September 2025, the Supreme Court refused to accept the appeal.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express serious concern at the repeated arrests and arbitrary detentions of human rights defender Mr. Awadh Al-Sawafi, the alleged lack of due process, and his alleged ill-treatment in detention, as well as the administrative harassment against him, including his demotion on security orders without clear evidence. We are concerned that these measures may have been taken in retaliation for his human rights defence work and the exercise of his rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, in the context of his participation to public demonstrations and social media posts.
If confirmed, the abovementioned allegations would appear to be in contravention with, among other norms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Oman acceded on 10 November 2025; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Oman acceded on 9 June 2020; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Oman acceded to on 9 June 2020; and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, that Oman ratified on 21 March 2023. They would also violate the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rule) and are in contradiction with the principles set forth in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
