The government continued to restrict rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Authorities harassed and detained, often incommunicado, several prominent critics and pro-reform activists.

Freedom of Expression and Pro-Reform Activists

The authorities continued to target peaceful pro-reform activists using short-term arrests, detentions, and other forms of harassment. Since mass protests in 2011, authorities have engaged in a cycle of prosecutions of activists and critics on charges such as “insulting the Sultan” that criminalize free speech, leading to prison sentences followed by release under pardons granted by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said. According to local activists, the arrests and prosecutions have had a chilling effect on free speech and the expression of dissent.

Articles 29, 30, and 31 of Oman's Basic Law protect freedom of expression and the press, but other laws undercut these safeguards. Authorities continued to restrict online criticism and other content using article 26 of the 2002 Telecommunications Act. It penalizes “any person who sends, by means of telecommunications system, a message that violates public order or public morals.”

Authorities arrested pro-reform activists and held them without access to lawyers and their families using a 2011 criminal procedure code amendment that empowers security forces to hold detainees without charge for up to 30 days. The arrests and detentions followed a pattern that has become entrenched since 2011 that has seen the authorities repeatedly arrest and detain peaceful opposition activists and those who use social media and other online outlets to criticize the government.

Security officials arrested Muawiyah al-Rawahi in December 2014, apparently in connection with two tweets in which he criticized corruption and urged people to demand their rights. They released him without charge after four days. In February, he traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where authorities arrested him on arrival. He remained in UAE detention at time of writing.

In March, a Muscat court convicted 46-year-old Said Jaddad, a human rights activist and pro-reform blogger, of “undermining the prestige of the state,” incitement to “illegal gathering,” and “using information networks to disseminate news that would prejudice public order” based on his online activities, including a public letter he wrote to United States President Barack Obama asking for human rights improvements in Oman.

The court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment and a fine. He lodged an appeal and was released on bail in April.