Former detainee Abdullah Al-Shamsi faces widespread violations of his civil and human rights, which the authorities in Oman have insisted on committing since 2021, the year he was released from prison in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where his family resides, and deported to his home country of Oman.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has previously documented his case. He was released from prison in the UAE on 17 April 2021 and handed over to his family. Al-Shamsi had been sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2020 by a UAE court after a sham trial in which he faced the charge of allegedly spying for Qatar, a charge he categorically denied.

Al-Shamsi is an Omani citizen whose mother is Emirati. He was arrested in the UAE at the age of 19 on 18 August 2018, while a high school student. He was arrested and imprisoned by the UAE State Security Apparatus and placed in solitary confinement, where he was subjected to torture, as documented in a report issued by GCHR in conjunction with the Wejha Center for Studies, entitled “Torture in the United Arab Emirates: The Tolerance Charade” published on 09 March 2021.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a report on Al-Shamsi’s case, deeming his detention in the UAE arbitrary. This UN decision led to him being targeted by the Internal Security Service (ISS) and denied employment, the opportunity to complete his university studies, and a travel ban.

Although he completed his secondary education in 2019 while imprisoned in the UAE, the Omani authorities refused to support his university enrolment, claiming he was not a recent high school graduate, even though education has no age limit and is a fundamental right for every citizen. Consequently, he decided to complete his university studies at his own expense and graduated with honours in May 2025 without any support from the authorities.

On 10 September 2023, while attempting to travel to Malaysia on a trip organised by his university before graduation, he was prevented from boarding his flight at Muscat International Airport by officers from the ISS. This was repeated on 13 July 2025, when he was prevented from travelling to Turkey to join his family by the same officers. Two days later, when he filed a complaint at the police station in Al Buraimi, where he resides, his passport was confiscated for ten days by ISS officers because he questioned them about being barred from travelling without justification.

Despite graduating first in his class, all his job applications have been rejected due to the lack of security clearance from the ISS.

Al-Shamsi lives alone in Al Buraimi Governorate, in Oman, while his entire family resides in the UAE. He receives no support from government agencies, making daily life extremely difficult for him, as he is prevented from working to earn a sufficient income and from traveling to work in another country.

He personally contacted the office of the Governor of Al Buraimi, who is considered the Sultan’s representative in the governorate, but they refused to help him, telling him, “No one but the Internal Security Service can help you with your case.” This demonstrates the ISS’s overreach and its encroachment on all other government agencies.

GCHR condemns the ISS’s continued targeting of former detainee Abdullah Al-Shamsi and its de facto restrictions of his rights to education, employment, and freedom of movement. The role of security forces should be to protect citizens, not to infringe upon their fundamental rights.

The authorities in Oman must guarantee that Abdullah Al-Shamsi and all citizens, without exception, enjoy their full rights without any conditions.