Reliable sources have confirmed to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) that an unjust court ruling has been issued against prominent human rights lawyer Awad Bin Ali Al-Sawafi. This constitutes ongoing judicial targeting that violates his civil rights solely due to his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

On 24 September 2025, the Supreme Court issued a ruling rejecting Al-Sawafi’s appeal to the Court of Appeal’s verdict against him. The court ordered him to pay court costs and confiscated the bail he had deposited. It is worth noting that he was only recently provided with a copy of the ruling.

The court explained in its ruling, a copy of which was obtained by GCHR, that there were security reservations from the relevant security authorities, whom, according to the ruling, have the final say in all cases involving public employees.

On 30 June 2025, the Court of Appeal in Muscat upheld the initial ruling rejecting the appeal filed by Al-Sawafi against his dismissal from his position as a legal affairs researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources, citing security reasons.

Al-Sawafi is a well-known 48-year-old human rights activist. He graduated from the University of Buraimi in 2019 with a law degree and worked as a legal affairs researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources. He has been subjected to continuous targeting by the Internal Security Service due to his independent human rights work.

He has previously been subjected to various forms of abuse, including arbitrary arrest and imprisonment four times, and has been barred from running for the municipal council, and the Shura Council also for security reasons.

For more information on the case, see here.

GCHR condemns the unjust ruling issued by the Supreme Court upholding the Court of Appeal’s ruling rejecting the appeal. It reiterates its full solidarity with prominent human rights defender Awad Bin Ali Al-Sawafi and denounces the ongoing targeting he has faced since 2011. GCHR calls on the authorities in Oman, including the Internal Security Service, to cease targeting him and violating his right to live freely and with dignity in his homeland.

The authorities in Oman must ensure that the security services’ role is solely to protect citizens and not to violate their civil and human rights.