On 18 July 2013, prominent human rights defender Saed Jadad was summoned to appear before the public prosecutor’s office in Muscat, on 21 July 2013 on alleged charges of undermining the stature of the state and its prestige.

Early on 3 July 2013, Saed Jadad was arrested at his family farm in Salalah, the capital of Oman’s southern Dhofar region. He was released on 4 July 2013 and is awaiting a trial on alleged charge of resisting the authorities.

 Saed Jadad is a long-standing, prominent human rights defender in Oman. He was instrumental in organizing and leading pro-reform protests in Dhofar in 2011 and has spoken publicly to crowds of up to 20,000 people. He is an active blogger and has signed several petitions calling for reform in Oman. He has also been active in seeking information in relation to the death of his son who died 17 years ago in the Sultan hospital in Salalah.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) believes that Saed Jadad has been targeted as a result of his peaceful and legitimate activities in defence of human rights in Oman, in particular his work to promote reforms and democracy in the country. The GCHR is concerned that the summoning of Saed Jadad before the public prosecutor’s office forms part of an ongoing trend of harassment against human rights defenders by the government of Oman.

The GCHR calls on the authorities in Oman to:

1. Immediately stop targeting and harassing human rights defender Saed Jadad; as the Omani government has a responsibility to meet its international obligations to protect human rights defenders in the country;

2. Immediately and unconditionally stop targeting human rights defenders in Oman;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Oman are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment. 

The GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 5 (c): “For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (c) To communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations” and to Article 6 (c): “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.”