The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has recently reported that the Internal Security Service (ISS) is responsible for the enforced disappearance of a prominent Omani activist. GCHR confirms it has reliable information indicating that human rights defender Talib Al-Saedi was unlawfully detained and has been held incommunicado since the first week of December 2025.
Renowned in Oman for his unwavering dedication to freedom and reform, Al-Saedi had already faced repeated targeting by the authorities. GCHR reports that he was arrested in 2024 for “calling for a peaceful march in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” and before that, in March 2015, due to “his activities on social media networks.” He had also experienced incommunicado detention in the past. On 23 March 2015, he was summoned to the Special Branch of the Omani police in Muscat, where he was held without access to his family or lawyer. He was subsequently released on 24 August 2015.
Current allegations indicate that Al-Saedi is once again being held without any means of contacting his family or legal counsel, and that he has been completely isolated from the outside world. Additional reports suggest that his arrest may be linked to a recent hashtag campaign addressing the tragedy in the Al-Amarat district, where six members of the same family died of carbon monoxide poisoning, a case that triggered widespread public criticism of the government’s response.
It is especially notable that Oman is a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which explicitly prohibits the very actions Al-Saedi is reportedly facing. Predictably, his case is not an isolated one. The authorities have demonstrated a consistent tendency to suppress any commentary deemed critical of the government. A central mechanism enabling this repression is Article 41 of the Constitution, which forbids criticism of the Sultan. Although certain aspects of free expression formally remain, this provision operates in practice to silence almost all meaningful dissent.
Another well-documented example is the case of Mohammed al-Fazari. His first arrest occurred in 2012, when he was charged with “gathering with the intent of rioting,” “insulting Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said,” and “violating cyber-crime law,” following his public criticism of the country’s ruler. Although he was pardoned the following year, he was forcibly disappeared for six days in 2014 and subsequently stripped of both his passport and his identity card. When al-Fazari later managed to reach the United Kingdom in 2015, despite a travel ban, his brother was arrested in his place.
In light of these developments, the European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) calls for Al-Saedi’s immediate and unconditional release. The organisation urges the Omani authorities to disclose his whereabouts without delay, guarantee his safety and well-being, and uphold his right to due process in accordance with both domestic law and Oman’s international obligations. ECDHR further emphasises that enforced disappearance can never be justified and insists that those responsible be held accountable.