Recently, Oman is witnessing a wide wave of kidnappings, calls and detentions, carried out by the Internal Security Agency, some of them were accompanied by the detention and enforced hiding and some of them were referred to the judiciary to issue sanctions against them either in prison or a fine. In this context, the International Association of Rights and Freedoms announces to the public, Omani, Khaligi and international opinion that the human rights defender Mr. Noah El Saadi was arrested by what is called the Internal Security in one of the streets of Shinas area, Oman on Saturday, 12 July 2014 and he was taken to an unknown destination. This detention was due to his prominent human rights activity in the two cases of Loai events. This is the case in which the member of the Shura Council, Taleb El Maamari and a member of the Municipal Council Saqr Al Balushi were arrested in addition to a number of other citizens, as well as the case of the detention and kidnapping of a number of citizens and enforced hiding of them in an unknown destination by the internal security forces on 7 May, before being released later without any charges against them. Previously, Noah El Saadi was exposed to a lot of harassment and detention as he was one of those who were arrested in the Sohar demonstrations in 2011, and he was acquitted of the charges against him by the court as well as he was arrested in April 2013 for two days for alleging investigating with him and he was released two days later without any charge against him. He was also arrested a on13 September 2013, for a whole month, after he was kidnapped from a street by the Internal Security Agency, and forced to hide in an unknown place and he was released after a month without being charged, as well as calls ,investigation and threat. The International Association cannot afford to these violations but to express its disapproval of the extensive detention campaign targeting the human rights defenders and bloggers, which is considered to be a clear violation of both the principles of freedom of expression and opinion and odious trespass of all the international instruments and treaties that guarantee the human rights towards the defenders, it also represents a clear violation of all international obligations , and it is considered as a systematic practices done against human rights defenders in Oman. The Association also protests on the arbitrary detention and enforced hiding which Mr. Noah suffered from and considers this a practice is contrary to the Declaration of the Protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1998 decision No. 144/53, and believes that continuing to hide him Increases the hypothesis of being subjected to torture and bad treatment. Accordingly, the International Association demands the Omani authorities to: . - Clarify the legal document for the detention of Mr. Noah El Saadi - Reveal his place of detention and his fate, and to enable his lawyers to meet him and communicate with him. - Open an investigation into the matter and order sanctions on those who are responsible for the violation. - Stop the prosecution of human rights defenders, and work to release them immediately. - Commit to the international obligations that inquire respect for human rights, including freedom of opinion and expression , the right to demonstrate peacefully , stand against enforced hiding , arbitrary detention, torture and bad treatment, and to provide guarantees of a fair trial, with the activating the principle of non-impunity. The Association will do its best to defend the human rights defenders and to protect them in order to play their role conferred on them by the relevant international conventions, and lift all the violations which they are exposed to the competent UN mechanisms, and takes the responsibility to the Omani authorities for what may affect the disappeared Detainees such as harming their physical Safety and their personal security.
27 Ramadan 1435 25 July 2014 No. 7/2014 Kuwait The International Association of Rights and Freedoms Urges Oman to Release a Human Rights Defender