(The despot with former Israeli F.M. Tzipi Livni)
He may be a Britain-friendly, music-loving 'renaissance man', but Oman's Sultan Qaboos still tolerates no dissent
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 March 2011
".......But there's another problem too. Even if Qaboos is a Britain-friendly, music-loving ruler with benevolent intentions he is none the less a despot. He doesn't tolerate criticism and his citizens have very few rights. They can't, for instance, hold a public meeting without the government's approval. Anyone who wants to set up a non-governmental organisation of any kind needs a licence. To get it, they have to demonstrate that the organisation is "for legitimate objectives" and not "inimical to the social order". On average, that takes two years – assuming permission is granted at all.
Here are a few other things, not from the sultan's harshest critics but from his friends in Washington, courtesy of the state department's latest human rights report:
• The law prohibits criticism of the sultan in any form or medium.
• The law does not provide citizens with the right to change their government.
• The sultan retains ultimate authority on all foreign and domestic issues.
• Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws.
• Police do not need search warrants in order to enter people's homes.
• Libel laws and concerns for national security have been used to suppress criticism of government figures and politically objectionable views.
• Publication of books is limited and the government restricts their importation and distribution, as with other media products.
And here are some more, from Reporters Without Borders:
• The state decides who can or cannot be a journalist and this permission can be withdrawn at any time
• Censorship and self-censorship are a constant factor.
• Access to news and information can be problematic: journalists have to be content with news compiled by the official news agency on some issues
• Through a decree by the sultan, the government has now extended its control over the media to blogs and other websites.
Merely mentioning the existence of such restrictions can land you in trouble....."
Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 March 2011
".......But there's another problem too. Even if Qaboos is a Britain-friendly, music-loving ruler with benevolent intentions he is none the less a despot. He doesn't tolerate criticism and his citizens have very few rights. They can't, for instance, hold a public meeting without the government's approval. Anyone who wants to set up a non-governmental organisation of any kind needs a licence. To get it, they have to demonstrate that the organisation is "for legitimate objectives" and not "inimical to the social order". On average, that takes two years – assuming permission is granted at all.
Here are a few other things, not from the sultan's harshest critics but from his friends in Washington, courtesy of the state department's latest human rights report:
• The law prohibits criticism of the sultan in any form or medium.
• The law does not provide citizens with the right to change their government.
• The sultan retains ultimate authority on all foreign and domestic issues.
• Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws.
• Police do not need search warrants in order to enter people's homes.
• Libel laws and concerns for national security have been used to suppress criticism of government figures and politically objectionable views.
• Publication of books is limited and the government restricts their importation and distribution, as with other media products.
And here are some more, from Reporters Without Borders:
• The state decides who can or cannot be a journalist and this permission can be withdrawn at any time
• Censorship and self-censorship are a constant factor.
• Access to news and information can be problematic: journalists have to be content with news compiled by the official news agency on some issues
• Through a decree by the sultan, the government has now extended its control over the media to blogs and other websites.
Merely mentioning the existence of such restrictions can land you in trouble....."
1 comment:
yes its true and another point to add he instills fear on his people to keep them quite , by using his internal secret police which they torture and jali people for comments said on the benevolent dictator . he as well has the right to 10 % of omans wealth imagine how much is that just from oil , oman produces approximately 800 thousdand barrels , thats 80,000 barels a day at 100 dollars a barel , thats 8,000,000 per day at the moment not mentionening the other resources oman has . why does he has the right to all of this money where a huge portion of omans citizens are unemployed and have to resort to different means to live . hopefully the arab revoloution spreads across and reaches it objectives no more dictators or royal family accros the arab world . enough is enough we want our freedoms and we dont want people like him stealing our resources.
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