International Mechanism Submissions

This report provides the Committee with additional information relevant to paragraph 5 of the List of Issues, building off of the report the coauthors submitted at the List of Issues stage on 30 January 2023. As discussed in that report, Oman retains the death penalty and does not limit the death penalty to the most serious crimes. Oman executed at least one woman in 2020 for premediated murder and sentenced a woman to death in 2018 alongside her lover for allegedly plotting to kill the woman's husband, even though the lover carried out the killing.

The Committee asked Oman to provide information about any steps taken to abolish the death penalty. But the Omani Government's reply provides no information, merely stating that the Omani Legislature approves the death penalty for very serious crimes, including some categories of murder. As the coauthors previously reported, Oman's definition of a "serious crime" is very broad and includes drug-related offenses. Oman has suggested that the death penalty is a matter of state sovereignty; during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, a representative of Oman, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), noted that the death penalty was part of the domestic law of many countries and was part of the sovereign practices of the countries in the GCC, adding that all countries have the "right" to adopt their own domestic laws to ensure their security.

The Committee also requested data on women on death row and asked for the following information: the crimes for which they were convicted; their age, nationality and ethnicity; whether they were responsible for any dependents; and whether they had any disabilities. In lieu of providing this information, the Government of Oman merely states that two women were executed from 2018-2022, and that no women with disabilities were executed. The reply does not state whether there are any women currently under sentence of death. Oman's secrecy surrounding the death penalty prevents civil society from confirming the number of executions, death sentences, and persons under sentence of death. Amnesty International reports that Oman continues to carry out executions and sentence people to death.