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Autocracy - No Political Parties - No Freedom of Speech - Judges at the Government's Pleasure - No Workers’ Rights - Discrimination Against Women

Compare Freedom Score of Oman (Not Free) and Israel (Free)
Source: Freedom House (PDF, 187 KB)

Compare Human Development Index of Oman (0.755) and Israel (0.905) (PDF, 670 KB)
Source: United Nations Human Development Report 2003

Compare Corruption Index of Oman (5.3), Israel (7.3), Germany (7.3) and USA (7.7) Source: Transparency International (PDF, 1.8 MB)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Oman - 2001 (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of U.S. Department of State): " ... a monarchy that has been ruled by the Al Bu Sa'id family since the middle of the 18th century. It has no political parties ... The judiciary is not independent, and courts are subject to the Sultan's influence ... Citizens do not have the right to change their government ... There are no publicly available codified procedures or legal provisions regarding conduct of a public trial. Due process was denied to persons tried in state security courts. Citizens must obtain permission from the Government to marry foreigners. The Government interferes with citizens' privacy rights. The Government restricted freedom of expression and association. The Government must approve the establishment of all associations, and human rights organizations are prohibited. The Government does not ensure full rights for women. The Government severely restricts workers rights. Foreign workers at times are placed in situations amounting to forced labor, and abuse of foreign domestic servants is a problem ... The Government does not permit independent monitoring of prisons ... The Criminal Code does not specify the rights of the accused. There are no written rules of evidence, codified procedures for entering cases into the criminal system, or any legal provision for a public trial ... The law does not provide for freedom of speech or of the press, and the Government restricts these rights in practice ... Many women live within the confines of their homes. While progress has been made in changing laws and attitudes, women continue to face many forms of discrimination ... Workers do not have the right to form or to join unions."

Library of Congress's Country Studies (Oman)
CIA World Factbook (Oman): "Oman signed a boundary treaty with the UAE in 1999, but the completed boundary is not expected until the end of 2002; undefined segments of the Oman-UAE boundary remain with Ra's al-Khaymah and Ash Shariqah (Sharjah) emirates, including the Musandam Peninsula, where an administrative boundary substitutes for an international boundary."